Typography can be found in some form almost anywhere you look and it can really make the difference between a decent design and a brilliant design, so learning your beaks from your bowls can make all the difference to your design ability.
Typography, which is the art and technique of arranging type, is a huge topic, so we thought we’d cover the basics as a starting point for designers just making their first foray into the field.
Despite its spelling, this is actually pronounced ‘ash’. It’s a ligature of two letters: ‘a’ and ‘e’.
This refers to the constricted opening of a glyph. Changing the size of an aperture varies the legibility (readability) of the letterform.
This is the area at the top of a character where the left and right strokes meet.
The arm is a horizontal stroke that doesn’t connect to a stroke at one or both ends, such as the top of the letter ‘T’.
This refers to the part of a lowercase letterform which sits above the x-height of a font. For ease of reading (especially prolonged reading), ascenders are really important. However, there can be readability issues if there’s too much ascender height combined with not enough x-height.
A baseline is where the feet of capital letters sit. Descenders and loops fall below this line.
This refers to the enclosed, shapely part of a letter, as seen in ‘b’ and ‘p’.
This is a sharp spur that is found at the top of some letters, such as ‘f’, ‘c’, ‘r’, and ‘a’. It acts as a decorative stroke at the end of the arm of a letter.
An alphabet is bicameral if it has an upper and lowercase letterform. As an example, Roman and Cyrillic are bicameral, whereas Hebrew and Arabic are not.
A bracket is shaped like a wedge and, in some typefaces, it joins a serif to the stem.
The height of a capital letter above the baseline.
The act of adjusting point size and letter spacing.
This is the fully or partly enclosed letterforms, such as the lower parts of ‘g’ and ‘c’.
A crossbar connects two strokes. As an example, the horizontal line in ‘H’. This is easily confused with the cross stroke which goes through the stem of letterforms such as ‘t’.
Typefaces which imitate handwriting are referred to as ‘cursive’.
The descender is the part of the letterform which falls below the baseline. The lowercase letterforms ‘y’, ‘g’, ‘q’, ‘p’, and ‘j’ have descenders, as do the uppercase letterforms ‘J’ and ‘Q’ sometimes.
Diacriticals are the accents applied to letterforms, such as in French and German, in order to strengthen the function of the glyph.
Dingbats, formerly known as printer’s flowers, are decorative elements that can range from delicate flowers to simple bullets.
A display font refers to any typeface intended to be used in short bursts. Display fonts are often made to be used at large point sizes, such as for headlines, headings, and titles.
This oversized capital letter is often seen at the beginning of a paragraph and can drop below (or climb upwards) several lines of text. It’s most commonly used in newspapers and novels.
This is the small stroke which extends from the upper-right side of the bowl in lowercase ‘g’. An ear may also be seen in lowercase ‘r’.
A ligature of ‘o’ and ‘e’.
Similar to a counter, but not quite the same, ‘eye’ refers specifically to the fully enclosed part of ‘e’.
A finial is a tapered or curved end, such as seen on ‘e’ and ‘c’.
A subcategory of the dingbat, a fleuron is a floral mark created by printers with the purpose of decoration.
This is the HTML5 tag that embeds typefaces into webpages.
As the building blocks of typography, a glyph is an element that makes up a part of a font – even dingbats and punctuation are glyphs!
A grapheme refers to any fundamental part of a language, including letterforms, punctuation, and even Chinese logograms.
The gutter is the space between the facing pages or columns of text.
If a paragraph of text is justified, it has been arranged so that there isn’t any white space at the end of a line. Every line of the paragraph begins flush left and finishes flush right.
Kerning is a technique used to enhance readability and aesthetic. It involves adjusting the proximity of adjacent letters.
This is the vertical space between each line of type. It’s called leading because, years ago, strips of lead were used to separate lines.
As much as the two are similar, legibility is not quite the same as readability. Legibility refers to the ease at which one letterform can be distinguished from the letterform next to it.
