Typeface refers to the overall design of a font‘s characters. Courier is a typeface; Courier 24-point bold is a font. There are two general categories of typefaces:serif and sans serif. Serif typefaces use small decorative marks to embellish characters and make them easier to read. Typefaces without these little marks are called sans serif (“sans” is French for “without”). Helvetica is a sans serif typeface and Times is a serif typeface.Go Back to Top. Skip To: Start of Article.