TABLE•OF•CONTENTS 008 009 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018
introduction archer ascender baseline bold bracket cap height clarendon color contrast counter
021 022 023 024 025 026
descender family figure foundry italic kerning
029 030 031 032 033 034
leading ligature memphis pmn caecilia point proportion
037 038 039 040 041 042
serifa stress stroke terminal two storey x height
008 009 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018
introduction archer ascender baseline bold bracket cap height clarendon color contrast counter
A–C
IN•TRO•DUC•TION The purpose of this book is to present an analysis of slab serif typefaces within the context of a glossary of typographic terms and conditions. Each term and it’s definition is stated along with referencing the how it applies to slab serif typefaces. Even though slab serifs are just one segment of the typeface population, there are still a variety of characteristics that comprise the different faces. Through reading and referencing this manual, the readers knowledge and understanding of how slabs work and how to best utilize them will expand.
008
ARCH•ER
typeface
Archer was created for Martha Stewart Living Magazine in 2001 by the Hoefler & Frere-Jones foundry. It is a great slab serif typeface to use as body copy because of its large counters and small x-height. Another unique characteristic of Archer is the fact that it employs ball terminals in addition to typical slab serifs.
AaBbCcDdEeFfGg HhIiJjKkLlMmNn OoPpQqRrSsTtUu VuWwXxYyZz 0123456789 The variety of serifs present in Archer:
noun \ə-sen-dər\
AS•CEND•ER
An ascender is a part of a letterform that extends past the x-height. With regards to slab serifs, ascenders tend to look taller because of the thick serif at the top of the stroke. The height of the ascender tends to be proportional to the x-height of the typeface in question.
ascender
PMN Caecilia
Serifa
Serifa is a slab serif typeface with a relatively low x-height and the ascenders are also short in comparison to other slabs. However, the opposite is true with a typeface such as PMN Caecilia, which has tall x-height and conversely tall ascender.
009
010
BASE•LINE
noun \bās-līn\
adjective \bōld\
The baseline is the invisible line that all letters sit on. Right now, the text in this paragraph in each line is resting upon a baseline. Round letters such as ‘o’ and ‘e’ dip just below the baseline to create an optical alignment. Also, letters such as ‘w’ and ‘v’ pierce the baseline to achieve the same sense of balance. Slab serifs tend to make the baseline more of an implied line because of how many large serifs will rest upon the baseline, taking up a lot of real estate.
BOLD
To bold a typeface means to make it more prominent. To set a typeface in the bold version means to thicken the width of the strokes, stems, etc. And because the stroke is thicker, serifs stand out even more. As the stroke width increases, the counters become smaller, and since the counters are now smaller, the size of the type should increase to compensate for the increased illegibility.
Memphis
PMN Caecilia
Serifa
PMN Caecilia
Archer
dip
011
baseline
Clarendon
As shown in the chart above, there is a trend with slab serifs for the bold version to make the overall letterform wider, but the cap heights are all consistent. With Memphis, PMN Caecilia, and Archer, the increased stroke width somewhat relies on the counterspaces within the letters. . And with Serifa and Clarendon, the bold version extends the letterform making the type much wider.
012
BRACK•ET
noun \’bra-kət\
A bracket is what connects the stem(s) or stroke(s) of the letterform to the serif. It adds fluidity to the letterform helping the reader’s eye smoothly transition from one point to another. There are only a handful of slab serif typefaces that have brackets because this absence of brackets is typically what constitutes whether or not a typeface is a slab serif. Clarendon is a rare typeface that combines slab serifs with brackets. Below shows a typical bracketless slab serif, PMN Caecilia, with Clarendon.
noun \kap\’hīt\
The cap height is opposite the baseline and dictates how tall the capital letters will be. The cap height isn’t uniform for all typefaces, rather it is unique to each face. The cap height does not dictate how tall the ascenders are, meaning that some ascenders could reach through the cap height and end up being taller than the capitals. Slab serifs tend to look as if they have lower cap heights because the serifs are so large in comparison to the rest of the letterform. Archer and PMN Caecilia are two slab faces that have ascenders extending through the cap height.
Memphis
PMN Caecilia
PMN Caecilia
Serifa
Clarendon
bracket
013
CAP•HEIGHT
Archer
Clarendon
014
CLAR•EN•DON
typeface
Created in 1845 by Robert Besley, Clarendon is recognized as the first registered typeface. It was also one of the first slab serifs faces. It was originally made for the Fann Street Foundry in London. Many current slab serifs were inspired by Clarendon. It was named after Oxford’s Clarendon Press in England.
