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Typography, Referenced
M
ost professions develop their own
terminology to facilitate communication
of thoughts and ideas, and typography is
no exception. It is important for all design
practitioners to be well-versed in the language of type so
they can communicate clearly with one another, especially
with others who work with and design type or lettering.
Designers also often need to explain their creative
choices to those who do not have an expertise in type, and
being able to champion and explain their design choices is
an important part of that process. Fluency in the language
of typography indicates a knowledge of the fi eld, an ability
to educate clients, and a capacity to help others appreciate
the work of a type designer.
For those reasons, here’s a glossary of common typogra-
phy terms and language.
Typography
Terminology
and Language
By Tony Seddon, with Ina Saltz
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A
Accent
See Diacritic
Adaptable fractions
Fractions made up of three separate
characters, where the height of the
diagonal equals the height of the
numerals on either side. These are also
known as built fractions. Some fonts
contain adaptable fractions as glyphs, but
these also can be created using a font’s
existing characters.
Alignment
The positioning of text within a text
block, where the type lines up along an
invisible axis, normally horizontal or
vertical. Alignment can be fl ush left (all
lines start at the same left-hand vertical
axis, also referred to as left-justifi ed
or ragged right), fl ush right (all lines end
at the same right-hand vertical axis,
also called right-justifi ed or ragged
left), justifi ed (aligned on left and right
sides of the text block), centered (all lines
have the same central vertical axis no
matter their length) or asymmetrical
(226) (free-form).
Alley
See Column gutter
Alphanumeric
A set of alphabetic characters or a run
of text that consists of or uses numbers
and letters.
Alternate characters
See Expert characters
Ampersand
The glyph representing the word “and,”
derived from the Latin word et.
Analphabetic forms
Characters that are part of an alphabet
but do not appear in the alphabeti-
cal hierarchy, for example accents, the
umlaut, or the asterisk.
Aperture
See Counter
Apex
The upper point at which the stems of a
character meet to form a junction with
an angle of less than ninety degrees,
for example the top-most point of an
uppercase (332) A. Apex points can be
pointed, rounded, fl at, or extended.
Arc
A curved stroke that extends from a
straight stem but does not form a bowl; for
example, the bottom of a lowercase (332) j
or the top of a lowercase f.
Arm
A stroke that extends either horizontally
from a vertical stroke or runs diagonally;
for example, the top or bottom of an
uppercase (332) E or the strokes of an
uppercase X.
Ascender
The part of a lowercase (332) character
that extends above the x-height of the
other lowercase characters in a typeface;
for example, the top of the lowercase k, h,
and d.
Asymmetrical
See Alignment
B
Bad break
An incorrectly hyphenated word, a word
break that does not make sense in terms of
the structure of a sentence, or a line break
that creates a widow or orphan. See also
Widow; Orphan
Ball terminal
A circular termination at the end of an
arm in characters such as lowercase (332)
a, c, and r.
Base align
To align or position type on a common
baseline across columns or pages.
Baseline
The invisible line on which the majority of
characters in a typeface rest. A character’s
descender always dips below the baseline.
Baseline grid
An invisible grid (220) running across
a page or spread based on a common
baseline between separate blocks of text.
Beak
A sharp projection that most often
appears at the end of the arc of a
lowercase (332) f, as well as in the
characters c, j, r, and y.
Bitmap font
A font made up of pixels set at a specifi c
size that cannot be scaled up. Bitmap
fonts work together with outline- or
vector-based fonts, where the bitmap font
produces the on-screen display of the
outline font. Also commonly called
screen fonts.
Blackletter
A typeface style based on early written
forms that features elaborate thick-to-
thin straight strokes and serifs, with
narrow counterspaces and tight leading,
thereby producing a heavy or “black”
color on the page. The Gutenberg Bible,
the fi rst book ever printed with movable
type, was set in a blackletter typeface
to mimic the manuscript writing of the
time. Blackletter, which has experienced
a resurgence as a punk or Goth style of
typeface, is also referred to as Old English.
Body size
The point size of a font. This originated
from the height of the metal block on
which a character sat in the days of hand
composition.
Body text
Also referred to as body copy, body type,
or text type (212), the paragraphs in a
document that make up the bulk of its
content. The body text should be set in
a legible (330) style and size, typically
between 8 and 12 points. All body text in
any single document is commonly set in
the same font and on the same leading.
Boldface
A font that has been drawn with a darker,
thicker stroke such that it will stand out
from the body text on a page. It shares
common design characteristics with its
“root” font but is heavier in appearance.
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Bowl
The curved stroke enclosing the rounded
or elliptical shape formed in characters
such as D, b, and the top half of g. Bowls
can be closed or open where the stroke
does not meet with the stem completely,
as in the uppercase (332) P of Goudy (163).
Also sometimes referred to as an eye.
Bracketed serif
A serif transitioning from the stem of
a character in one unbroken curve. The
font Century (159), for example, has
bracketed serifs.
