ANATOMY AND IDENTIFICATION presented by: cap dramstad
A NA TO MY
T H E “ B O DY PA R T S ”
ARM
SHOULDER
SPINE
LEG
EAR
TA I L
EYE
APEX
TERMINAL
LINK
BOWL
LOOP
V E RT E X
COUNTER
FONT SPECIFICS
BRACKET
FINIAL
originally was made to reduce letter bulkiness in printing and to speed up the reading process other common forms: fl, ff, ft, fft, ae
L I G AT U R E
SPUR
these terms and parts of letters become essential in distinguishi n g t y p e f a c e s f r o m e a c h o t h e r. although they may seem insignificant upon first glance, these details can change the mood of certain text and fonts.
IDEN TI FI CATION
SERIF AND
SANS
SERIF serif fonts are distinguishable by their serifs, or feet, on the stroke-ends of their letters. they add variation to the stroke and therefore make it easier to read over long periods of time.
serif
b
SANS SERIF sans serif fonts lack a serif (sans: French word for “without�) at the end of a stroke. they tend to lack width variation and make great headings rather than body text. they are often used to convey modern and minimalistic looks and are used often in digitally viewed mediums
b
OLD STYLE
b
karmina (regular)
TRANSITIONAL
b
minion pro (regular)
NEO-CLASSICAL
SLAB
essonnes (regular)
hatch (regular)
b b
serif and sans serif fonts can then be further categorized into different types. these each have their own unique details that give each type cateogry its own feeling
GROTESQUE
b
arial (regular)
SQUARE
GEOMETRIC
b b
univia pro (book)
objektiv mk1 (regular)
HUMANISTIC
b
freightneo (book)
T H E X- H E I G H T
cap height
Txy x-height
baseline
the height of the lower-case x is used to determine the normal height of the other lower-case letters. it is also used as a measurement to gauge the overall feeling and weight of the ltetters in a font
ascender reaches above the x-height
Frog descender reaches below the x-height
STROKES
STEM
CROSSBAR
DIAGONAL
STRESS AXIS the stress axis can be found by drawing a line from the thinnest point to the thinnest point on a letter form
CONSTRAST STROKE
KEY LETTERS
A Q R W A Q R W A Q R W apex a point or flat? height of the c r o s s b a r ?
location of the tail?
stem and leg connection? how far does the leg reach?
do the vertices cross?
a g a g a g monocular binocular
(one vs (two
story) story)
j j
j
style the
of dot?
is the tail r o u n d e d ?
t t t
h e i g h t of the crossbar?
COM PAR ING FONTS
FONT VERSIONS
ROMAN ITALIC BO L D
roman version: also known as book version. this is the standard version of a font. can also be listed as regular or even medium.
italic version: a version of a font that is slanted, most often to the right. creates emphesis on a word without changing its weight.
bold version: a version of a font that is heavier than the standard roman version. creates emphesis by increasing the weight.
C L A S S I F I C AT I O N S
besides sans-serif and serif, fonts can be further categorized into five major classifications. each category holds a specific context and is correllated with a respective mood that it gives off. for example: script, calligraphic, and blackletter fonts hold a more serious connotation while casual and decorative fonts are more light-hearted.
Script Calligraphic Blackletter Casual Decorative