Welcome to Type Terms! The animated typographic cheat sheet. If you are new to typography or here to refresh your memory, then Type Terms is the perfect tool for you. Click the big blue button below and let's begin.
LET'S LEARN TYPE TERMSType Terms is the perfect tool for designers to learn the basics of typographic terminology. If you are new to typography or here to refresh your memory, then Type Terms is perfect for you.
Please feel free to share this on your website. All that we ask is that you link your post back to this URL. Download the press kit below to access large, medium and small versions of the 7 images below.
Avark are a Web3 Design Agency in Manchester who specialise in bespoke websites. Want to work with us? Check out some of our work or get in touch.
A Stroke attached to or extending from the open ends of a letterform is known as the Serif. Serif also refers to the general category of typefaces that have been designed with this feature. Typefaces without a serif are known as Sans-Serif typefaces. “Serif” comes from the Dutch word "schreef" meaning "line".
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTA Sans-Serif generally refers to a category of typefaces that have been designed without a Serif and contain no embellishments. The term comes from the French word “Sans”, which means "without".
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTThe Bar of a letterform is the horizontal stroke that goes across the middle of an uppercase A or H and the stroke that goes under the Eye of a lowercase 'e'. The bar can also be known as a crossbar.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTThe Eye, much like a Counter, refers specifically to the enclosed space in a lowercase ‘e’.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTA Terminal is the end of any Stroke that doesn’t include a Serif, but instead includes ball terminals and finials (curved or tapered in shape).
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTAperture is similar to a Counter but has an opening instead of being fully enclosed. The letters ‘n’, ‘c’, ‘s’ and ‘e’ all have an aperture.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTKerning, not to be confused with Tracking, is the horizontal spacing between two consecutive letters which you can manually adjust to add negative space or to take it away.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTTracking, otherwise known as letter-spacing, is similar to Kerning but affects the spacing between characters in a complete section of text instead of between only two consecutive characters.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTThe Tittle, otherwise known as a “dot”, is a small distinguishing mark, such as an diacritic on a lowercase ‘i’ or ‘j’.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTThe Shoulder of a letterform is the curved stroke extending down from a Stem. Lowercase letters such as ‘m’, ‘n’ and ‘h’ all have a Shoulder.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTCounters are found in letters that have enclosed or partially enclosed areas of white space. Letters such as ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘d’, ‘e’, ‘g’, ‘o’, ‘p’ and ‘q’. The letter ‘e’ has its own special name for its counter; the Eye.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTLowercase letters such as ‘b’, ‘d’, ‘h’, ‘k’, and ‘l’ are all Ascenders. This is because the main body of the letters extend above the X-Height. Uppercase letters are not Ascenders.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTThe curved part of the character that encloses a Counter of letters such as ‘d’, ‘b’, ‘o’, ‘g’, and a is known as the Bowl of the letterform. The curved strokes of a ‘c’ are sometimes also referred to as bowls although they aren’t closed.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTDescenders are the opposite of Ascenders. Ascenders go above the X-Height while Descenders go below the Baseline. Lowercase letters such as ‘g’, ‘j’, ‘p’, ‘q’ and ‘y’ all have descenders. Normally uppercase letters don't go below the Baseline, however you may find some typefaces that do.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTTypically found on a lower case ‘g’, an Ear is a decorative flourish that usually appears on the upper right side of the Bowl.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTA Tail is often a decorative Stroke on the letter ‘Q’, ‘K’ or ‘R’. The Descender on ‘g’, ‘j’, ‘p’, ‘q’, and ‘y’ are also known as Tails.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTA Stroke is similar to a Stem, the only different is that a stroke is known as the main diagonal part of a letterform such as in ‘N’, ‘M’ and ‘Y’. Some letterforms with two diagonals, such as ‘A’ or ‘V’, have both a stem and a stroke. The near-vertical Stroke is known as the stem in this instance and the other diagonal line is known as the main Stroke. Other letter parts such as Bars, Arms, and Bowls are collectively referred to as the Strokes that make up a letterform.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTAn Arm is a horizontal Stroke that does not connect to anything else on one or both ends.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTSometimes referred to as the Cap Line, the Cap-Height is the invisible line that marks the upper boundary of capital letters and some lowercase letters with Ascenders.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTThe X-Height is the height of a typeface’s lowercase letters (disregarding ascenders and descenders) that rest on the Baseline.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTThe Baseline is the imaginary line on which most letters and other characters sit. Descenders usually rest on the Baseline, but part of the letterform sits below the imaginary line.
SEE PREVIOUS SEE NEXTLeading, also known as line-spacing, is the vertical spacing between lines of text and is measured from Baseline to Baseline.
SEE PREVIOUSMeet your new Web3 Design Agency
avark.agency