AaBbCcDdEeFfGg HhIiJjKkLlMmNn OoPpQqRrSsTtUu VuWwXxYyZz 0123456789
noun \kə-lər\
COL•OR
Archer 11pt. 11/13.2
Typographic color refers to the density of type on a page. If the viewer squints their eyes, they will be able to gage the typographic color as dark, medium or light. The linespacing, letterspacing, counters, and point size all contribute to the color.
Archer 11pt. 11/15
Typographic color refers to the density of type on a page. If the viewer squints their eyes, they will be able to gage the typographic color as dark, medium or light. The linespacing, letterspacing, counters, and point size all contribute to the color.
Archer 11pt. 11/16
Typographic color refers to the density of type on a page. If the viewer squints their eyes, they will be able to gage the typographic color as dark, medium or light. The linespacing, letterspacing, counters, and point size all contribute to the color.
Archer 11pt. 12/16
Typographic color refers to the density of type on a page. If the viewer squints their eyes, they will be able to gage the typographic color as dark, medium or light. The linespacing, letterspacing, counters, and point size all contribute to the color.
Archer 11pt. 12/19
Typographic color refers to the density of type on a page. If
The variety of serifs present in Clarendon:
the viewer squints their eyes, they will be able to gage the typographic color as dark, medium or light. The linespacing, letterspacing, counters, and point size all contribute to the color.
015
016
CONT•RAST
verb \kən-’trast\
Typographic contrast relates to the letterform as an individual. Letterforms, such as an ‘O’, often have a variation in the stroke width - meaning that the letter isn’t always the same thickness throughout the form. As seen below with the slab serif typeface Clarendon, there is a very high contrast in the letterforms. Although the negative space around the ‘O’ is rather circular, the counter inside the ‘O’ is more elliptical creating contrast within the letterform.
noun \kaun-tər\
COUNT•ER
A counter is the negative space within a letterform. Not all letterforms have counterspaces. Counters contribute to the legibility of body text because they help the eye to define the letterform. Most of the time, the eye reads the counterspace as opposed to the positive space that is the letter. Small or narrow counters are harder to read than large, open counters. Also, a typeface with a thick stroke will dictate how easily the counters are read. For the reasons listed above, both Archer and Serifa are ideal slab serifs for body copy while Clarendon would be to stressful for the eye (see color).
Clarendon
Archer Clarendon
As you can see, the stroke width of the ‘O’ varies as much as 50%. That is a large variation when compared to another slab serif typeface such as Memphis that is more geometric and much more mechanical.
Serifa counters
letterforms
counters
There are two kinds of counters: closed and open. The upper and lowercase ‘b’ is an example of letters with closed counters or counters that are fully enclosed within the letterform. The letter ‘c’ exemplifies an open counter; a counter that is partially connected to the negative space surrounding the letter.
017 1
Memphis
018
021 022 023 024 025 026
descender family figure foundry italic kerning
D窶適
DE•SCEND•ER
noun \di-sen-dər\
A descender is a part of a letterform that extends past the baseline. With regards to slab serifs, descenders tend to look longer because of the thick serif at the end of the stroke. Also, the length of the descender is proportional to the x-height of the typeface in question.
PMN Caecilia
noun \fam-lē\
FAM•I•LY
A family of typefaces is a group of typefaces that were intended on being used together. For example, The Archer family consists of hairline, light, medium, semibold, and bold weights, as well as roman and italicized styles. A face is created when combining a weight and a style. Archer is a family that includes typefaces that are suitable for both body copy and headlines.
Serifa
descender
Serifa, is a slab serif typeface with a relatively low x-height and the descenders are also short in comparison to other slabs. However, the opposite is true with a typeface such as PMN Caecilia, which has a tall x-height and long descender.
Archer
021
022
FIG•URE
noun \faun-drē\
noun \fi-gyər\
A figure is a formal typographic term for ‘number’ and there are two kinds: lining and nonlining. Lining figures means that all of the numbers rest upon the baseline, while nonlining figures are numbers that often descend past the baseline. Another name for nonlining figures are old-styled numbers. Most slab serifs have lining figures like Clarendon and Memphis but, Archer is a slab face that has nonlining figures.
baseline
lining
FOUND•RY
A type foundry is a place where typefaces are concieved. Originally, typefaces were physically made, used, and housed in a building. Nowadays, typefaces are made almost exclusively digitally and the manual labor in creating the type is practically gone. Hoefler & Frere - Jones (HFJ) is a type foundry that has made several slab serif typefaces that would be worth looking at: Vitesse, Sentinel, Ziggurat, Acropolis, Knox, Chronicle, Numbers, and Mercury. Archer, a typeface created by HFJ, is showcased in this manual. Listed below are some notable type foundries
Chank Co Emigre, Inc.
