Typography Anatomy presentation 2016

Basic Anatomy of Type in detail

1. Typography

2. A letter or group of letters of
the size and form generally used to
begin sentences and proper nouns.
Also known as “capital letters”
Uppercase

3. The smaller form of letters
in a typeface.
Lowercase

4. A stroke added as a
stop to the beginning &
end of the main strokes
of a character.
Serif

5. The height of lowercase x;
does not include ascenders
or descenders
x-height

6. The invisible line where all
characters sit
Baseline

7. Imaginary line running along
the top of non-ascending,
lowercase letters
Mean Line

8. Typestyles
Roman Upright Letterforms
Italic Letterforms slant to the right
Small CapsSmaller versions of regular caps

9. Anatomy of Type
Typeface anatomy or letter anatomy
refers to the individual segments and features
of a particular character.
Certain pieces are common to most characters
and some are unique to only
one or two characters in a typeface
Strokes Counters Serifs

10. Strokes
Think about the strokes you make with a pen when printing
letters and you'll have an idea what the broad meaning of stroke is for a font.
Most letterforms are made up of several specific types of strokes:
Stems - In a way, it's like a flower stem.
Extenders - Reach for the sky or touch your toes.
Arms - If a letter were a person, these would be like arms.
Cross bars - Think of them as connecting strokes.
Cross Strokes - Cross your t's.
Tail - A few letters love to wag their tails.
Leg - Most letters don't have one to stand on.
Bowls - Not for soup or cereal, they hold nothing.

11. An upward vertical stroke
found on the part of lowercase
letters that extends above the
typeface’s x-height.
Ascender

12. The part of the letters that
extends below the baseline.
Descender

13. The invisible line marking
the height of ascenders
in a font.
Ascender Line

14. The invisible line marking
the lowest point of the
descenders within a font.
Descender Line

15. The fully closed,
rounded part of a letter.
Bowl

16. Vertical, full-length
stroke in upright characters.
Stem

17. The horizontal stroke in letters.
Also known as a bar.
Cross Bar

18. A horizontal stroke that
intersects the stem of
a lowercase t or f.
Cross Stroke

19. A descending stroke,
often decorative.
Tail

20. The lower, down sloping stroke
of the K and k
(excluding any serif)
is called a leg.
Leg

21. Counters
This part of a letter is what's inside the bowl.
It's white space or negative space, not a stroke at all.
There are other more specific terms for some of the
negative space that defines a letterform
Eye I spy a special counter.
Aperture This space could escape.

22. The open space in a
fully or partly closed area
within a letter.
Closed counter

23. Much like a counter,
the eye refers specifically to
the enclosed space in
a lowercase ‘e’
Eye

24. Serifs
Probably the most familiar characteristic of type,
serifs come in three basic shapes and fall into one of
two groups. Similar to serifs, each of these letter parts may be
understated or may form a distinctive, readily identifiable
element of a typeface:
Ears - Gee, why can't I hear you?
Spurs - Not just for cowboys.
Beaks - No birds here.

25. A small stroke extending from
the upper-right side of the bowl of
lowercase g; also appears in the
angled or curved lowercase r.
Ears

26. A small projection off a
main stroke
Spurs

27. A sharp spur, found particularly
at the top of letters in some
20th century Romans.
Beak

28. The main curved
stroke of a lowercase or
capital S
Spine

29. The curved stroke aiming
downward from a stem
Shoulders

30. A small stroke extending from
the upper-right side of the bowl of
lowercase g; also appears in the
angled or curved lowercase r
Loop

31. A stroke that connects the
top and bottom bowls of
lowercase double-story g’s.
Link

32. The terminal is a type of curve.
The end of a stroke that does
not include a serif
Terminals

33. The tear-dropped ends
of strokes in letters of some
typefaces
Tear-drop Terminal

34. A circular form at the end
of the arm in letters
Ball Terminal

35. A descending stroke,
often decorative.
Barbs

36. Apex
A point at the top of a character
where two strokes meet

37. A horizontal or upward,
sloping stroke that does not
connect to a stroke or stem on
one or both ends
Arms

38. A thin stroke usually
common to serif typefaces
Hairline

39. A line marking the
height of uppercase letters
within a font
Cap line

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