Glossary

alignment how the right and left sides of a text block are treated: flush left, flush right, centered, or justified. Flush left is often, nearly always right, especially in digital environments…and that’s not a pun we can do anything about.

alphabet writing system wherein one character stands for each sound in the language. A technological invention c. 1500 BCE from the Phoenicians. If you’ve ever wondered where the word “phonetics” comes from, now you know.

ampersand ligature for the word “and” from the Latin “et.” Best used for 2 things that are a set—black & white or rhythm & blues makes sense—but it’s not a substitute for every “and” in your text.

aperture the opening of a partly enclosed letter, like the gap in a lowercase /c/ or /e/.

apex the point where two strokes meet at the top of a letter, as in /A/. Compare vertex, which is the same meeting at the bottom. Yes, there’s a word for everything.

apostrophe the mark that stands for a missing letter, as in “don’t,” or shows possession, as in “the dog’s breakfast.” An apostrophe is the same character as a single closing quotation mark. Not sure you have the right one? It will be the same form as the comma in that typeface, sitting up at the capline instead of on the baseline.

ascender part of a letter that extends above the meanline.

auto-hyphenation hyphenation automated by software. Auto-hyphenate justified type for better color. And set your preferences to a minimum of 3 letters before and after a hyphen.

baseline imaginary line that letterforms sit on in lines of text.

bitmapped showing the squared-off forms of pixels.

body main part of a text, also called body copy.

bold heavier weight of a typeface. Btw, if it is bolder, does it really need to be bigger too? Streamlined typography is a feather in your cap.

bowl the rounded stroke enclosing the counter of a letter, as in /b/, /p/, or /o/. The bowl is the stroke. The counter is the hole it keeps.

bracket curved transitional area between a stroke and a serif.

byline credit line—often, obviously beginning with the word “by.”

cap height distance from baseline to capline.

capitals uppercase characters. When set in capitals, words lose their ascender/descender silhouette—the shape your eye actually reads by. Okay for 3 words, less friendly for 30.

capline imaginary line at the top of capital letters.

centered set ragged on both right and left edges. Beautiful when you mean it, poems, wedding invitations, gravestones, might be a cop out if you simply haven’t decided. Centered heads with centered text. Flush left heads with flush left text.

character any mark in a typeface: letter, numeral, punctuation mark. When counting characters to determine line length, a space counts as a character.

clotheslining aligning multiple columns along the same top hangline and varying the depths of each. We think it is the most beautiful way to typeset a bunch of narrow columns, but we might be biased since we designed this page.

colophon typographic specifications, usually listed at the end of text. The place where a designer admits what they used. Recommended to read these, and to write your own.

column vertical division of a page.

composition layout, the arrangement of elements on the page including the arrangement of the negative space.

contrast difference in stroke width within a letterform, also called stroke modulation. High contrast is elegant and fragile. Low contrast is simple and sturdy.

counter the enclosed or partly enclosed space inside a letter, like the white space at the center of an /o/. And just like in donuts—it’s the counter space that makes it what it is.

crossbar the horizontal stroke joining two stems, as in /A/ or /H/. Where it sits—high or low—is one way to tell two faces apart.

descender part of a letter that extends below the baseline.

dingbat non-alphanumeric character in a typeface such as a star, arrow, or heart. In some fonts every character is a dingbat, and most have at least a few sprinkled in for fun.

display type type set in large sizes, usually for headlines. Compare text type.

drop capital capital letter at the beginning of a text that is inset two or more lines deep into the first paragraph. Optically align the baseline of your drop cap to the text beside it. As a drop cap gets bigger its sidebearings get bigger too, so you’ll need to pull it slightly left to compensate. A drop cap should look flush left to the text it is inset into, not indented.

ear the small stroke projecting from the bowl of a lowercase /g/. A tiny detail that you might not notice until you’re choosing between two typefaces for your headline at 2 in the morning.

em relative measure equal to the point size of the type. Here are our relative measures in typography: 1 em equals the point size. 1 en equals half an em.

em-dash longest dash, used for a break in thought in a sentence or a credit line at the end of a text. Keyboard it: Option-shift-hyphen. For a break in thought—like this—or the credit at the end.

en-dash used in place of the words “to” or “through.” It’s half the width of an em-dash. Keyboard it: Option-hyphen.

