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Questions and Answers
What is the optimal line length for body text?
What is the optimal line length for body text?
What font size range is recommended for body copy in print design?
What font size range is recommended for body copy in print design?
Which type of alignment is considered the most common for text?
Which type of alignment is considered the most common for text?
What is the primary purpose of a pull quote?
What is the primary purpose of a pull quote?
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What is a drop cap used for in typography?
What is a drop cap used for in typography?
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How much margin space is typically recommended from the trim edge of a page?
How much margin space is typically recommended from the trim edge of a page?
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Which statement best describes the concept of bleed in printing?
Which statement best describes the concept of bleed in printing?
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What is a ligature in typography?
What is a ligature in typography?
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What is the recommended text size increase for body copy when designing for the web?
What is the recommended text size increase for body copy when designing for the web?
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What describes a reader's spread in publication design?
What describes a reader's spread in publication design?
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Study Notes
Typographic Design Study Guide
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Capline: The height of capital letters measured from the baseline to the top of capital letters (e.g., E, H, I).
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Ascender Line: Imaginary line marking the top of lowercase letters that lack ascenders.
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Meanline: Imaginary line marking the top of lowercase letters that have ascenders.
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Baseline: Imaginary line at the bottom of most lowercase and capital letters.
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Spine: The backbone of the letterform providing structure.
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Counter: Partially or fully enclosed space within a character.
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Ear: Small stroke extending from the top of lowercase g.
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Ascender: Portion of lowercase letters that extend above the x-height (e.g., b, d, f, h, k, l, t).
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Shoulder: Curving stroke of letters like h, m, n.
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Serif: Projections extending from the main strokes of serif typefaces.
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Stem: Major vertical or diagonal stroke.
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Link: Stroke connecting parts of a two-story lowercase letter (e.g., g).
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Bowl: Curved stroke forming an enclosed area within a character.
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Descender: Portion of letters that fall below the baseline (e.g., g, j, p, q, y).
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X-height: Height of the body of the lowercase letter x.
Type Styles
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Popular Type Faces: List including Serif-24pt, Garamond, Times, Caslon, Minion, Palatino.
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Sans Serif-24pt: Helvetica, Impact, Futura, Verdana, Myriad.
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Script: 24pt; Edwardian Script, Brush Script, Snell roundhand.
Body Copy Print (10pts – 12pts)
- Model Releases: Recent case of photo use for commercial purposes without release resulted in a settlement exceeding one million dollars.
- Sizing: 10pt text Garamond, Auto leading- Optical Kerning (12 pt text Garamond, Auto leading- Optical kerning).
Body Copy Electronic (16pts – 18pts)
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Web Design: Increase type size by 30% for web/screen design.
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Sizing: 16pt, 18pt Body Copy is suitable for web design.
Display Type (14pts – 300pts)
- Display/Headline Type: 14pts and above. Often sans-serif.
- Sizes: 14pts, 18pts, 24pts, 36pts, 48pts, 60, 72 (72pts = 1 inch).
- Helvetica Bold: A common choice for display type.
Text Alignment
- Alignment: Left-aligned is most common. Right alignment, Center alignment and Justification are other options.
Legibility vs. Readability
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Legibility: How well letters are seen.
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Readability: How easily words and phrases are read.
Leading, Kerning, Tracking
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Leading: Space between lines of type.
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Kerning: Space between two letters.
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Tracking: Space between multiple letters.
Cutline or Photo Caption
- Caption Example: "Blue jay flying through boreal forest."
Orphan & Widow
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Orphan: Last line of a paragraph that’s separated and appears at the top of the following page.
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Widow: Last line of a paragraph at the beginning of a page which is separated.
Line Length
- Body Text Line Length: Optimal line length for body text is 50-75 characters.
Pull Quote
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Definition: Key phrase, quotation or excerpt from an article, used for emphasis on the page.
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Use Cases: Attracting attention, highlighting a key topic.
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Features: Smaller selection of text, pulled out and quoted; Larger typeface.
Gutter
- Definition: The space between columns of text (usually .125 inches).
Readers Spreads
- Definition: Consecutive placement of pages by page number (e.g., 1, 2/3, 4/5, 6/7,...).
Printers Spreads
- Definition: Printer's imposed order of pages. This differs from the reading order.
Bleed
- Definition: Overlap of printed area beyond the trimmed edge (1/8th to 1/4th inch).
Margin
- Definition: White border space around text, typically .25 to .5 inches from page edge.
Ligature
- Definition: Two or more letters joined to form a single glyph.
Text Wrap
- Definition: Feature in applications to put text around an image or diagram.
Drop Cap
- Definition: Large capital letter at the beginning of a paragraph or section.
Teasers
- Definition: Glimmer of content on magazine covers to pique reader interest.
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Description
This study guide covers essential terms and concepts in typographic design. Focus on the anatomy of letters, including elements like capline, baseline, and ascender. Perfect for students learning about typography and graphic design.
