Where should a beginner start?

With font anatomy and the types of fonts, which give you the words for everything else. Then serif vs sans serif, and the rest in any order.

How long do the lessons take?

About 3 minutes of reading each, some 27 for all nine, not counting the time spent dragging letters about.

Do I need any software?

No. Each lesson runs in the browser with real fonts the page loads itself: the boards to drag, switch and light up need nothing installed.

Learn type

Nine short lessons on the words type designers use. Each one is a page to play with: drag the letters, switch the features, light up the parts, all in real fonts.

01 / 3 minKerningDrag a letter into place, then see how the typeface spaces the pair.
02 / 3 minLigaturesSwitch ligatures on and off in real fonts, from fi to code arrows.
03 / 3 minGlyphsOne character, 24 glyphs: see what a font actually draws.
04 / 3 minSerif vs sans serifThe same letters in both, measured: serifs, contrast and when to use each.
05 / 3 minTypes of fontsFive kinds of fonts and the styles inside each, in free fonts you can open.
06 / 3 minFont anatomyPick a part of a letter to light it up, from the x-height to the overshoot.
07 / 3 minFont vs typefaceOne typeface, 36 fonts, two files: the design and what carries it.
08 / 3 minTTF vs OTFQuadratic or cubic curves: what a .ttf and an .otf hold, and which to use.
09 / 3 minWOFF vs WOFF2The same font packed for the web: six popular fonts weighed in each format.

Where to start

Nine lessons, about 27 minutes of reading in all. New to type? Read them in this order:

1
Font anatomy Types of fonts
The names of a letter’s parts and the families fonts fall into: the other lessons build on both.
2
Serif vs sans serif Font vs typeface
The two distinctions people mix up most, settled with fonts side by side.
3
Kerning Ligatures Glyphs
How letters sit together, join up and multiply inside one font file.
4
TTF vs OTF WOFF vs WOFF2
The file formats, for when you install a font or put one on a website.

Train your eye

Reading about type is half of it; the other half is looking. Two games put the lessons to work: space words by eye against the typeface, or take twelve rounds of the balance test.

Space the Word The balance test

Learning type, answered

Where should a beginner start?: With font anatomy and the types of fonts, which give you the words for everything else. Then serif vs sans serif, and the rest in any order.
How long do the lessons take?: About 3 minutes of reading each, some 27 for all nine, not counting the time spent dragging letters about.
Do I need any software?: No. Each lesson runs in the browser with real fonts the page loads itself: the boards to drag, switch and light up need nothing installed.