Anatomy of type
upper case - capital letters, also known as "caps".
lower case - the small letters of the alphabet.
baseline - refers to an invisible line that the characters are standing on.
meanline - an invisible line that runs along the top of lowercase characters.
x-height - height of the text bodybetween the meanline & baseline.
ascender - strokes on the letters [ b, d, h ] that rise above the meanline.
descender - strokes on the letters [ p, y, g ] that go below the baseline.
counter - space that totally or partially closes inside the letters [ b, d, p ].
serif - finishing strokes that project from the main stroke of a letter.
ligatures - where two or more characters are joined as a single unit [ fi, ff, fl ].
Type is an essential part of any design, as text to read, or as a visual element. Selection of a typeface can create a mood for your design. Type can be curved or straight and there are thousands of variations.
It has four basic categories :
serif - lines extend from characters, traditional style
sans-serif - without serif, a modern, simple, clean style
display - decorative, headline advertising style
script - based on calligraphy and handwriting style
type do's :
create a visual hierarchy using different sizes
contrast elements using different font styles
use colour to create emphasis
type don'ts :
have two script fonts on the same page
use script and italic fonts together
mix several different decorative fonts
create an interesting but unreadable page