Clarendon
Hoefler & Frere - Jones baseline
lining
House Industries Linotype
baseline
nonlining Archer
LucasFonts Typotheque Underwear Type Foundry
baseline
023
nonlining
024
ITAL•IC
verb \ ə-ta-lə-sīz\
Italicizing a font is when it becomes slanted or stressed similar to a script, but the letterforms do not need to be joined. Italicizing a word separates it from the rest of the sentence and also brings emphasis to the word. With slab serifs, the serifs have to be corrected so that the bottoms are still sitting parallel to the baseline. Otherwise, optically speaking, the slabs would look awkward and unstable.
verb \kərn\
KERN•ING
When the spacing between two characters looks too wide or narrow kerning is the action of closing that space or making it wider. Kerning applies to the spacing between characters specifically. With slab serifs kerning is a tricky matter because its hard to keep the space between letters normal without overlapping the serifs.
Memphis 45pt. kerning: 0
Italicized
75pt. kerning: -10
Memphis
125pt. kerning: -20
175pt. kerning: -30
Roman
Memphis
025
026
029 030 031 032 033 034
1
leading ligature memphis pmn caecilia point proportion
L–P
LEAD•ING
verb \lē-ding\
Leading is adjusting the space in between two lines of text. Depending on the size and weight of body copy, the line spacing might need to be adjusted to create breathing room and change color. Adjusting the leading of slab serifs can be difficult because the large serifs tend to define each line of type creating a valley of negative space between each line. Luckily, slab serifs do not need to be set in body copy very often, but it is good to know if the occasion arises. Archer 16pt. leading: 15pt.
I’m not the fig plucker, nor the fig plucker’s son, but I’ll pluck figs till the fig plucker comes.
16pt. leading: 19.2pt.
I’m not the fig plucker, nor the fig plucker’s son, but I’ll pluck figs till the fig plucker comes.
16pt. leading: 22pt.
I’m not the fig plucker, nor the fig plucker’s son, but I’ll pluck figs till the fig plucker comes.
16pt. leading: 26pt.
I’m not the fig plucker,
noun \’li-gə-chur\
LIG•A•TURE
A ligature is a character that combines two letters together that would otherwise be overlapping when typed next to each other. The most common ligatures are ‘fi’ and ‘fl’ because the hook of the letter ‘f’ interferes with the dot of the ‘i’ and the stem of the ‘l’. Whether a typeface has ligatures available is evidence of a professional type designer. Typefaces on many of the free type websites will not offer ligatures. Slab serif faces are more likely to include ligatures because of the nature of slabs having abnormally large terminals. These large serifs are bound to overlap and interfere with each other. Below is a rare example of a slab serif, Memphis, that doesn’t have any ligatures and another that has several, Archer
Memphis
Archer
nor the fig plucker’s son, but I’ll pluck figs
029
till the fig plucker comes.
030
MEM•PHIS
typeface
Rudolf Wolf was a German typeface designer who created Memphis in 1929 at the Linotype Foundry. Memphis is classified as a geometric, slab serif. Memphis was named in conjunction with the colloquial title to slab serifs; Egyptian serifs. Memphis was a capital of Ancient Egypt and had no connection with the inspiration behind the typeface or Rudolf Wolf.
AaBbCcDdEeFfGg HhIiJjKkLlMmNn OoPpQqRrSsTtUu VuWwXxYyZz 0123456789 The variety of serifs present in Memphis:
031
typeface
PMN CAE•CIL•IA
PMN Caecilia was created in 1990 by Dutch typeface designer Peter Matthias Noordzij. He worked at the Linotype Foundry. It is classified as a slab serif with humanist influence. It was created for use as a digital typface. Peter actually named the type after his wife, Caecilia.
