Font Basics Ascender Font Size d p x A X-height Cap height Counter The white space within letters Descender Bar A Serif With strokes on the extremities of the letters. T A Sans-Serif No strokes on the end of the letters T Script Script Like handwriting Smashed Decorative Arm E Q L Stem Tail
Anatomy of Characters Type faces have different characteristics, some are subtle and others obvious. Familiarise yourself with the terminology and you will start to find that you can not only refer to the parts of characters but start to see the differences in the characters you use and view. Educate your eye to recognise the differences between characters and you start to gain control over their reproduction and appropriate use. Arm/leg An upper or lower (horizontal or diagonal) stroke that is attached on one end and free on the other. Ascender The part of a lowercase character (b, d, f, h, k, l, t) that extends above the x- height. Bar The horizontal stroke in characters such as A, H, R, e, and f. Bowl A curved stroke which creates an enclosed space within a character (the space is then called a counter) Cap Height The height of capital letters from the baseline to the top of caps, most accurately measured on a character with a flat bottom (E, H, I, etc.). Counter The partially or fully enclosed space within a character. Descender The part of a character (g, j, p, q, y, and sometimes J) that descends below the baseline. Ear The small stroke that projects from the top of the lowercase g. Link The stroke that connects the top and bottom part (bowl and loop) of a two story lowercase g. Loop The lower portion of the lowercase g. Serif The projections extending off the main strokes of the characters. Shoulder The curved stroke of the h, m, n. Spine The main curved stroke of the S. Spur A small projection off a main stroke found on many capital Gs. Stem A straight vertical stroke (or the main straight diagonal stroke in a letter which has no verticals). Stress The direction of thickening in a curved stroke. Stroke A straight or curved line. Swash A fancy flourish replacing a terminal or serif. Tail The descender of a Q or short diagonal stroke of an R. Terminal The end of a stroke not terminated with a serif. X-height The height of lowercase letters, specifically the lowercase x, not including ascenders and descenders. Source: http://www.fonts.com Jo Sorensen 2 Updated August 09
Typography Much of the art of typography is concerned with typefaces and the shape of the individual characters that make up text, just as importantly, typography is the way that these characters are put together to produce the words and lines in your publication. Typography greatly affects your publications legibility, readability and communication effectiveness. Typography affects the mood of your publication, and used appropriately can generate different and sometimes strong emotions in readers e.g. light heartedness, a sense of elegance, strong determination etc. Changing the typeface, size, weight or colour of text can add contrast to your publication which helps you emphasise important parts of your publication. Typography can also add meaning to your publication especially when your reader first scans through it e.g. making headings larger or bolder can help readers recognise different areas of your publication that they may want to consider further or dismiss without wasting their time. Letter form A particular style or form that makes each letter unique e.g. a d or a y we can recognise these by their basic strokes. Typeface A set of letter forms (which can include numbers and symbols) that share common design elements. These go through processes to create the fonts we use in desktop publishing Type styles Type can share a commonality of design elements but be modified to change their appearance e.g. italics, bold, condensed or expanded. Some typefaces have even greater variation in style e.g. outline, shaded or decorated. Type family A whole related group of type styles based on a single typeface. Eg Arial, Arial Black, Arial Rounded and Arial narrow. Type sizes Type size is usually measured in points where 72 points = 1 inch (2.54cm). The size is measured from the top of ascenders through the body to the bottom of the descenders. Type weight All letterforms are made up of strokes. Letterforms with thin strokes have a light and airy feeling whereas letterforms with thick strokes are heavy and bold. Type families can contain a range of weights such as light, regular, semi-bold, bold, extra bold etc. 3
Typography - continued Changing the amount of space between letters, and lines of type, can drastically change how legible and readable your message becomes. Used properly spacing type, and lines, can create attractive, easy to read publications. Used inappropriately you can create a publication with the same words and yet it can be very hard to read. Tracking / Letter spacing the space between individual characters. Word Word Word W o r d Normal tracking Very tight tracking Loose Tracking Custom (200%) Tracking Stretching - increasing the width of both the characters and white space between. Are you impressed? Are you impressed? (Stretched to 200%) Kerning - adjusting the space between specific pairs of characters. Some characters leave more white space at their sides than others and when we create words you sometimes need to alter the whitespace between pairs of letters by kerning. The need becomes more exaggerated with large text sizes. Word Word Not kerned Kerned Word spacing the space between words. The space between words changes the way we read. If the space is too big we can struggle to get continuity of phrases as individual words take our attention and the reader struggles to track through the text. This is something you must look out for, particularly when you use justified alignment with narrow columns or with large text sizes. Large spaces between words allow out eyes to drop to the next line and we lose continuity of phrases as tracking becomes more difficult This is what can happen with justified text. The spacing between words gets exaggerated as the text is dragged apart to fill the area This can become more prominent if you use large text in small columns. 4
Typography - continued Leading the space between lines of type (also referred to as line spacing). Adding whitespace between lines of text can make reading easier depending on the font type you are using. However, too much space can allow our eyes to lose track of where to go next and make reading more difficult. Adding whitespace between lines of text can make reading easier depending on the font type you are using. However, too much space can allow our eyes to lose track of where to go next and make reading more difficult. However, too much space can allow our eyes to lose track of where to go next and make reading more difficult. Rivers in text sometimes the space between words begins to line up, line after line creating rivers. These rivers in the text direct our eye to follow and we struggle to track through our text. This decrease in the readability leads to readers losing the message you are trying to convey. Watch out for this problem, there are many ways to fix this including changing the font type or size, altering the alignment or changing column widths. Rivers in text Hyphenation Excessive hyphenation decreases readability. This is linked heavily with justification and narrow columns. Avoid excessive hyphenation wherever possible. To turn hyphenation off in Publisher 07 Tools > Language > Hyphenation Jo Sorensen 5 Updated August 09
Typography - continued White Space Well the first thing about white space is that it doesn't have to be white. It is any empty or non used space in your publication. White space can have a background colour or texture on it but basically it is an area where readers can rest their eyes and it provides contrast to other publication elements. White space is the open areas around headings, margins, between borders and text, between graphics and other elements, around columns of text, indented spaces and also between lines of text. White space can be used to create aesthetically pleasing layouts, emphasise important elements, or to enhance the readability of text in your publication. Lack of white space will darken a publication and will often make reading more difficult. Example of increased use of white space to increase readability Long lines of text can be tiring to read. You can try breaking tedious textural content up using columns, increasing line spacing (leading) and incorporating graphics. You can also try a lighter font or larger size font. This text block strains the eyes to read through it. Readers will not get your message if you do not make your copy easily readable. Today tropical rainforests are disappearing from the face of the globe. Despite growing international concern, rainforests continue to be destroyed at a pace exceeding 80,000 acres (32,000 hectares) per day. World rainforest cover now stands at around 2.5 million square miles (6 million square kilometres), an area about the size of the contiguous 48 United States or Australia and representing around 5 percent of the world's land surface. Much of this remaining area has been impacted by human activities and no longer retains its full original biodiversity. Deforestation of tropical rainforests has a global impact through species extinction, the loss of important ecosystem services and renewable resources, and the reduction of carbon sinks. However, this destruction can be slowed, stopped, and in some cases even reversed. Most people agree that the problem must be remedied, but the means are not as simple as fortifying fences around the remaining rainforests or banning the timber trade. Economic, political, and social pressures will not allow rainforests to persist if they are completely closed off from use and development The text block below contains copy that is more readable. The text uses white space around and between the text to break up the copy and give your eyes a break but still allows for easy tracking. ie your eyes know where they should go next. This is also partially achieved using the centre column border. Today tropical rainforests are disappearing from the face of the globe. Despite growing international concern, rainforests continue to be destroyed at a pace exceeding 80,000 acres (32,000 hectares) per day. World rainforest cover now stands at around 2.5 million square miles (6 million square kilometres), an area about the size of the contiguous 48 United States or Australia and representing around 5 percent of the world's land surface. Much of this remaining area has been impacted by human activities and no longer retains its full original biodiversity. Deforestation of tropical rainforests has a global impact through species extinction, the loss of important ecosystem services and renewable resources, and the reduction of carbon sinks. However, this destruction can be slowed, stopped, and in some cases even reversed. Most people agree that the problem must be remedied, but the means are not as simple as fortifying fences around the remaining rainforests or banning the timber trade. Economic, political, and social pressures will not allow rainforests to persist if they are completely closed off from use and development 6