1 Q: This font is the creation of a thrice-buried printer; ignored by the English, it was the embodiment of the enlightenment and played an important role in the French Revolution. Revived by Monotype in 1924 this face is the epitome of English text founts.

A: Baskerville: designed by John Baskerville in 1757, it is the first of the transitional roman letters but with more differentiations in thick and thin strokes than its forerunners. The serifs of the lower-case are more nearly horizontal and the stress nearer the vertical. The R has a curly tail, the lower case has w no middle serif and in the lower case g the tail is not closed.

2 Q: Designed by the mint-master of Tours, this Frenchman originally went to Mainz to learn the art of printing and bring it back to France. He never returned, but went to Venice where he designed a typeface that became the accepted model for all other roman letters ever since; it has been repeatedly copied and never been equalled.

A: Bembo: designed by Francesco Griffo in 1495, the capitals are shorter than the ascenders of the lower case, and the serifs are slighter than in earlier romans and there are no slab serifs. The serifs on the T are divergent. In the lower case the e has a horizontal straight to the eye and the h has not the curved shank.

3 Q: Famous for his championing of typography and his own typographic writings, the creator of this fount was responsible for reviving many typefaces and commissioning new founts. This typeface – the only one he designed – is famed for its ‘economy’ and is probably one of the most popular typefaces of all time.

A: Times: designed by Stanley Morison in 1932, a newspaper type with short ascenders and descenders. A fairly black type with small sharp serifs, the capitals are small and unobtrusive being are no higher than the short ascenders. In the lower case the serifs are oblique. The thickest part of the c and e are very low down and the g has a wide tail.

4 Q: An Italian punchcutter, typefounder, printer, admirer of Baskerville and one of the most prolific type designers ever created this typeface, which led to the development of the letterforms we call modern or didone. Designed in the last years of the 18th Century, this typeface deservedly gained worldwide acceptance among printers.

A: Bodoni: designed by Giambattista Bodoni in 1798, it is a modern face with flat, unbracketed serifs. The thin strokes are hairlines and the descenders are long. The M is narrow; in the Q the tail at first descends vertically; the R has a curled tail. In the lower case, the g has a small bowl, and the w has no middle serif.

5 Q: Designed by a German-born, UK-resident who originally trained as a metal engraver, this typeface was modelled to resemble letters carved into bronze. A glyphic serif typeface, it was designed for the Monotype Corporation and named after a 13th Century German philosopher and theologian.

A: Albertus: designed by Berthold Wolpe between 1932-40, this is a display roman, which has thickened terminals rather than serifs. In the M the middle strokes descend only halfway. The U follows the lower-case in its design. In the lower-case, ascenders and descenders are shorter, and the e has a large eye and the g has a large bowl.

6 Q: An admirer of the functionalist strain in modernism, the designer of this most popular font was particularly active in type design in the early 20th Century, and closely associated with the Bauhaus school. A prominent member of the Deutscher Werkbund, he created this geometric font, which continues to be used by many typographers today.

A: Futura: designed by Paul Renner between 1927-30, this is one of the most popular German sans serifs. The M is splayed, the Q has a straight tail starting inside the bowl and the T is narrow. The lower case a is one-storeyed, the g has an open tail, the t is square across the top, and the u has the design of the upper case.

7 Q: This font owes something to the letters designed by Edward Johnston for London Transport. Created by the most colourful and controversial figure in British typographic history, this is the most famous of all the 11 typefaces he designed: a clear modern type, which became the letter of the railways and more recently of the BBC.

A: Gill Sans: designed by Eric Gill between 1927-30, this font is closer in design to the original sans than the modern German versions. The capitals are uniform in width, and the only points are the feet of the V and W. The M is square and the middle strokes descend halfway.

8 Q: Created by one of the 20th Century's most significant type designers, this font mixes the clarity of a modern face with the objectivity of a sans serif. Influenced by the stone inlay alphabets of Roman antiquity, as well as typefaces of the early Renaissance, the clear, elegant characters of this font can often be seen in advertisements, especially for cosmetics.

A: Optima: designed by Hermann Zapf in 1958, this is a stressed sans serif with stokes thickened towards the end. The M is slightly splayed and the g takes the Venetian form. This is a modified sans serif, intended as a text type. It can be described as either a calligraphic roman or a modified sans.

9 Q: Designed by a Scotsman living in the US, this font finds its origins in continental Europe. Ludlow's answer to Futura, this typeface is basically geometric and humanistic in influence. It was produced for large headlines and is popular for newspaper and commercial printing.

A: Tempo: designed by R H Middleton between 1930-42. The B, E, F, P, R and T are narrow letters. The M is splayed. The lower-case g has an open tail and the t is simply a vertical stroke with a bar. The italic acquires some foot serifs on the a, d, h, and m.

10 Q: This is the most well-know font created by one of the 20th Century's most prominent typeface designers whose work continues to influence the direction of digital typography into the 21st century. Consisting of 44 faces, with 16 uniquely numbered weight, width and position combinations, it is one of the largest font families ever created.

