Anatomy of a Typeface

Cap height – The maximum height of  uppercase letterforms. Determines pt. size.

X-height – The height of the main body of a lowercase letterform.

Baseline – The line that most of the letterforms sit upon.

Serif – A line that sits at the end of some strokes.

Stem – A vertical stroke.

Crossbar – A horizontal stroke.

Ascender – Strokes that take the letterform above the typeface’s x-height.

Desecender – Strokes that take the letterform below the typeface’s baseline.

Bowl – A curved stroke on a letterform that connects back to its main body.

Ligature – Two or more letterforms are joined together to create a single glyph.

Aperture – An opening in the letterform.

Finial – A tapered or curved end to a stroke.

Hairline – Thinner strokes on an (often humanist) letterform.

Shoulder – A curved stroke originating from a stem.

Spine – The curved stroke of an ‘S’ letterform.

 

Information sourced from: Typedia.com. (2018). Typedia: Learn: Anatomy of a Typeface. [online] Available at: http://typedia.com/learn/only/anatomy-of-a-typeface/ [Accessed 26 Sep. 2018].