typography terms

Question 1

titling figure

Answer 1

.uniform height and alignment
Same height as upper-case letters
.can be designed with two different spacing formats: proportional and tabular
.works well in all-cap headlines, as well as in columns of numerals

Question 2

line length

Answer 2

.also known as column width
.determined by point size
.larger point size = longer line length
.too short: too many hyphenated words
.too long: too hard to find the beginning of the next line
.general guide: 45-75 characters per line

Question 3

em space

Answer 3

.width of a lowercase ‘m’
.equal to point size
.used in metal type as paragraph indent

Question 4

hyphen

-

Answer 4

.a hyphen is a short horizontal line used within words
.it is shorter than en dash, and commonly used to connect compound word
.avoid having more than 2 consecutive hyphens
.avoid too many in a paragraph
.avoid using one in a heading
.avoid any awkward hyphenations that changes meaning of the word/info

Question 5

old style figure

Answer 5

.varying heights and alignments as lower cases
.generally preferred in body text
.0,1, 2 are of X-height
6,8 have ascenders
3,4,5,7, and 9 have descenders

Question 6

en dash

–

Answer 6

.used to show a range in numbers and dates
.ex: 1 –6
.shortcut: option + -
.half the size of an em dash

Question 7

justified

Answer 7

.left and right sides flushed
.both side aligned to the column
.adds/takes away spaces between words - problematic!
.creates a geometric type block
.color, texture and readability of type lessened
.type can become stretched and squeezed

Question 8

flush left

Answer 8

.text is aligned to the left side of the column
.right side is ragged
.more common, easier to read than flush right

Question 9

proportional lining

Answer 9

.proportionally-spaced figures have varying, or proportional total widths so their spacing looks even and balanced
.best for headlines and some text
.allows for a more even texture
.spacing is closer together than tabular lining
.characters do not line up between lines of text
.spacing is more consistent

Question 10

hanging punctuation

Answer 10

.the punctuation on the aligned side of text goes into the margin
.creates a professional look
.creates appearance of a more visually aligned edge
.tool: optical margin alignment
.for InDesign: type > story > design

Question 11

ligature

Answer 11

.two or more letters combined into one character
.in typography some ligatures represent specific sounds or words such as the AE or æ diphthong ligature
.creates a smoother transition or connection between characters by connecting crossbars, removing dots over the i, or otherwise altering the shape of the characters

Question 12

em dash

—

Answer 12

.separates the information in a sentence
.can be used as a pause in thought
.length of x-height
.or width of uppercase M
.ex:
.shortcut: shift + option + -

Question 13

readability

Answer 13

.readability is the arrangement of the fonts and words in order to make written content flow in a simple, easy to read manner
.responsibility of the designer
.color, font size, line spacing, alignment, letter spacing, word spacing

Question 14

leading

Answer 14

.also known as line spacing
.makes big pieces of text legible
.makes it easy to go from a line of text to the next
.it is the space between base lines
.seen as first number/second number
.the first number is font size, the second number is leading
.auto leading is 120%, ex: 10/12, take first number and multiply it by 1.2
.set solid: both numbers are the same, ex: 36/36
.negative leading: leading is smaller than the font size

Question 15

river

Answer 15

.gaps in typesetting that appear to run through a paragraph of text due to coincidental alignment of spaces
.squinting can help you see this effect more as it appears more prevalent
.destroys of the consistent texture of the body copy

Question 16

small caps

Answer 16

.Short uppercase letters that can blend in with lowercase text
.Either height of lowercase letter or slightly taller than lowercase letters
.Designed for display typefaces or text
.Be careful of fake (computer-generated) small caps:
Are too light
Narrow and tightly-spaced
Don’t blend it well together
.Can find them in Glyphs Panel in illustrator, Indesign, etc. under small capitals from capitals

Question 17

centered

Answer 17

.left and right side ragged
.successful when used in short text blocks
.can decrease readability
.can create symmetry
.lines of type centered within the columns

Question 18

widow

Answer 18

.a fewer number of text that end at the of a column or paragraph
.single line of text consisting of one or more words or a hyphenated word that is at the end of a paragraph or column
.at the bottom
.can fix with font size, and “keep lines together” tool

Question 19

tracking

Answer 19

.overall adjustment of space applied equally to a word, a line, or a passage of text
.aka letter spacing
.normal, loose or tight
.loose: too much spacing, slows down readability
.tight: too little spacing
.touching: characters are touching
.global

Question 20

legibility

Answer 20

.legibility is the measure of how easy or difficult it is to see the differences between one letter of the typeface and another
.a characteristic of a typeface
.comes into play in type design

Question 21

rags (ragged text)

Answer 21

.an uneven or irregular margin for a vertical column text
.usually it’s the right margin that’s ragged (as in the flush left/rag right setting), but either or both margins can be ragged.
.bad Rag: can distract viewer with large white space
.good Rag: soft unevenness, without any lines that are too long or short
.can be easy to pick up - it is too harsh
.should not draw attention
.can fix with: hyphens, font size, spacing, line length

Question 22

en space

Answer 22

.named after the typographic unit of ‘EN’
.space that is half (½) the width of Em space
.em space is 18 points = en space is 9 points
.is the practical minimum space for a paragraph indent

Question 23

Ellipsis

Answer 23

.sequence of equally spaced three dots or periods ( . . . )
.used to indicate an omission, pause, or break in text
.depending on the character and typeface the spacing of the ellipsis spacing can differ

Question 24

tabular lining

Answer 24

.each character has the same width
.is the total of the width of the numeral itself plus the space on both sides
.spacing varies
.characters are lined up between lines of text

Question 25

orphan

Answer 25

.an orphan is a single word, part of a word or very short line, it appears at the beginning of a column or a page
.single word or some
.left behind = orphan
.text at the top
.can fix with font size, and “keep lines together” tool

Question 26

flush right

Answer 26

.text is aligned to the right side of the column
.left side is ragged
.hard to read, b/c we read from left to right
.can use to align with other design elements

Question 27

kerning

Answer 27

.the spacing between individual letters or characters
.kerning is focused on how type looks — creating readable text that’s visually pleasing
.aka letter spacing
.local
.two characters with vertical strokes need the most amount of space

Question 28

word spacing

Answer 28

.when normal: it is fixed, the spacing stays the same no matter the column width
.loose: spacing is too big, this reduces reading speed
.tight: reduced spacing
.to increase: option command \
.to decrease: option command delete

Question 29

paragraph indent

Answer 29

.calls attention to a new paragraph
.do not use for first paragraph
.creates breaks instead of one large text block
.size of one em or size of one lead
.ex: 12 point size, indent would be 14.4 (multiply 12 by 1.2)
.^this uses auto leading
.for em: numbers are the same, font size = 12/ indent would be 12

Question 30

all caps

Answer 30

.have to read letter by letter
.causes slower reading
.strains the eyes
.avoid using all caps in text block/paragraph

Question 31

italic, bold, reverse type

Answer 31

.they all reduce readability
.reverse type: dark background, light type face
.use sans-serif for reverse type, with serif typefaces, the thin strokes dissapear

Question 32

vertical type

Answer 32

.avoid: (creates an inconsistent width)
.narrow and wide characters, weird alignment
w
l
k
z

Question 33

shortcuts

Answer 33

.en dash: option hypen –> –
.em dash: shift option hypen –> —
.ellipsis: option ; –> …
.foot mark (prime mark): shift option e –> ´
.inch mark (double prime) shift option g –> ˝