Unit 4 Typography

dingbat

a decorative element available in font formal. ornaments, shapes, pictures, symbols. standard ding bat fonts are symbol, wingdings, webdings

typeface

a family of alphabetic characters, numbers, punctuation marks and other symbols that share a consistent design. example: times new roman, arial

font

a family of alphabetic characters, numbers, punctuation marks and other symbols that share a consistent design; often used synonymously with typeface

indent

a feature that sets a temporary left, right or left and right margin for paragraph text

shadow

a formatting style that adds depth to text or other objects, making them appear more three-dimensional

em dash

a line the width of a capital M in whichever font is being caused; is used to indicate a break in thought. can be used in the place of a colon, semicolon, parentheses, or commas

en dash

a line the width of a capital N in whichever font is being caused; is used to indicate a break in thought. can be used in the place of a colon, semicolon, parentheses, or commas

texture

a special formatting style creates the illusion of actual textures such as wood, metal, objects in a nature, etc.

text wrap

a technique that allows text to flow around a graphic image

point

a unit of measurement used to describe the size of text. one point=1/72 of an inch. 72 points is approximately 1 inch. body text -9 to 12 points

widow/ orphan

a very short line of text (single sentence of phrase) that appears at the end or beginning of a paragraph or column

tracking

adjusting the spacing between words, phrases, and extended blocks of text

3-D

an effect that gives the illusion of depth

initial cap

an enlarged letter that is used as the first character of a paragraph. may be dropped or raised

base line

an imaginary horizontal line along which the base of a letter sets

character

any written or printed letter, number, or symbol

bold

font style that makes characters appear darker than the surrounding text

script

formal or informal typefaces designed to imitate handwriting. should never be set in all capital letters. generally used with invitations, greeting cards, advertisements example: magnecto, vladimir script

greeking

nonsense text used as a placeholder for actual text. aka lorem ipsum

italics

printed in or using characters that slope to the right

small cap

smaller uppercase letters that are about the same height is lowercase letters

reverse type

special formatting style that uses light color text on a dark background

contoured text

text that follows an outline in some type of curved or irregular pattern. might be used to place text around a basketball or shape. aka type on a path

kerning

the adjustment of space between pairs of letters to improve its appearance or alter its fit

font style

the appearance of type. special formatting applied to text. most common: bold, italics, underline. other affects: shadow, small cap, outline, 3-D

drop cap

the first letter in a story that is enlarged and lowered so the top of the letter is even with the first line of text and the base of the letter drops next to the rest of the paragraph. aka initial caps

hanging indent

the first line of a paragraph is flush left, but all remaining lines are indented. also used as bulleted lists

cap height

the height of capital letters from the baseline to the top of caps, most accurately measured on a character with a flat bottom (E,H, I etc.)

x-height

the height of lowercase letters, specifically the lowercase x, not including ascenders and descenders

character width

the horizontal distance of a charcter

desender

the part of a character (g, l, p q, y and sometimes j) that descends (falls)below the baeline

ascender

the part of a lowercase character(b, d, f, h, k, l, t) that extends above the x-height

leading

the space between lines of text. sometimes known as line spacing. pronounced ledding. example: if your font size is 12 pt. and you want double spacing set your leading to 24 pt.

typography

the study of all elements of type as a means of visual communication; includes the shape, size, and spacing of characters

serif

typeface with projections extending off the main strokes of some letterforms. easier to read. usually used for large bodies of text. examples: times new roman, garmound

sans serif

typeface without serifs. "sans" means without. used for displays, special emphasis. do not type small bodies of text in sans serif font. example: arial, verdana

decorative/ display font

typefaces designed to attract attention; used in limited situations, mostly in large sizes for headlines or titles. not appropriate for body text. example: gig, chiller, curlz