San Serif – fonts that do not have decorative flourishes or serifs.Serif – fonts that have decorative flourishes or serifs on the end of the stem.Here are the most common classifications for type classification. Leading – increasing or decreasing the distance between each successive line of typeīased upon the features inherent in the typeface, fonts are classified into several categories.Kerning – increasing or decreasing the distance between each letter form.Here are a couple common ways to adjust the spacing of a font when typesetting. Descender – The part of a lowercase letter that extends below the baseline.Ascender – The part of a lowercase letter that extends above the x-height.Baseline – The imaginary horizontal line upon which the letters in a font appear to rest.X-height – The height of the lowercase letters, disregarding ascenders or descenders.Cap-height – The height from the baseline to the top of the uppercase letters.Tail – A descending open stroke descender.
Arm – A horizontal open stroke ascender. Ear – a decorative flourish usually on the upper right side of the bowl. Serif – the decorative flourish on the ends of a stem. Bracket – The curved connection between the stem and serif. Overshoot – The portion that barely extends beyond the baseline. Terminal – The decorative flourish at the end of a stem which is not a serif. Shoulder – A short arched stroke at the top of the stem that connects to a bar or terminal. Loop – The enclosed counter located below the baseline of a lowercase letter. Link – The short stroke of a lowercase double-story ‘g’ that connects the bowl and the loop together. Eye – Much like a counter, the eye refers specifically to the enclosed space in a lowercase ‘e’. Counter – The enclosed curved negative space of some letters. Bowl – The curved part of the stroke that encloses the circular portions of some letters. Crossbar – The (usually) horizontal stroke across the middle of uppercase ‘A’ and ‘H’. Stem – The main (usually) vertical stroke that acts as the trunk of the letter form. Axis – The imaginary vertical line that bisects the upper and lower strokes of a letter. Below is a reference guide for some of the notable features that make up a typeface. These components create a visual rhythm for the typeface which will complement or contrast with the design. Typographic Anatomyĭesigners often choose a font based upon the individual components of each letterform. Instead of metal or wooden typefaces, foundries digitally create and distribute their catalog of fonts online, making it easy for designers to discover and purchase typefaces in a wide range of styles. Since then, technology has streamlined the layout process with desktop publishing applications like Word and InDesign. These Linotype and Monotype machines required that each letter be hand positioned, making the process of type setting a page extremely time consuming. Type Foundriesīefore the digital revolution, type foundries manufactured metal or wooden typefaces for letterpress machines. 
We will briefly look at type foundries and the anatomy of type. With some basic understanding of typography, anyone can improve the selection of fonts and overall typographic implementation used on a design project.
Anatomy of a typeface how to#
Designers understand the basics of good typographic and how to apply them to their layout. When working on a project, there often comes a moment when the layout designer will consider changing the font selection for a specified section of content.
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