Here, from a stable of tables courtesy of the Kuriositas website of oddities, is a periodic table of typefaces. This periodic table comes last in “Fun and Interesting Periodic Table Spin-Offs,” courtesy of the Save Best for Last Dept. A periodic table of fonts is doubly intriguing because a period table looks a little bit like a typewriter keyboard, adding a twist to the fun. Of course, unlike the letters of the alphabet, I am prejudiced against the sans-serif typefaces. But here is some of the thinking behind this table:

Like traditional periodic tables, families and classes of typefaces are grouped: script, sans-serif, realist, blackletter and more.  They are also given a ranking depending on the number of lists the typeface appeared on.  Interestingly, the creator’s favorites receive a special ranking on the table.

The table was created by Cam Wilde, whose favorites I am unable to grok because I do not understand a periodic table, not even the periodic table of the elements, which we all memorized in, what, seventh grade? I suppose the places of the most notable elements are where Wilde has placed his favorite fonts. Someone will have to decipher that for me.

The other periodic table parodies that appear before the typeface one are, in order from the top: Periodic Table of the Elements (with cartoon symbols), of Alcohol, of Wine Grape Varietals, of Herbs and Spices, and the Periodic Table of Game Controllers (the patterns of the buttons on remotes for Playstation, Nintendo, etc., can be grouped intelligently, it seems). They all have a degree of fun for various types of people – different strokes for different folks, ya know – who can probably also be grouped in a funny periodic table.

Visit, and know that you can bump up the size of the periodic tables on the site so that the fine print is readable.