typography terms parts & categories of type

TYPOGRAPHY TERMSPARTS & CATEGORIES OF TYPE

All of the following terms describe parts of a font that give the eye

visual clues to decoding the letters while reading.

Many of these terms stem from a time when type was hand-written

using wedge-tipped pens.

X-HEIGHT Refers to the

height of the lowercase letters.

BASELINE Imaginary

horizontal line on which characters rest.

CAP HEIGHT Distance

between the baseline and top of the capital letters.

ASCENDERSParts of the letters that extend above the x-height.

DESCENDERS Parts of fonts that extend below the baseline.

WEIGHT Is the thickness of line in the

font.

PITCH The number of characters that

can be printed in one horizontal inch.

POINT SIZE Point Size: l/72 of an inch. 72 points are

equal to one inch

SERIFSAre the flares at the end of the letters

SERIF FONTS Examples of Serif Fonts

Times New RomanGaramond

SANS SERIF Without small strokes at the end of

characters. Examples of Sans Serif Fonts:

Arial TahomaAntique Olive

TYPEFACE FONT STYLES A set of characters with a common

design and shape.

Such as Impact, Times New Roman, Arial

TYPESTYLE 4 categories of styles

Normal (regular, roman)Bold ItalicBold italic

DROP CAP Decorative first letter of paragraph or

sentence used to draw the reader’s eye. Usually used in a newsletter or article at

the beginning of text.

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TRACKING Which refers to the horizontal spacing

between letters or characters.

LEADING Refers to the amount of added

vertical spacing between lines of type. In consumer-oriented word processing software, this concept is usually referred to as "line spacing".

PARTS & CATEGORIES OF TYPE6 Categories into which most type can be placed.

1. OLDSTYLE1. fonts with serifs.

The serifs are always slanted on lowercase letters.

These fonts make good body text. They are easy to read and hard to

distinguish from each other. Example: Goudy Old Style, Centaur

2. MODERN Fonts have serifs that are thin & flat on

lowercase letters. These fonts are very good for headlines. Example is Bodoni

3. SLAB SERIF fonts have little or no thick/thin

transition at all. Called Monoweight fonts. Serifs are thick & horizontal These fonts are dark and extremely

easy to read. Used for body text. Example: toxica

4. SANS SERIF Monoweight fonts The word “sans” means without. Fonts without serifs. Example: Delicious, Franklin Gothic,

Arial, Trebuchet MS

5. Script Fonts appear to have been hand written. Usually used to add style to a design. Not for body text.

6. DECORATIVE Fonts are ornamentals. Never used as body text. Often include symbols or flairs Use them carefully.