Anatomy of a Typeface
Character components
Typographic characters have basic component parts. The easiest way to differentiate characteristics of type designs is by comparing the structure of these components. The following terms identify some of the components referred to in the next chapter.
AscenderThe lowercase character stroke which extends above the x-height.
BarThe horizontal stroke on the characters ‘A’, ‘H’, ‘T’, ‘e’, ‘f’, ‘t’.
BaselineThe imaginary horizontal line to which the body, or main component, of characters are aligned.
BowlThe curved stroke which surrounds a counter.
 Bracketed serifs with cupped bases |  Brecketed serifs with flat bases |  Unbracketed serifs |
 Minimum contrast |  Extreme contrast |
CounterThe empty space inside the body stroke.
Descender.The lowercase character stroke which extends below the baseline.
Loop The bottom part of the lowercase roman ‘g’.
Sans serifFrom the French, meaning “without serif”. A typeface which has no serifs.Sans serif typefaces are typically uniform in stroke width.
SerifTapered corners on the ends of the main stroke. Serifs originated with the chiseled guides made by ancient stonecutters as they lettered monuments. Some serif designs may also be traced back to characteristics of hand calligraphy. Note that serif type is typically thick and thin in stroke weight.
Shoulder
The part of a curved stroke coming from the stem.
The part of a curved stroke coming from the stem.
StemA stroke which is vertical or diagonal.
The direction in which a curved stroke changes weight.
 Oblique, or angled, stress |  Semi-oblique stress |  Vertical stress |
TerminalThe end of a stroke which does not terminate in a serif.
X-heightThe height of the body, minus ascenders and descenders, which is equal to the height of the lowercase ‘x’.
 Avant Garde |  Melior |  Goudy Oldstyle |
| X-heights vary among typefaces in the same point size and strongly effect readability and gray vaule of text blocks. | ||
Characters
The basic typographic element is called a character, which is any individual letter, numeral, or punctuation mark. The capital letters are called caps, or uppercase (u.c.) characters. Small letters are called lowercase (l.c.) characters. Numbers are called numeralsor figures.
 Modern, or lining numerals are cap height. |
 Oldstyle numerals have ascenders and descenders. |
Special characters
Pi characters are special characters used for:
 Math signs |  Punctuation marks |
 Accented characters |  Reference marks |
On Macintosh computers, special characters can be viewed for any font with the Key Caps utility under the apple menu.
Ligatures are character pairs which have been re-designed as optional single characters.
 |  |
| Standard characters set in Adobe Garamond. | Ligature characters set in Adobe Garamond Expert and Adobe Garamond Alternative. |
Aperture
Opening at the end of an open counter.Arm
A horizontal stroke not connected on one or both ends.Ascender
An upward vertical stroke found on lowercase letters that extends above the typeface’s x-height.Baseline
The invisible line where letters sit.Bowl
A curved stroke that encloses a letter’s counter.Counter
Fully or partially enclosed space within a letter.Crossbar
A horizontal stroke.Descender
A downward vertical stroke found on lowercase letters that extends below the baseline.Diagonal Stroke
An angled stroke.Ear
A small stroke projecting from the upper right bowl of some lowercase g’s.Finial
A tapered or curved end.Hairline
The thin strokes of a serif typeface.Ligature
Two or more letters are joined together to form one glyph.Link
A stroke that connects the top and bottom bowls of lowercase double-story g’s.Loop
The enclosed or partially enclosed counter below the baseline of a double-story g.Lowercase
The smaller form of letters in a typeface.Serif
“Feet” or non-structural details at the ends of some strokes.Shoulder
A curved stroke originating from a stem.Small Caps
Uppercase characters that appear as a smaller size than the capital height of a typeface. Short for “small capitals”.Spine
The main curved stroke for a capital and lowercase s.Spur
A small projection from a curved stroke.Stem
Primary vertical stroke.Tail
A descending stroke, often decorative.Terminal
The end of a stroke that lacks a serif.Uppercase
A letter or group of letters of the size and form generally used to begin sentences and proper nouns. Also known as “capital letters”.x-height
The height of the main body of a lowercase letter.
SERIF AND SANS SERIF
Typographic Measurements
