Learn: Anatomy of a Typeface
-
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.