A: Univers: designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1957, it incorporates the characteristics of both the English and Continental sans serifs. The tail of the Q is horizontal, and the W is two Vs set next to each other. The R has a curved tail. In the lower case o there is some variation of stress, and this is also apparent in other letters with curved strokes.

11 Q: This typeface can trace its roots back to the London typefounder Vincent Figgins, who released a font displaying similar characteristics back in 1815. This updated version is an exceptionally robust design: a strong, adaptable display face for headlines and posters, it is also legible in short blocks of text.

A: Rockwell: designed by staff designers at the Monotype Corporation in 1934, this is a slab serif or Egyptian. The A has a slab serif, the G no spur, the M is wide, and the Q has the tail entirely outside the bow. The a is two-storyed, the g has an open tail and the t has a curved foot.

12 Q: A German who trained as a bookseller but turned to type design in the 1920s created this face. As art director at Bauer, he oversaw the work of innovative designers such as Paul Renner, Lucian Bernhard and Imre Reiner as well as creating his own fonts, including the finest revival of Bodoni.

A: Beton: designed by Heinrich Jost between 1931-36, this font has an A with a flat top; the G has a spur projecting to the left; and the W has no middle serif. The lower case a has the two-storeyed design with a serif terminating the arc; the g has an open tail; the t is vertical and has an oblique top; and the y has a foot serif extending to the right.

13 Q: Named after the famous 16th Century printer of Antwerp, this font is modelled on a typeface that seems never to have been used by that printer, although it belongs to his generation. This font is exceptionally legible and makes a classic, elegant impression. It is also the face on which Times was modelled.

A: Plantin: designed by FH Pierpont for the Monotype Corporation in the 1920s, it is a heavy face with a large x-height. Conspicuous characters in the upper case include the flat topped A and the splayed M; in the lower case the a has a large bowl and the t is particularly narrow. The italic has a regular slope and very short descenders.

14 Q: Beloved of wedding invitations the world over, this typeface has royal pretensions. An English copperplate, this font is often used for formal invitations, as well as captions under mounted prints of landscapes and copies of old paintings and in greeting cards.

A: Palace Script: designed by Stephenson Blake in 1923, it is steeply inclined and has abrupt variation in colour. The ascenders are not looped, except for the f, but there are second lopped versions of the h and l. In combination the letters appear to be engraved, or copperplate, and not the impression from type.

15 Q: Designed by a French lawyer turned type designer who co-founded the prestigious Studio U+O and whose work is built on flouting established rules. This font is one of his best-know typefaces and is based upon the designer's own handwriting. Its international success was one of the most rapid in the history of modern type design.

A: Mistal: designed by Roger Excoffon in 1955 this is an informal, true script. The letters of the lower case are joined and the descenders are fairly long.

16 Q: The designer of this font came from the Netherlands, where he worked as a typographer and developed a reputation for stylish and playful design. He designed the packaging for the world famous Van Houten chocolate. While working on this typeface he was deported to the Westerbork concentration camp where he died in 1942.

A: Rondo: designed by Stefan Schlesinger and Dick Dooijes in the 1930s in was released in 1948. The variation in colour is small, ascenders and descenders are short and there are no looped characters. The type has a slight inclination.

17 Q: Originally designed by a French poster artist, this font is remarkable for its visually exciting two-tone deco look and dramatic simplification of the letterforms. This eccentric font has seen rabid abuse in the last quarter-century due to its broad availability as a digital font.

A: Bifur: designed by A M Cassandre in 1929, this is a sans serif with half of each letter missing. The A has no bar; the E has arms only; the G is represented by the lower half alone; and the N has a middle stroke only. A shaded background helps the eye to recognise the whole letter.

18 Q: Designed by the grandsire of typography, this typeface is known by many names including Festliche Ziffern (Festive Numerals). This font is richly ornamented and is reminiscent of the types designed by Fournier in the 18th Century.

A: Sapphire: designed by Hermann Zaf in 1953, this is a font of decorated capitals of Fat Face design. The decoration is based on leaf forms.

19 Q: This font is probably the most universally admired and used of this designer's types. Named after a master of calligraphy from the time of Leonardo da Vinci, it is a typeface based on classical Italian Renaissance forms. It has become a modern classic in itself, and is popular among professional graphic designers and amateurs alike.

A: Palatino: designed by Hermann Zaf in 1950, the capitals especially the M and W are wide. The e has a large eye; the g is wide and the foot on the serifs on the final stroke of the h, m and n are on the outside only. In the w in the first serif is inclined. Descenders are short.

20 Q: This is one of the most widely used Windows system fonts and attracts supporters and detractors in equal measure. It has become the subject of a campaign by some designers to limit or eliminate its use; its greatest hour has been as the font used for the text inside the tags of Beanie Babies.

A: Cartoon: created by Microsoft designer Vincent Connare in 1995 is a casual, non-connecting script, and was designed to imitate comic book lettering, for casual use in informal documents.