Designing Type

Group E
Chelin | Rachel | Chiquita | Feryn | Maydeline | Crystallyn
Thinking Before Drawing
Outline a Design Brief
As with any design projects, it is prudent to have a clear vision of its purpose. A
type design brief is like a charter path: It asks you questions, and the answers will
guide you to where you want to be. Here are some potentially important question to
ask when creating your own design brief:

1. Will your font be project specific, or have a broad application?

2. Will that application require a large or small font size?
3. What makes it unique?
4. Have you come across any fonts you could use for inspiration?
Things to Consider in
Designing Typeface
Ascender height X-height Cap height Baseline Descender height

The portion of the The distance The height of a The line that The portion of a
part of the between baseline capital letter above letters sit upon. letter that extends
lowercase that is and meanline of baseline. below the baseline
higher than lowercase letters.
x-height.
Overshoot
Overshoot of a round or pointed letter
(like O or A) is the degree to which it
extends higher or lower than a
comparably sized "flat" letter (like X or H),
to achieve an optical effect of being the
same size; it compensates for
inaccuracies in human visual perception.
Kerning
Kerning is a term used in the design world to indicate adjusting of the space
between letters in a typeface, to make them visually spaced correctly.
Specifying the target audience

Designing for a target audience, instead of

designing blindly, results in a more effective
design.
Letter Constructions
Letter Constructions

Many different forms and

constructions must be taken
into account when designing
a new type.
Method of Geometrical Construction for Large Letters

In studying this alphabet, top and bottom guide lines and a center or waist-line should be drawn,
making the letters not less than one inch high, preferably much larger, and the letters drawn in
outline, freehand, fixing the proportion and characteristics of each letter firmly in the mind.
Construction on Squares
Example
Anatomy of Type
Anatomy of Type
● In typography, there is a standard set of terms used to describe the parts of a
character. These terms and parts of the letters are referred to as “letter
anatomy” or “typeface anatomy”.

● By breaking down letters into parts, we can have a better understanding of

how type is created and altered and how to use it effectively.

● Understanding this typeface anatomy is crucial

 Leg
A portion of a letter
attached downwards,

R
attached at one end and
free at the other.

Example : k and R
Arm
A horizontal/upward, sloping stroke
that doesn’t connect to a stroke or
stem on one or both ends.

Examples: The top of the capital T

and the horizontal strokes of F and
E.
 Stem &
Arc of Stem
Examples of Stem
Stem is a vertical, full-length
stroke in upright characters.

Arc of stem is a curved stroke

that is continuous of stem.

Examples of Arc of stem

 Shoulder
The curved stroke aiming
downward from a stem.

The curve at the beginning of a leg

of a character.

m
 Ascender
An upward vertical stroke found on
the part of lowercase letters that
Ascender line
extends above typeface’s x-height.

x-height Example: The upward vertical stem

on h & b.
 Descender
The part of the letters that extends
below the baseline.

baseline In most fonts, descenders in

lowercase characters such as g,p,q.
Descender line

Some fonts also use descenders for

the tails on a few uppercase letters
such as J and Q.
baseline
Ascender &
Descender
The ascenders of some letters may
touch/almost touch letters with
descenders which could cause
awkward/distracting patterns. To
resolve the problem, you can
increase the leading (line
spacing) between lines of type.
Crossbar
The horizontal strokes in letters.

The crossbar is different from arm

and cross stroke because each end
connects to a stem/stroke.

Example: A, H
Cross Stroke
The horizontal stroke across the
stem of a lowercase t or f.
Bowl
Bowl is the curved part of the
character that encloses the circular /
curved parts of some letters.

Example: d, b, o, q, a, D, and B.

Any parts of a letter enclosing a

space is a bowl, including g and D
or B. The curved strokes of C are
also sometimes referred to as
bowls.
Spine
The main curved stroke of a
lowercase.

It’s called a spine because of the

curvature of the stroke is
reminiscent of a human spine.

Example : S
Serif
A stroke added at the beginning
and end of the main strokes of a
character.
Types of Serif
Terminal
Terminal considered to be just the
end of any stroke that doesn’t
include a serif. The terminal is a
type of curve.

