Italic vs Script: An Easy Breakdown of the Basics

What’s the difference between italic and script? They both tilt right, right?

Italic verses Script

Italic is a description for typefaces that are on an angle and they’re generally included as part of a type family. For instance, Adobe Garamond has multiple type styles—regular, italic, and bold. Adobe Garamond Italic is simply Adobe Garamond Regular on an angle, generally speaking.

A type designer would chastise me for making such a statement because there’s actually quite a lot that goes into creating a well-designed italic typeface but, for the sake of basic understanding, that’s what it is. Script fonts are intended to mimic the style of handwriting or cursive lettering. The letters are frequently connected though they don’t have to be. They can be connected, disconnected, or even partially connected. Unlike italic fonts, script fonts generally stand alone or have just a couple weight variations—regular and bold for instance. This means you won’t find a script version of Adobe Garamond.