Typography Anatomy and Identification

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