LEADING - Additional space added between lines of type. Well-built fonts contain kerning pair instructions that automatically adjust spacing between certain glyph pairings. For example the TA pair usually require adjustment. KERNING - The selective increase or decrease between pairs of letters to create an optically uniform spacing between glyphs. An obliquetypeface is similarly built on a slant but is less lyrical and often created by simply slanting the Roman glyphs instead of redesigning them. ITALIC - A style of typefaces where the glyphs are designed on a slant. INLINE - Whether these typefaces are called inline, engraved, hand-tooled, chiseled, or ornamented, they all have one thing in common: white lines in the strokes. Today, some designers add ink traps as decorative elements. Ink traps were more common in fonts designed for letterpress printing. These notches help prevent ink from clogging up in these areas. INK TRAP - Small notches at the interior apex of sharp angles in some glyphs in some fonts. HINTING - Instructions contained inside font files that compensate for the uneven thickness of strokes caused by rounding errors on lower-resolution displays and output devices. GLYPH - Letters, numerals, punctuation marks, diacritical marks, symbols, or other printable character within a font are collectively known as glyphs. Helvetica Bold or Helvetica Light are fonts within the typeface design called Helvetica. The word font is often confused with typeface. Early in life, you probably learned to read and write using the single-story letters because they're easier to write by hand.ĮYE - The small closed upper counter of a lowercase e.įONT - The collection of glyphs that make up a weight or style of a typeface. Single-story letters are more common in sans-serif typefaces. Serif typefaces usually use the double-story versions, but often switch to the single-story variety for the italic font. Some fonts are composed entirely of dingbats.ĭOUBLE STORY - The lowercase g and a come in two varieties: double-story and single-story. Examples are stars, snowflakes, triangles, squares, or other simple shapes. Diacritics serve as indicators of how the letter is pronounced within the word.ĭINGBAT - A symbol added to a font. For example, the g, j, p, and q have descenders.ĭIACRITIC - An accent mark used in some alphabets that is usually placed above or below a letter. The H, lowercase e, and A contain crossbars.ĭESCENDER - The portion of a glyph that extends below the baseline. An A has both a closed and an open counter.ĬROSSBAR - A horizontal stroke that connects two vertical strokes. Type designers draw them separately to optimize the design for the narrow look.ĬOUNTER - the enclosed negative space in a glyph. Condensed fonts are not mechanically squished versions of the normal width. The letter O is composed entirely of a bowl.īRACKETS - The curved or sloped part of a serif that connects it to a stroke.ĬAP HEIGHT - An imaginary line that corresponds to the height of the uppercase glyphs in the font.ĬONDENSED - A font with narrower glyphs (left) than the normal typeface weight (right). The letters d and p, for example, have bowls. The general style is still in use today for special purposes, such as poster and newspaper nameplates.īOWL - The roundish stroke that encloses a counter. It continued to be commonly used for the Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish languages until the 1870s, and for the German language until the 1940s. The b, d, f, h, k, l, and t have ascenders.īALL TERMINAL - A ball-shaped terminal used in some serif typeface designs.īASELINE - The imaginary line that forms the base on which most glyphs sit.īLACKLETTER - A style of typography used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 until the 17th Century. The arm on a lowercase r is a good example.ĪSCENDER - The portion of some lowercase glyphs that extend above the x-height. However, terminology changes and jargon differs from place to place, so if you disagree or have a term you'd like to add, please let me know.ĪPERTURE - An open counter in a glyph, such as those found in the letters c and e.ĪRM - A secondary stroke that extends outward from the upper section of a glyph. I've put together a dictionary of common typographic terms. The anatomy of a typeface might look simple, but the terminology is surprisingly complex - there's a word for almost everything. I’ve put together a brief dictionary of terms. HOME > THOUGHTS > TYPE TERMINOLOGY The lexicon of typography
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |