An Introduction to Type

Type anatomy

Characters

The basic typographic element is called a character, which is any individual letter, numeral, or punctuation mark. The capital letters are called caps, or uppercase (u.c.) characters. Small letters are called lowercase (l.c.) characters. Numbers are callednumerals or figures.

Special characters

Pi characters are special characters used for:

On Macintosh computers, special characters can be viewed for any font with the Key Caps utility under the apple menu.

Ligatures are character pairs which have been re-designed as optional single characters.


Standard characters set in Adobe Garamond.	Ligature characters set in Adobe Garamond Expert and Adobe Garamond Alternative.

Character components

Typographic characters have basic component parts. The easiest way to differentiate characteristics of type designs is by comparing the structure of these components. The following terms identify some of the components referred to in the next chapter.

Ascender

The lowercase character stroke which extends above the x-height.

Bar

The horizontal stroke on the characters ‘A’, ‘H’, ‘T’, ‘e’, ‘f’, ‘t’.

Baseline

The imaginary horizontal line to which the body, or main component, of characters are aligned.

Bowl

The curved stroke which surrounds a counter.

Bracket

A curved line connecting the serif to the stroke.

Contrast

The amount of variation in between thick and thin strokes.

Counter

The empty space inside the body stroke.

Descender.

The lowercase character stroke which extends below the baseline.

Loop

The bottom part of the lowercase roman ‘g’.

Sans serif

From the French, meaning “without serif”. A typeface which has no serifs.Sans serif typefaces are typically uniform in stroke width.

Serif

Tapered corners on the ends of the main stroke. Serifs originated with the chiseled guides made by ancient stonecutters as they lettered monuments. Some serif designs may also be traced back to characteristics of hand calligraphy. Note that serif type is typically thick and thin in stroke weight.

Shoulder

The part of a curved stroke coming from the stem.

Stem

A stroke which is vertical or diagonal.

Stress

The direction in which a curved stroke changes weight.
Terminal

The end of a stroke which does not terminate in a serif.

X-height

The height of the body, minus ascenders and descenders, which is equal to the height of the lowercase ‘x’.

Avant Garde	Melior	Goudy Oldstyle
X-heights vary among typefaces in the same point size and strongly effect readability and gray vaule of text blocks.

Learn: Anatomy of a Typeface

Aperture

Opening at the end of an open counter.
Arm

A horizontal stroke not connected on one or both ends.
Ascender

An upward vertical stroke found on lowercase letters that extends above the typeface’s x-height.
Baseline

The invisible line where letters sit.
Bowl

A curved stroke that encloses a letter’s counter.
Counter

Fully or partially enclosed space within a letter.
Crossbar

A horizontal stroke.
Descender

A downward vertical stroke found on lowercase letters that extends below the baseline.
Diagonal Stroke

An angled stroke.
Ear

A small stroke projecting from the upper right bowl of some lowercase g’s.
Finial

A tapered or curved end.
Hairline

The thin strokes of a serif typeface.
Ligature

Two or more letters are joined together to form one glyph.
Link

A stroke that connects the top and bottom bowls of lowercase double-story g’s.
Loop

The enclosed or partially enclosed counter below the baseline of a double-story g.
Lowercase

The smaller form of letters in a typeface.
Serif

“Feet” or non-structural details at the ends of some strokes.
Shoulder

A curved stroke originating from a stem.
Small Caps

Uppercase characters that appear as a smaller size than the capital height of a typeface. Short for “small capitals”.
Spine

The main curved stroke for a capital and lowercase s.
Spur

A small projection from a curved stroke.
Stem

Primary vertical stroke.
Tail

A descending stroke, often decorative.
Terminal

The end of a stroke that lacks a serif.
Uppercase

A letter or group of letters of the size and form generally used to begin sentences and proper nouns. Also known as “capital letters”.
x-height

The height of the main body of a lowercase letter.