all of the following terms describe parts of a font that give the eye visual clues to decoding the...
TRANSCRIPT
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.
ŶĐĞƵƉŽŶĂƚŝŵĞ� ƚŚĞƌĞůŝǀ ĞĚ Ă ůŝƚƚůĞŐŝƌůǁ ŝƚŚďůŽŶĚĞŚĂŝƌ ͘8K
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.