Typography: Typeface vs Font

• Typography involves organizing letters, words and text to communicate visually
• It's where art, science and communication come together and uses language expressively and functionally in design
• Good typography is crucial in graphic design to create a solid hierarchy and graphic balance

Why Typography Matters

• Builds brand recognition by associating specific typefaces with brands
• Consistent and distinctive typography can advance a brand
• Holds the reader's attention, making a design more memorable and visually appealing
• Influences decision-making because strong fonts that support the text's theme are more persuasive

Typeface vs. Font

• Typeface and font are often confused but have distinct definitions
• Typeface is the design of the characters (e.g., Roboto, Times New Roman)
• Font refers to a specific weight, style, size, and effect of a typeface, like Roboto Bold or Times New Roman Italic
• Roboto, for instance, is a typeface comprised of 12 fonts with differing styles, sizes and weights

Anatomy of Type

• Important for designers to understand basic typography theories
• Each letter is unique in shape or letterform
• While not all 25 anatomical terms for letterforms are needed, some are crucial for selecting the right typeface for a context
• Designers should be able to articulate differences in a technically sound manner

Key Anatomical Terms

• Baseline: Imaginary line on which characters sit
• Cap Height: Imaginary line marking the height of capital letters in a typeface
• Mean Line: Imaginary horizontal line marking the top edges of lowercase letters (midline)
• X-height: Height of a lowercase letter, a visual measurement that varies between typefaces
• Ascenders: Parts of lowercase letters that extend above the x-height
• Descenders: Parts of letterforms that fall below the x-height
• Serifs: Finishing strokes at the tops and bottoms of some typefaces
• Tittle: The dot above the lowercase "j" and "i"
• Ligature: Combination of two characters into a single character for aesthetic reasons

Type Classification

• Type classification systems help to identify and apply typefaces
• Categorizing type has many layers

Old-style

• Based on Roman proportions with oblique stress
• Lowercase letters have a smaller x-height, pear-shaped terminals and small counters
• Low contrast in stroke weights
• Examples include Bembo, Garamond, and Goudy

Transitional

• More contrast between strokes than old-style typefaces
• Lowercase letters have a greater x-height and vertical or near-vertical emphasis
• Sharper serifs
• Examples: Baskerville, Bell, Bulmer, Fournier, and Perpetua

Modern

• Strong contrast in stroke weights
• Minimal, slender, flat serifs and vertical emphasis
• Examples: Bodoni, Didot, Melior, and Walbaum

Sans-serif

• Lacking serifs (sans=without in French)
• Even, constant stroke weight and vertical stress
• Italic variations often resemble slanted romans or obliques
• Examples: Akzidenz Grotesk, Franklin Gothic, Futura, Meta, and Univers

Slab Serif

• Vertical tension and consistent stroke weight
• Serifs typically have the same weight as the letterforms' stems
• Also known as Egyptian
• Examples: Clarendon, Lubalin Graph, Memphis, and Stymie

Graphic

• Distinctive and unconventional type families with graphic and artistic qualities

Script

• Borrows from calligraphy and handwriting
• Some crossover with the "handwriting" subgenre, most script type is more formal and embellished with flourishes
• Examples: Dancing Script, Storia, Fairy Fiesta, and Lobster

Blackletter

• Historical typefaces from medieval Europe, also known as "Brokenscript" or "Old English"
• Heavily ornamented caps and deep black texture
• Lowercase features dramatic thick-to-thin strokes and serifs on tiny, angular forms
• Examples: Textura, Fraktur, Old English, and Cursive

Handwriting

• Writing by the human hand with a pen or pencil
• Characteristics vary widely

Type Adjustments

• Typography involves subtle modifications to typesetting to enhance readability and visual appeal

Kerning

• Adjusting space between two letters manually for aesthetic reasons
• Inbuilt kerning alters spacing automatically
• Necessary for texts printed in all caps and headlines

Leading

• Vertical space between each paragraph line
• Historically, lead strips divided type lines in metal typesetting
• Leading value should be 1.25 to 1.5 times larger than the font size

Tracking

• Also known as "letter-spacing"
• Overall spacing of letters, adjusting space uniformly horizontally