A Letter Is Defined As a Character Or Symbol That Represents Sound Used in Speech
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Typography 1: Letter A letter is defined as a character or symbol that represents sound used in speech. The English alphabet has 26 of these characters, from which all of the English language is derived. Each character is unique, it has it’s own sound, it’s own shape, its own characteristics and its own rules of use. A designer can not properly create good typographic design without a proper understanding of the characters that make up a word, sentence, or paragraph. Images from this slide show come from: http://www.graphictivitis.com/index.php/the-anatomy-of-type/ Typography 1: Letter The English alphabet is made up of uppercase letters, lowercase letters and a full complement of symbols, including periods, commas, exclamation points, question marks, numbers, hyphens, brackets, etc. The overall look and design of these letters is called a typeface. The complete set of letters, numbers, and symbols together is called a font. Samples of Baskerville (left) and Helvetica (right) Typography 1:Letter The two main categories of typefaces are serif or sans serif. Fonts are often divided into serif and sans serif. Serif fonts are distinguishable by the extra stroke at the ends of the character, known as a serif (aka as a tail). Sans serif is a letterform without structural extensions or tails. Sans is french meaning without. Typography 1:Letter Examples of serif and sans serif typefaces Serif: Sans serif is a letterform without structural extensions or tails. Sans is french meaning without. Cave Paintings in Zimbabwe Typography 1: Letter Heavy rectangular shaped serifs are called slab serif typefaces What are some examples of slab serif typefaces in your collection of fonts? Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Cap height: The height of the uppercase letters. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER X-height: height of lowercase letters, specifically the lowercase x, not including ascenders and descenders. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Baseline: The imaginary line on which the majority of the characters in a typeface rest. Ascender: The part of lowercase letters (such as k, b, and d) that as- cends above the x-height of the other lowercase letters in a face. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Ascender: The part of lowercase letters (such as k, b, and d) that as- cends above the x-height of the other lowercase letters in a face. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Descender: The part of lowercase letters (such as y, p, and q) that descends below the baseline of the other lowercase letters in a font face. In some typefaces, the uppercase J and Q also descend below the baseline. Typography 1:Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Crossbar or Cross Stroke: A horizontal stroke connecting two stems as in A and H, or a simple stroke as in f and t. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Ball Terminal: A circular form at the end of the arm in letters such as a, c, f, j, r and y. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Bowl: In typography, the curved part of the character that encloses the cir- cular or curved parts (counter) of some letters such as d, b, o, D, and B is the bowl. Some sources call any parts of a letter enclosing a space a bowl, in- cluding both parts of a doule storey g and the straight stem on a D or B. The curved strokes of a C are sometimes also referred to as bowls although they aren’t closed. Also called eye. The shape and size of the counter and bowl can affect readability and is also an identifying factor for some typefaces. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Counter: The white space enclosed by a letterform, whether wholly en- closed, as in d or o, or partially, as in c or m. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Ear: The stroke attached to the bowl of the lowercase g. Some typographers use the same term for the lowercase r. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Arm: The arm of a letter is the horizontal stroke on some characters that does not connect to a stroke or stem at one or both ends. The top of the capital T and the horizontal strokes of the F and E are examples of arms. Ad- ditionally, the diagonal upward stroke on a K is its arm. Sometimes arm is used interchangeably with bar or crossbar or cross stroke. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Stem: A main stroke that is more or less straight, not part of a bowl. The let- ter o has no stem; the letter I consists of stem and serifs alone. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Loop/Lobe : The lower bowl of a lowercase g. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Spur: Similar to but generally smaller than a serif or beak, a spur is a small bit at the end of certain curved portions of a letterform such as the end(s) of a C or S or the middle of G. also known as barb, cat’s ear. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Bracket/Fillet: The bracket is a curved or wedge-like connection between the stem and serif of some fonts. Not all serifs are bracketed serifs. Brackets can have different shapes with deep or gentle curves. Brackets may taper all the way to the end of the serif or attach at a midpoint before the serif ends. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Link/Neck: In typeface anatomy, the link is that small, usually curved stroke that connects the bowl and loop of a double-storey g. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Tail: the descending, often decorative stroke on the letter Q or the descend- ing, often curved diagonal stroke on K or R is the tail. The descender on g, j, p, q, and y are also called tails. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Apex: The point at the top of a character such as the uppercase A where the left and right strokes meet is the apex. The apex may be a sharp point, blunt, or rounded and is an identifying feature for some typefaces. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Shoulder: The curved stroke of the h, m, n. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Leg: The lower, down sloping stroke of the K and k is called a leg. The same stroke on R as well as the tail of a Q is sometimes also called a leg. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Spine: The main curved stroke of the S. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Hairline: A thin stroke usually common to serif typestyles. Typography 1:Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Ligature: Two or more letters combined into one character make a ligature. In typography some ligatures represent specific sounds or words such as the AE or æ diphthong ligature. Other ligatures are primarily to make type more attractive on the page such as the fl and fi ligatures. In most cases, a ligature is only available in extended characters sets or special expert sets of fonts. Ligatures used to improve the appearance of type are usually character pairs or triplets that have features that tend to overlap when used together. The ligature creates a smoother transition or connection between characters by connecting crossbars, removing dots over the i, or otherwise altering the shape of the characters. Typography 1: Letter ANATOMY OF A LETTER Swash: A fancy flourish replacing a terminal or serif. enabling swashes in InDesign: http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1084741&seqNum=3.