Bullet
A dot or other character set to the left
of listed items to show these as indi-
vidual but related points that deserve
particular attention.
C
Calligraphic
Roman or italic typefaces that appear
hand-rendered with a fl at-nibbed pen or
brush. See also Uncial
Call out
A section of body copy pulled out from
the main portion of text and emphasized
using boldface or a larger point size.
Cap height
The height measured from the baseline to
the top of uppercase (332) letters in a font.
This may or may not equal the height of
the ascenders. See also Ascender
Cedilla
An accent that appears primarily in
French and is used to soften the letter C. It
looks like this: Ç.
Centered
See Alignment
Character or character code
The word character is used diff erently
in diff erent contexts. Generally, it refers
to a particular letterform or glyph. In
the context of modern computing, it is
often defi ned as a code with an attached
meaning. In most operating systems
today, 8-bit units of data known as a bytes
represent character codes.
Cicero
A unit of measurement that expresses font
size, used commonly in mainland Europe
but not in the United Kingdom. A cicero
equals 12 didot points and is slightly larger
than a pica. See also Didot point
Color
The tonal value or visual weight of a
block of text, expressed as a grayscale.
Many factors infl uence typographic color,
including letterform style, stroke width,
weight, size, and leading of the text that
makes up the text block.
Column gutter
The space between two columns of type.
Also known as an alley.
Compressed
Typefaces that tend to be a little weightier
than condensed fonts, better suiting them
for use as display fonts than for body text.
See also Condensed
Condensed
Narrow versions of characters designed
to allow type to be set across a smaller
measure. Correctly condensed fonts retain
readability (330) despite a reduction in
character width.
Counter
The space formed within characters such
as c, e, and g. It can be open or closed. Do
not confuse counters with bowls, which
are strokes rather than areas.
Cross bar
The horizontal bar that connects two
strokes in characters such as uppercase
(332) A or H.
Cross stroke
The horizontal stroke that cuts across
the stem of characters such as lowercase
(332) f or t.
Crotch
The pointed spaced formed when an arm
or an arc meets a stem, for example, in the
inner top corner of an E. Crotches can be
acute (less than ninety degrees) or obtuse
(more than ninety degrees).
Curly quotes
See Typographer’s quotes
D
Decorative
Decorative typefaces, also called
ornamental, specialty, or novelty, do not
fi t easily into any other type classifi cation.
They can be highly stylized and may only
have one weight or case. These typefaces
are mainly used for display text such as
titles or headlines, as they are not easily
legible (330) at small sizes. Useful to evoke
a particular subject, mood, or historical
period. Rosewood is an example of a
decorative font.
Descender
The part of a lowercase (332) character
that extends below the baseline of the
other lowercase characters in a typeface.
For example the bottom portion of the
lowercase g, p, and y.
Diacritic
A mark added to a character that gives
it a specifi c phonetic value. For example,
circumfl ex, acute and grave accents,
cedilla, and umlaut. Often simply called
accents.
Didot point
A unit of measurement that expresses font
size, used commonly in mainland Europe
but not in the United Kingdom. A didot
point equals 0.0148 inches (0.0376 cm).
Dingbat
A typeface composed of decorative bullets,
symbols, or illustrations. Zapf Dingbats
is arguably the best-known example of
a dingbat font. Dingbats are also called
Pi Fonts and were known historically as
printers’ fl owers.
Discretionary hyphen
A hyphen inserted into a word as a
suggested point for division, should the
need arise during text setting. This only
appears in the text if the word is broken.
Display face
A slightly bolder version of a standard text
font. More eff ective for use at larger sizes
with headlines or signage.
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Double-storey
A lowercase (332) a with a closed bowl
and a stem with a fi nial arm above, or a
lowercase g with a closed bowl and ear
above a linked loop. For example, Gill
Sans (175) features a double-storey a and g,
while Futura’s (174) are single-storey.
Drop cap
A character at the start of a paragraph.
The letter is typically increased in size to a
depth of two or more lines of body copy.
Dumb quotes
The term used to describe prime marks
when used incorrectly as quotation marks
or apostrophes instead of typographer’s
quotes. See also Typographer’s quotes
E
Ear
The small projection that appears on some
versions of lowercase (332) characters
such as g. On the g, it typically sits on the
top right side.
Egyptian
A typeface style that features slab or
square serifs distinctly lacking in contrast
(230) to the thickness of the stems.
Memphis (188), named after the capital
of ancient Egypt, is an example of an
Egyptian style of typeface.
Em
A unit of measurement equal to the square
of the font’s point size. Traditionally the
width of the font’s widest letter, invariably
the uppercase (332) M.
Em dash
A dash equal in width to one em for any
given font. An em dash (—) indicates
missing material or a break in a conversa-
tion or train of thought.
Em space
A nonbreaking space equal in width to one
em, or the width of the font’s point size.
Also known historically as a mutton.
En
A unit of measurement equal to half the
width of one em.
En dash
A dash equal in width to an en for any
given font. An en dash (–) indicates a
range of values, for example pages
8–24, and can sometimes be used in
compound adjectives.
