BIG FAMILIES

A traditional roman book face typically has a small family--a "nuclear" group consisting of roman, italic, small caps, and possibly bold and semibold (each with an italic variant). Sans-serif families often come in many more weights and sizes, such as thin, light, black, compressed, and condensed.

In the 1990s, many type designers created families that include both serif and sans-serif versions. Small capitals and non-lining numerals (a courtesy traditionally reserved for serif fonts) are included in the sans-serif versions of Thesis, Scala, Quadraat, and many other big contemporary families.