Measurments

To understand and define many parts of a letter or a line of text, some measurements must be distinguished.

Ascent Line

The imaginary line that marks the topmost point of the ascenders within a font. The ascent line is most commonly located above the cap line.

Cap Line

The imaginary line that represents the uppermost part of capital letters. The distance from the cap line to the baseline is the capsize.

Mean Line

The top imaginary point of all lowercase characters without ascenders. Often referred to as “x-height”.

x-Height

The distance between the baseline and the midline of the alphabet, usually the approximate height of the unextended Lowercase letters (a, c, e, m, n,...) and of the torso of extenders (b, h, d, k, p, q,...). Cap height, and the relation of x-height to the length of extenders, are two important characteristics in Latin typeface.

Baseline

The imaginary line on which the letters of a font sit.

Descent Line

The lowest imaginary line that a character’s descender extends to. (j, y, p,...)

Parts

Letters consist of many forms which are essential to know when using type appropriately.

Serif

Latin for “feet”. These are the strokes added to the beginning or end of main letters. Serifs can be unilateral or bilateral. An example of unilateral would be at the top ends of T where the serifs only project on one side of the main stroke. An example of bilateral would be at the bottom of T where the serifs project on both directions of the main stroke.

Sans-serif

Sans, latin for “without” and serif, Latin for “feet”, means “without feet.” Sans-serif fonts are letter-forms with a straight forward geometrical appearance consisting of zero serifs.

Ascender

The part of a lowercase letter that rises above the x-height. (b, k, h,...)

Counter

The white space enclosed or partially enclosed by a letter-form. (d,p,o); (c,m,u)

Crossbar

A horizontal stroke connecting two stems (A, H), or as a simple stroke as in f and t.

Descender

Part of a lowercase letter extending below the baseline. (p,g,q)

Ligature

Two or more letters tied together into a single letter. Ligatures are often found in the combinations of “fi” and “fl”.

Spur

A projection smaller than a serif that reinforces the point at the end of a curved stroke, as in the capital letter G.

Stem

The most distinctive vertical stroke, that is not part of a bowl, in a type character. (O has no stem.) (I, H, and b do)

Tail

An element of a character without serif descending below the baseline. (latin Q)

Terminal

An ending of strokes without serif. (the end of e)

Distinction between Spur and Serif

A spur only appears at the end of a curved letter-form.

A serif only appears at the ends of the main strokes of a letter-form.

Distinction between Descender and Tail

Descenders are only elements of lowercase characters that extend below the baseline.

A tail does not contain any serifs and extends below the baseline.

Serif vs. Sans-serif

Serif typefaces are generally easier to read when it comes to big bodies of small text. The serifs are what make the body copy so readable. Better eye flow is created by using serif typefaces.

Sans-serif typefaces work well for titles and other brief bodies of text that require greater attention. Other names for sans-serif include gothic and grotesque. The most commonly used sans-serif font is Helvetica

Classifications of Type

Old Style

Late 15th-early 18th century. Developed out of handwriting and stone inscription. Old style is characterized by modest contrast, bracketed serifs, and oblique axis.

Transitional

Early and mid 18th century. Based on old style characteristics and new style elements consisting of different metal engraving techniques.

Slab Serif

First of this style created in England at the beginning of the 19th century. Developing approximately during the Scientific Revolution. Because of this, slab serif typefaces are based on precise mathematical measurements. All strokes are of equal or nearly equal thickness. Serifs are unbracketed or slightly bracketed rectangular block-like forms. The x-height is usually larger than normal.

Modern

Late 18th-early 19th century. These typefaces contain strong contrast and even width amongst the characters. Serifs are long and thin and the axes are strictly vertical and horizontal.

Type 101: A Tutorial by Jonathan Hoefler
Classification of Type Explained Further

Legibility vs. Readability

Legibility

Legibility is a characteristic of individual typefaces that allow the reader to distinguish one letter from the other. Some fonts have greater legibility than others. Legibility consists of many different aspects of type such as type size, serif or sans serif type, line length, line spacing, and colour contrast.

Readability

Readability consists of the words that are being read instead of the physical appearance of the type itself. It is more the overall ease at which a group of words or block of text can be read. Some things that affect readability include sentence and word length, and the frequency of uncommon words.

Assignment: GRPH210-assignment2.pdf