AaBbCcDdEeFfGg HhIiJjKkLlMmNn OoPpQqRrSsTtUu VuWwXxYyZz 0123456789 The variety of serifs present in PMN Caecilia:
032
POINT
noun \ po’int\
noun \prə-’por-shən\
A point is the basic unit of measurement for type. 1 point is 1/72 of an inch. Below, Memphis demonstrates the different point sizes in comparison to each other. Slab serifs were made fore displays and were not intended for body copy. The serifs tend to crowd the counters or counterspaces, making the letterform harder to distinguish and, in turn, read.
m
m
10pt.
m 55pt.
m
mm m 40pt.
m
15pt.
75pt.
m 20pt.
50pt.
Memphis
PMN Caecilia
Serifa
Archer
65pt.
30pt.
m
m 45pt.
95pt.
033
Typographical proportion compares the width of certain letters within the same typeface. Classical proportions tell us that capital letters such as ‘E’ should be about one-half of the width of the letter ‘O’. However, modern proportions made acceptable the convention of making all of the letters in a typeface about the same width. When using all caps, it can be displeasing to the eye to use a typeface that follows modern proportions. The serifs are adding a lot of the extra width to the letterforms causing slab serif typefaces to fall under modern proportions as exemplified below.
m
80pt.
m
PRO•POR•TION
m 90pt.
85pt.
m 25pt.
m
m m 35pt.
60pt.
70pt.
Clarendon
034
037 038 039 040 041 042
1
serifa stress stroke terminal two storey x height
S–Z
SER•IFA
typeface
Serifa was created for the Bauer Foundry in 1966 by Adrian Frutiger in Switzerland. The letterforms are based off of an earlier face designed by Adrian, Univers. Due to the humanist influence in the typeface, it is easily read as body copy compared to most slab serif typefaces.
AaBbCcDdEeFfGg HhIiJjKkLlMmNn OoPpQqRrSsTtUu VuWwXxYyZz 0123456789
noun \stres\
STRESS
The stress refers to the direction of the contrast in a letterform. The best letter to exemplify stress is an ‘O’ because it is the only letter that describes the stress in totally 360 degrees. The stress is supposed to mimic the calligraphic tendencies of the pen on paper. Unlike other typeface categories, slab serifs are consistently neutral, offering a zero degree stress. With the five slabs below, all of them have a zero degree stress.
Memphis
PMN Caecilia
Serifa
The variety of serifs present in Serifa:
Archer
037
Clarendon
038
STROKE
noun \strōk\
The strokes of a letterform are basically the different lines that make up the letter. The stroke refers to the way a hand moves the writing utensil through the motions of the letterform. With slab serifs, several letters utilize the same strokes. Take Memphis for example: the letters ‘E’, ‘F’, and ‘I’ all begin with the same initial stroke and even have similarly positioned serifs. This consistency in the usage of strokes unifies the typeface and gives it personality.
noun \tərm-nəl\
TER•MI•NAL
A terminal is a type of curve in a letterform that leads to the end of a stroke. This excludes most serifs, but not all. As seen below with Clarendon, it is a rare slab face that does have terminals in the traditional sense. There is a more specific type of terminal called a ball terminal, which joins a circular stroke with the curved stroke. Both Clarendon and Archer are examples of slab serif typefaces that employ ball terminals.
Clarendon
ball terminal
terminal
ball terminal
Memphis Archer
039
040
TWO•STOREY
noun \ tü\stor-ē\
When talking about two storey letters, the only letters that apply are ‘a’ and ‘g’. When learning how to write, students are taught to write a certain way, while books portray the letters ‘a’ and ‘g’ differently. These letters are called two storey because of their characteristic of separating the letterform into into an upper and lower section. Several typefaces use zero or one of the two storey letters, while only a few use both.
Memphis
PMN Caecilia
0
Serifa
2
1
noun \‘eks\’hīt\
The letter ‘x’ sets the standard for the height of the lowercase letters in any typeface. The form of the letter ‘x’ is flat on both the top and bottom and does not have any ascenders or descenders. The x-height of a typeface affects other aspects of the typeface as well (see color and letterspacing). Typically, typefaces with lower x-heights are easier to read and therefore more often used in body copy. Slab serif typefaces are not normally considered for body copy because the serifs strain the eye and disrupt the flow of the reader. Archer, for example, was created to be used in Martha Stewart Living magazine and is actually used quite frequently in the body copy because of its short x-height.
x x x x x Archer
Archer
1
X•HEIGHT
Clarendon
2
Clarendon
Serifa
Memphis
PMN Caecilia
041
PMN Caecilia
Memphis
Serifa
Clarendon
Archer
comparing x-heights
042
ERIK WAGNER