The lower part of ‘g’ that falls below the baseline is known as the ‘loop’ or ‘lobe’. This is sometimes also known as the ‘tail’ (which is also what the part of ‘y’ that descends below the baseline is called).
This is the lettered part of any identity or marque. It can be separate from its accompanying graphic.
These pull two forms together in order to create a new glyph.
The manicule is a symbol of a pointing hand and is a really popular dingbat. The manicule can also be referred to as ‘the bishop’s fist’.
A monospaced font is one in which all of the letterforms take up an equal amount of horizontal space.
OpenType was designed by Microsoft and Adobe and is an improved version of TrueType and PostScript fonts.
Oblique letterforms aren’t the same as italicised letterforms, which are purposely drawn to be different to the upright version of the same font. Oblique letterforms are simply slanted versions of the usual Roman form.
This refers to the first line of a paragraph that’s stranded at the bottom of a page.
A pica is ⅙ inches long and there are 12 points or 16 pixels in one pica. A pica is associated with column width and line length.
A pilcrow is the paragraph symbol and it denotes the presence of a carriage return (or new line).
This refers to a typographical measurement which equates to ½ of a pica or 1/72 of an inch.
Readability refers to the ease at which text can be scanned by eye.
A serif is a flare or terminating flourish found at the end of a letterform’s strokes.
The horizontal space between letterforms which separates one from another.
The spine is the main curved stroke in a lower or uppercase ‘s’.
The largely frowned upon practice of squooshing refers to digitally squashing or expanding a typeface to fit within a particular space or for aesthetic reasons.
Also known as a beak or a beard, a spur refers to the small projection from the curve of a letterform.
The stem is the vertical, full-length stroke found in upright characters.
‘TDC’ stands for Type Director’s Club and it’s a New York-based typography organisation.
The dots found above ‘i’ and ‘j’.
A type of curve at the end of a stroke; examples include the teardrop shapes at the end of ‘beak’, ‘lachrymal’, and ‘finial’.
The x-height refers to the height of the ‘x’ letterform in any typeface.
Do you want to develop your design skills? Here are five great resources that every designer needs to take inspiration from.
Typography inaweza kupatikana katika aina fulani karibu mahali popote unapoangalia na inaweza kufanya tofauti kati ya muundo mzuri na muundo mzuri, kwa hivyo kujifunza mdomo wako kutoka kwa bakuli lako kunaweza kufanya tofauti zote kwa uwezo wako wa kubuni. Typography, ambayo ni sanaa na mbinu ya kupanga aina, ni mada kubwa, hivyo tulidhani sisi <unk>d kufunika misingi kama hatua ya kuanzia kwa wabunifu tu kufanya safari yao ya kwanza katika uwanja. Licha ya herufi yake, hii kwa kweli hutamkwa <unk>ash<unk>. Ni ligature ya herufi mbili: <unk>a<unk> na <unk>e<unk>. Hilo linarejelea ufunguzi uliofupishwa wa herufi. Kubadilisha ukubwa wa aperture hutofautiana legibility (readability) ya herufi. Hii ni eneo juu ya tabia ambapo kushoto na kulia