Nowadays the choice of a particular font for the written word seems just as important as the word itself. Most organizations, from small businesses to major advertisers, from individual authors to global publishers, debate and analyze the typefaces for their communications to ensure brand integrity and optimum readability. Some even select a particular font to save on printing costs.

The infographic below, courtesy of Mashable, shows some of the key milestones in the development of some of our favorite fonts.

[div class=attrib]See the original, super-sized infographic after the jump.[end-div]