Typeface vs Font.................... to a Non-Designer
Explaining typefaces vs fonts to a non-designer.
General exposure to the word “font” is that of the Word Processing drop down font menu. With this perception that the “font” holds the style and additional options of Italic, Bold, and Capitals. While designers know that the style of the characters are built in by the Typeface and the font is a resulting set of characters derived from that style. Common derivations of English (Latin-English most commonly) words however would suggest a type “face” would be the visual result of this style. Each character literally being a face of the designed style. While we know this not to be the case, it does seem a reasonable explanation.
Explaining the concept is that a typeface is that of the signature or style and that a font is the character set that is visually presented and chosen.
In a blog called NERDPLUSART they put it eloquently by analogy,
“I think it's easiest to understand the difference by analogy: a typeface is like a song and a font is like a recording. One is the definition, the other is an instance. One is a concept, the other a manifestation.” - http://nerdplusart.com/type-terminology-smackdown/