strokes kukutana. Mkono ni stroke usawa kwamba haina kuunganisha na stroke katika moja au pande zote mbili, kama vile juu ya herufi <unk>T<unk>. Hii inahusu sehemu ya herufi ndogo ambayo inakaa juu ya urefu wa x wa fonti. Kwa urahisi wa kusoma (hasa kusoma kwa muda mrefu), ascenders ni muhimu sana. Hata hivyo, kunaweza kuwa na masuala ya usomaji kama kuna <unk>mengi sana ascender urefu pamoja na si kutosha x-urefu. Mstari wa msingi ni mahali ambapo miguu ya herufi kubwa hukaa. Descenders na loops kuanguka chini ya mstari huu. Hii inahusu sehemu iliyofungwa, iliyoundwa ya herufi, kama inavyoonekana katika <unk>b<unk> na <unk>p<unk>. Hii ni msukumo mkali unaopatikana juu ya herufi fulani, kama vile <unk>f<unk>, <unk>c<unk>, <unk>r<unk>, na <unk>a<unk>. Hufanya kazi kama mlipuko wa mapambo mwishoni mwa mkono wa herufi. Alfabeti ni bicameral kama ina upper na lowercase herufi fomu. Kwa mfano, Kiroma na Cyrillic zina herufi mbili, ilhali Kiebrania na Kiarabu hazina herufi hizo. Bracket ina umbo la mviringo na, katika aina fulani za herufi, huunganisha serif kwenye shina. Urefu wa herufi kubwa juu ya mstari wa msingi. Kitendo cha kurekebisha ukubwa wa nukta na nafasi ya herufi. Hii ni kabisa au sehemu ya kufungwa herufi fomu, kama vile sehemu ya chini ya <unk>g<unk> na <unk>c<unk>. Mstari wa msalaba huunganisha mistari miwili. Kama mfano, mstari wa usawa katika <unk>H<unk>. Hii ni rahisi kuchanganyikiwa na msalaba stroke ambayo huenda kupitia shina la herufi kama vile <unk>t<unk>. Aina za herufi ambazo huiga maandishi ya mkono huitwa "cursive". Mshuko ni sehemu ya herufi ambayo huanguka chini ya msingi. Fomu ndogo za herufi <unk>y<unk>, <unk>g<unk>, <unk>q<unk>, <unk>p<unk>, na <unk>j<unk> zina wazao, kama vile aina kubwa za herufi <unk>J<unk> na <unk>Q<unk> wakati mwingine. Diakritiki ni alama za herufi zinazotumiwa katika herufi, kama vile katika Kifaransa na Kijerumani, ili kuimarisha kazi ya herufi. Dingbats, zamani inayojulikana kama maua ya printer, ni vipengele vya mapambo ambayo yanaweza kuanzia maua laini hadi risasi rahisi. Fonti ya kuonyesha inahusu aina yoyote ya herufi iliyokusudiwa kutumiwa katika milipuko fupi. Fonti za kuonyesha mara nyingi hutengenezwa kutumiwa kwa ukubwa mkubwa wa nukta, kama vile vichwa vya habari, vichwa vya habari, na majina. Herufi hii kubwa mara nyingi huonekana mwanzoni mwa kifungu na inaweza kushuka chini (au kupanda juu) mistari kadhaa ya maandishi. Ni kawaida kutumika katika magazeti na riwaya. Hii ni stroke ndogo ambayo inaenea kutoka upande wa juu-kushoto wa bakuli katika herufi ndogo <unk>g<unk>. Kinywa kinaweza pia kuonekana katika herufi ndogo <unk>r<unk>. Mshikamano wa <unk>o<unk> na <unk>e<unk>. Sawa na counter, lakini si sawa kabisa, <unk>eye<unk> inahusu hasa sehemu iliyofungwa kabisa ya <unk>e<unk>. A finial ni mwisho tapered au curved, kama inavyoonekana juu ya <unk>e<unk> na <unk>c<unk>. Fleuron ni alama ya maua iliyoundwa na wachapishaji kwa kusudi la mapambo. HTML5 ni tag ambayo huingiza fonts katika kurasa za wavuti. Kama vitalu vya ujenzi wa typography, glyph ni kipengele ambacho hufanya sehemu ya font <unk> hata dingbats na punctuation ni glyphs! Grapheme hurejezea