11/23/2023 0 Comments Anatomy of a typeface![]() ![]() Stress refers to the direction of thickening in a curved stroke. The steam is the main, usually vertical stroke of a character. The spine is the main curved stroke of an S.Ī spur is a small protrusion away from the main stroke of a capital G. The shoulder is a curved stroke that advances downward from the stem in letters like h, n, and m. ![]() ![]() Unbracketed serifs rather, are attached at 90 degree angles. Bracketed serifs have supporting curves that connect the stroke to the serif such as in the example to the right. There are two kind of serifs: bracketed and unbracketed. The ear is the small protruding stroke attached to the top of a lowercase g.Ī link is the part of a lowercase double-story g that connects the two bowls.Ī loop refers to the bottom bowl of a double-story gĪ serif is a stroke protruding from the ends of the major strokes with make up a letter. The bowl of a character is a curved stroke which created a closed space within a letter such as R, P, d, and b.Ĭaps Height is the height of a capitalized letter from the baseline to the top of the character.Ī counter is a closed space within a character such as in the letters q, Q, R, O, o, P, p, a, A, d, D, g, b, and B.ĭescenders are the parts of lower case characters like q, y, p, j, and sometimes g depending on the font, that extend below the baseline. The arm of a character is any upper or lower stroke, either horizontal or slanted that connects to the rest of the character body on one end but not on the otherĪn ascender is the part of lowercase letters such as t, d, f, h, k, l, and b which extends upwards past the x-height.Ī bar is a horizontal stroke in letters such as R, t, A, f, H, and e. I should note that it isn’t absolutely necessary to memorize the entire list of typeface terminology, but familiarizing yourself with some of the basic concepts and doing your best to pick them out of typefaces/fonts on your own is a great way to train you eye, and make yourself a more effective designer. Developing a vocabulary of basic typeface anatomy informs good decisions, and allows designers to recognize typefaces and fonts in the wild that they can go on to use in their own work. It’s important for designers of both print and digital media to be able to recognize the smallest differences between fonts like this. Also, for anyone wondering, the top is Times New Roman and the bottom is Georgia. I’ll be providing a basic guide to typeface anatomy shortly. Did any of those terms confuse you? Don’t worry if they did. The most obvious giveaway is the angle of their upper serifs and the lack of a bilateral serif on the K in the second example. Very obviously, one is a serif font while the other is a san-serif, but how would someone who is less experienced know the difference between two similar fonts such as in the second image? They’re both bracketed serif fonts that have teardrop terminals and double-story Gs. Today I’m going to take that a step further and talk to you about typeface anatomy.Įveryone can tell the difference between the two fonts used by the apartment complex in the first photograph above. If you took a look at the included infographic, or have ever used a computer before you most likely now have a pretty clear idea of the differences between a serif and sans-serif font. Last week I briefly discussed the importance of font/typeface in design and using the correct font for the desired message. Share Learning Typeface Anatomy Can Help You Become a Better Designer
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