En space
A nonbreaking space equal in width to one
en, or half the width of an em space. Also
known historically as a nut.
Expanded
A typeface with characters made wider
without adding weight, or thickness, to
the stems.
Expert characters
A nonstandard letterform designed as part
of a typeface but that may incorporate a
swash, accent, or some other additional
feature. Or it may simply be an alternative
form of a standard character. Initially
Type 1 Postscript expert sets were
separated from standard weights in any
given typeface and had to be installed
separately. The advent of the OpenType
format means all characters can now be
incorporated into a single font fi le for
each weight.
Extended
A typeface with characters expanded hori-
zontally that retain their height.
Extenders
A common overarching name for
ascenders and descenders. See also
Ascender; Descender
Eye
See Bowl
F
Finial
A tapered, curved terminal at the end of
a stroke, for example at the bottom of a C.
Swashes and ornamental fl ourishes are
also commonly called fi nials.
Flush left
See Alignment
Flush right
See Alignment
Font
All the characters, including numerals,
punctuation, and symbols, for one
typeface at one specifi c point size and
weight. The terms “font” and “typeface”
are often taken to have the same meaning,
but there is a diff erence. This is best
illustrated through the use of an example.
Perpetua bold italic is a typeface;
10-point Perpetua bold italic is a font.
See also Typeface
Font family
The collective point sizes, weights, and
styles of one set of typefaces. A typical
family contains at least four styles; the
most common are roman, italic, bold, and
bold italic. In practice, many families
contain several additional styles such as
light, demi, extra bold, heavy, and so on.
G
Geometric
A typeface style with characters designed
around geometric shapes.
Glyph
The shape of each individual character in
a font. Standard characters and symbols
can both be called glyphs.
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Gothic
A typeface style that in modern terms
means something quite diff erent from
the blackletter (192) style popular in
Gutenberg’s time. Modern Gothic
typefaces are sans serif with little
contrast (230) between stems and other
strokes and no ornamentation. The trans-
position of the name comes from the
fact that modern gothics equal the bold
presence of their predecessors. Gothic-
style fonts often contain the word as part
of their name, as in Franklin Gothic (172),
Trade Gothic (180), and so on.
Greeking
The use of dummy text (often Latin) to
indicate where real text will ultimately
appear in a layout. It also can refer
to the gray bars substituted for text too
small to be displayed legibly (330) on
a computer screen.
Grotesk
An alternative description for a sans
serif typeface.
H
Hanging indent
Indented text that extends to the left of
the rest of a paragraph’s lines of text.
Hyphenation and justifi cation
Often abbreviated to H&J, the settings
that dictate the letter and word spacing
across the measure of a line of justifi ed
text. Settings can be applied automati-
cally or adjusted manually for lines that
produce awkward spacing due to word
lengths.
Hyphenation zone
The area at the end of a line of text within
which it is acceptable to hyphenate a word.
I
Indent
A line of text set to a narrower measure
than the full column width. Often
indicates the beginning of a new
paragraph in running text.
Initial cap
A large ornamental character at the
beginning of a paragraph, usually more
decorative than a simple drop cap.
Italic
A sloped version of a roman typeface
always angled to the right and often
used to indicate emphasis. A true italic
has been completely redrawn with
specifi c refi nements in the design of
the characters. The fi rst italics, which
date back to the beginning of the
sixteenth century (10), were based on
the handwriting style of the time. A true
italic font never contains a double-storey
lowercase (332) character.
J
Justifi ed
See Alignment
K
Kerning
The adjustment of spacing between
individual characters in a line of text. All
page-layout software applies automatic
kerning to text, but it is not always
visually pleasing, especially at larger
point sizes. Manual kerning improves the
appearance and legibility (330) of text
when the white space (228) between two
characters appears visually awkward.
Kerning pairs
The pairs of characters in a font most
likely to create visually displeasing
typesetting, such as Ty, Va, or YA. A
well-designed font contains embedded
information that defi nes correct kern-
ing for character pairings that need
special attention.
L
Leading
The vertical distance, measured in points,
from one baseline to the next in a body of
text. Leading is also called line spacing
(335) or line feed. The term originates
from the days when typesetters inserted
lead strips of varying thickness between
lines of metal type to increase or decrease
line spacing.
Legibility
The measure of how easy or diffi cult it
is to distinguish one letter of a typeface
from another. The responsibility for
good readability (330) lies primarily
with the typeface design rather than the
typographic styling of a layout. Legible
typefaces should not try too hard to
draw attention to their design or style.
See also Readability
Letter spacing
Not to be confused with kerning (334),
letter spacing involves the average space
between all characters in a block of text.
See also Tracking
Ligature
A single character composed of two
characters paired together in certain com-
binations that strongly depend on choice
of typeface. The most common examples
are fi and fl .
Line spacing
See Leading
Lining fi gures
See Old Style
Loop
A closed counter that extends below the
baseline and connects to a bowl by a link.
For example, a double-storey g.
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