sehemu yoyote ya msingi ya lugha, kutia ndani aina za herufi, alama za alama, na hata alama za Kichina. Mfereji ni nafasi iliyo kati ya kurasa au safu za maandishi zinazokabiliana. Kama kifungu cha maandishi ni haki, imekuwa kupangwa hivyo kwamba hakuna nafasi nyeupe katika mwisho wa mstari. Kila mstari wa fungu huanza upande wa kushoto na kumalizika upande wa kulia. Kerning ni mbinu kutumika ili kuboresha usomaji na aesthetic. Inahusisha kurekebisha ukaribu wa herufi zilizo karibu. Hii ni nafasi wima kati ya kila mstari wa aina. Inaitwa kuongoza kwa sababu, miaka iliyopita, mistari ya risasi ilitumiwa kutenganisha mistari. Ingawa mambo hayo mawili ni sawa, usomaji si sawa na usomaji. Uwezo wa kusoma unarejelea urahisi ambao herufi moja inaweza kutofautishwa na herufi iliyo karibu nayo. Sehemu ya chini ya <unk>g<unk> ambayo iko chini ya mstari wa msingi inajulikana kama <unk>loop<unk> au <unk>lobe<unk>. Hii wakati mwingine pia inajulikana kama <unk> mkia <unk> (ambayo pia ni nini sehemu ya <unk> y <unk> kwamba inashuka chini ya msingi inaitwa). Hii ni sehemu ya herufi ya utambulisho wowote au brand. Inaweza kuwa tofauti na picha yake ya kuandamana. Fomu hizi mbili huunganishwa ili kuunda herufi mpya. Manicule ni ishara ya mkono unaoonyesha na ni dingbat maarufu sana. Manicule pia inaweza kutajwa kama <unk> bishop<unk>s fist<unk>. Fonti monospaced ni moja ambayo wote wa letterforms kuchukua kiasi sawa cha nafasi ya usawa. OpenType ilitengenezwa na Microsoft na Adobe na ni toleo lililoboreshwa la fonti za TrueType na PostScript. Oblique letterforms si sawa na italicised letterforms, ambayo ni makusudi kuchorwa kuwa tofauti na toleo la wima wa font sawa. Maandishi ya mviringo ni matoleo ya kawaida ya Kiroma yaliyochongoka. Hii inahusu mstari wa kwanza wa kifungu ambacho kimekwama chini ya ukurasa. Pica ni 1⁄6 inchi kwa urefu na ina 12 pointi au 16 pixels katika pica moja. Pica inahusishwa na upana wa safu na urefu wa mstari. Pilcrow ni alama ya kifungu na inaonyesha uwepo wa kurudi gari (au mstari mpya). Hii inahusu kipimo cha typographic ambacho ni sawa na 1⁄2 ya pica au 1⁄72 ya inchi. Uwezo wa kusoma unarejelea urahisi ambao maandishi yanaweza kuchunguzwa kwa jicho. Serif ni flare au kumaliza kusitawi kupatikana mwishoni mwa strokes letterform ya. Nafasi ya usawa kati ya herufi ambayo hutenganisha moja kutoka kwa nyingine. Mshale ni stroke kuu curved katika chini au kubwa <unk>s<unk>. "Kutumia ""squash"" ni njia ya kupanua au kupanua herufi ili ifanane na nafasi fulani au kwa sababu za urembo." Pia inajulikana kama mdomo au ndevu, spur inahusu projection ndogo kutoka curve ya herufi. Msingi ni mstari wa wima, wa urefu kamili unaopatikana katika herufi zilizo wima. "TDC" inasimama kwa ""Type Director's Club"" na ni shirika la uchapaji lililo New York." Dots kupatikana juu ya <unk>i<unk> na <unk>j<unk>. Aina ya curve mwishoni mwa stroke; mifano ni pamoja na maumbo teardrop mwishoni mwa <unk>beak<unk>, <unk>lachrymal<unk>, na <unk>finial<unk>. X-urefu inahusu urefu wa ‘x herufi fomu katika font yoyote. Je, ungependa kukuza ustadi wako wa kubuni? Hapa kuna rasilimali tano ambazo kila mtengenezaji anahitaji kuchochewa.