Letterform Anatomy

Letterform Anatomy Guidelines: Baseline: a real or imaginary horizontal line upon which the base of each capital rests; Waistline (meanline): a real or imaginary line that marks the height of the body of a small lowercase letter (often is the same as the x-height); x; Capline (cap height): a real or imaginary horizontal line that runs along the tops of the capital letters; Ascender line: a real or imaginary line that marks the proper height for the tall lowercase letters of a typeface like b, d, f, h, k, and i; for some typefaces, this line is the same as the cap height; b, d, f, h, i, j, k, l, t Descender line: a real or imaginary line that marks the proper length for the lowercase g, j, p, q, and y of a typeface; g, j, p, q, y 2. Ascenders and Descenders Ascender: A stroke on a lowercase character that extends above the meanline; Descender: A stroke on a lowercase character that falls below the baseline; X-height: a real or imaginary line that shows how tall to make the lowercase letters of a typeface; the distance from the baseline to the meanline. It marks the proper optical height for the lowercase letter x. Typically, this is the height of lowercase letters and is most easily measured on the lowercase x; Although X-height is not a unit of measurement, it is significant because it conveys the visual impact of the type size. In other words, typefaces of the same point size may appear smaller or larger because of the difference in their x-heights. For example, all of the following letter xs take the size 18, but they look quite different: x x x x x x (Times New Roman) (Gautami) (Futura Lt BT) (Arial) (Garamond) (Bauhaus 93) 3. Counters and Counterforms Counter: area where space is contained or enclosed by a letterform; open counter, closed counter. Counterform: the negative spaces inside and around letterforms; ABCD ABCD letterform (positive space) counterform (negative space) Crotch: the pointed counter where two strokes of a character met; crotch Eye: the small counter of a lowercase letter e. eye 4. Strokes Stroke: an individual straight or curved line that is used to build a character; originally, any mark or dash made by the movement of a pen or brush in writing. Stem stroke: a character's main vertical, diagonal, or curved stroke, which is often thicker than the other strokes of the letter; Hairline stroke: a secondary stroke of a character, often is thinner than the stem stroke(s); Cross stroke: a hairline stroke that intersects a stem stroke; Crossbar: a horizontal hairline stroke that connects two main strokes; Names of Stroke by shape and orientation Spine: the unique double-curved shape of a letter s; Arm: a secondary stroke, extending horizontally or upward from a stem stroke and ending freely; the letters E, F, K, k, L, V, v, W, w, Y, y, Z, and z have arms; Leg: a secondary stroke that extends downward from a stem stroke to the baseline and ends freely; Tail: The small stroke at the base of a capital Q that differentiates it from a capital O; the descenders on lowercase j, p, q, and y are sometimes also called tails; Bowl: a curved stroke that encloses a counter; the letters a, B, b, D, d, g, O, o, P, p, q, and R have bowls. An exception is the bottom form of the lowercase roman g, which is called a loop; g 5. Junctions of Strokes Apex: the point at which two upward slanting strokes of a letterform meet; i.e., the peak of the triangle of an uppercase A; Vertex: the point at which two downward slanting strokes of a letterform meet; i.e., the bottom of the triangle of a v/V; (Apexes and vertexes can be pointed, flat, rounded, oblique, hallowed, or extended) Shoulder: the transitional area of a stroke that goes from curved to straight; as in n, h, s; 6. Special Strokes of the Letter g Ear: A small stroke that projects from the upper right side of the bowl of the lowercase roman g; Link: a small connecting stroke between the loop and the upper bowl of a lowercase letter g; Loop: lower curved stroke or bowl of a lowercase g; Spur: a small stroke sometimes found on the right side of the base of a capital letter G, or a lowercase letter, a (Lucida Handwriting). Type Measurements 12 points = 1 pica 6 picas = 1 inch Type Gauge Body size: the height of the face of a type sort, or its digital equivalent Leading (Linespacing): (pronounced led-ing) thin strips of lead placed between lines of type in letterpress printing; the space between two consecutive measures of type on a page or layout (line spacing). Pica: measurement of type that equals 1/6 of an inch. Point: measurement of type that equals 1/72 of an inch. Sort: a rectangular metal piece of type for use in letterpress printing. Em or Em Square: a relative unit of measurement used for making comparisons between sizes of characters and spaces within a typeface of a particular point size; an em is always a square unit equal in height and in width to the point size of a given typeface. En or En Square: a relative unit of measurement used for making comparisons between sizes of characters and spaces within a typeface of a particular point size; an en is always half the width of the em. Exercise Quiz #1 .

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