Finial is a tapered curved end on

letters such as the bottom of C or
E or the top of a double-storey A

Ball terminal is a combination of a

dot or circular stroke and the
curved bit at the end of some tails
and the end of some arms
Beak is a type of decorative stroke at
the end of the arm of a letter,
connected to the arm by the terminal.
Similar to a spur or serif, it is usually
more pronounced.

The teardrop ends of strokes in letters

of some typefaces.
Swash
Decorative letters that have a
flourish or an extended stroke,
terminal, or serif at the beginning
or end of a character.

They add an elegant touch to a

straightforward letterform.
 Examples of typefaces with swash

ITC Zinzinnati ITC Edwardian Script

Levato Wedding Singer

Tail
A descending stroke, often decorative.

In typography, the descending, often decorative stroke on the

letter Q or the descending, often curved diagonal stroke on K or
R is the tail. The descender on g, j, p, q, and y are also called
tails.
Bracket
A curved or wedge-like connection between
the stem and serif of some fonts.

Brackets can have different shapes with

deep or gentle curves. Brackets may taper
all the way to the end of the serif or attach
at a midpoint before the serif ends.
 Counter &
Open Counter
Counter : The open space in a
fully/partly closed area within a letter.
Example of counter
Letters with closed counters:
A,B,D,O,P,Q,R,a,b,d,e,g,o,p,q

Open Counter : The partially open

space within a character that is open
on one end.

Example of open counter Letters with open counters: c,f,h,i,s

Eye
Much like a counter, the eye refers
specifically to the enclosed space in
a lowercase ‘e’.
Aperture
The aperture is the partially
enclosed, somewhat rounded
negative space in some
characters for instance n, c, s, the
lower part of e, or the upper part
of a double storey a.
Vertex

The outside point at the bottom or

top of a character where two
strokes meet.

A point that terminates a line or

curve or comprises the intersection
of two or more lines or curves.
Ear
An ear is a decorative flourish.
The ear can be distinctive,
identifying element of some
typefaces.
Link
A stroke that connects the top and
bottom bowls of lowercase
double-story g’s.

Definition: In typeface anatomy,

the link is that small, usually curved
stroke that connects the bowl and
loop of a double-storey g.

Also Known As: neck, terminal

Loop
The loop is the enclosed or partially
enclosed counter below the baseline
that is connected to the bowl by a link.

The enclosed or partially enclosed

extenders on cursive p, b, I and similar
letters are also called loops.

Both uppercase and lowercase

cursive letters often have extra loops
and flourishes.
Apex
A point at the top of the character
where two strokes meet.

Apex may be a sharp point, blunt,

or rounded as an identifying
feature for some typefaces.
Spur
Spur is a tiny projection off a main
stroke.
 X-height &
Cap height
X-height is a measurement that
Example of X-height
measure the height of all lowercase
letters. It’s called X-height because the
letter x determines the measurement.

Cap height is a measurement of all

capital letters. The most accurate
measurement is taken from
flat-bottomed characters like E.
Example of Cap height
Tittle
A small distinguishing mark on a
lowercase i or j.

It is also known as dot.

Diacritics
Diacritics, known as accents are
the accent marks used on some
characters to denote a specific
pronunciation.

Commonly occurs in French,

German, Italian, Spanish, and
other languages.
Commonly seen diacriticals
include acute, cedilla,
circumflex, grave, tilde, and
umlaut.
Ligature
Two or more letters are joined together to
form one glyph or character.

In typography some ligatures represent

specific sounds or words such as the AE or æ
diphthong ligature. Other ligatures are
primarily to make type more attractive on the
page such as the fl and fi ligatures. In most
cases, a ligature is only available in extended
characters sets or special expert sets of
fonts.

Ex: æ or ƒƒ
References
https://typedecon.com

https://visme.co/blog/type-anatomy/

https://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology/level-3/signs-and-symbols/accen
ts

https://ilovetypography.com/2010/09/01/ode-fresh-start-for-a-broken-script/

https://www.kellscraft.com/EssentialsofLettering/EssentialsofLetteringCh02.html