exdent paragraph indication where the first lines of each paragraph are shifted to the left, also called hanging indent or outdent. Two ems is the minimum exdent. Less than that is too subtle and runs the risk of looking like a mistake. You can comfortably exdent by more than you can indent.

family set of typefaces with coordinated forms and characteristics.

figures numbers in typography are called figures, or numerals. A number is the quantity and a figure is the character that stands for it, which is why a typeface contains figures and not numbers. Lining, oldstyle, and text figures are the ways they are drawn.

finial the tapered end of a stroke that has no serif. Often seen at the bottom of a lowercase /f/ or the lower right of lowercase /a/.

fixed width when each character in a font has the same width, also called monospaced.

fleuron decorative character, usually in the shape of a leaf or flower. Why? Because a printer in 1500 decided the page needed flowers, and frankly, why not?

floriated decorated with flowers and/or leaves.

flush aligned.

font used interchangeably with the word “typeface” today, its original meaning was a single point size and weight in a specific typeface. Good to know and understand, but there is no need to be pedantic about it.

footnote additional details or information typeset at the end of a text, typically indicated within the main text with a superscripted dingbat or numeral.

glyph character, form of a letter.

graphic element non-alphanumeric mark. Examples include a bullet, pilcrow, or arrow.

grid imaginary lines defining the margins and gutters on a page—to which you will most definitely be aligning everything, right?

gutter space between columns.

hairline very thin strokes in a letterform. Refers to the thinnest parts of the strokes in high-contrast typefaces and sometimes used to identify the thinnest weight of a typeface.

hanging punctuation letting quotation marks, hyphens, and periods sit slightly outside the measure so the edge of the text looks straight.

hangline the imaginary line across the top of a page or column that the elements hang from. The top counterpart of the baseline: type sits on a baseline and hangs from a hangline. See clotheslining, which is what happens when several columns share one.

head title, also called headline, text that is uppermost in hierarchy.

hierarchy order of importance. If everything is important, nothing is. Much of our work as typographers is to create clear typographic hierarchy.

horsey large and clunky, inelegant.

hyphen shortest of the horizontal punctuation marks, used only for hyphenation. Use hyphens for hyphenation only. They are not a substitute for bullets, en-dashes, or em-dashes.

indent paragraph indication where the first line of each paragraph is shifted to the right by a small amount, usually 1 or 2 ems. One em is typically enough on a narrow or medium column width. No need to indent the first paragraph—it gives you a nice square corner to start with, and there is no body copy above it to distinguish it from.

initial cap letter at the beginning of a text that is set in a larger point size. Sits on the same baseline as the first line, unlike a drop cap. Use an initial cap on the first paragraph only, and indicate the remaining paragraphs in another way.

ink trap a notch cut into a letterform where two strokes meet, so that spreading ink fills this tiny negative space rather than blotting. A solution to a problem that largely no longer exists with improvements in paper and ink technologies, and the prevalence of digital publishing.

italic slanted weight of a typeface. True italic letterforms are not based on their roman counterparts—they are drawn, not simply tilted. If your software offers to slant a roman for you, we recommend you politely decline.

justified flush on both the left and right sides of the text block. If you dare to justify narrow columns, rivers will result.

kerning adjustment of the space between two characters to make it look more even. Compare tracking. Kerning is usually necessary on display type. Look especially for poor spacing around punctuation, in all-caps settings, and on lining figures used anywhere they are not in need of lining up—unlike in mathematical tables.

leading distance from baseline to baseline, also called linespace. As column width widens, so should leading because the eye has further to travel back to the next line.

legibility used interchangeably with “readability,” its true meaning is the degree to which an individual letterform can be easily read. Compare readability. Legibility is the letter. Readability is the paragraph. A perfectly legible typeface can be typeset into very low readability paragraphs…if it’s set poorly, but we know you’re not going to do that.

letterspacing see tracking. (Note: There’s a famous quote about letterspacing lowercase involving the theft of sheep and, well, you might say we’re related to it by marriage.)

ligature two characters joined into one. /fi/, /fl/, /ffi/. Your software might do it for you automatically, but you can switch it off as needed.

linespace distance from baseline to baseline, also called leading. Whatever you call it, keep it bigger than your word spaces. Always.

lining figures numerals that are all the same height as the capital letters. Lining figures are monospaced so that they will align when you typeset them in mathematical tables. Many typefaces only contain lining figures, but if a typeface has oldstyle figures, those are the ones to use within body copy instead.

lowercase minuscule forms of letters, colloquially called smalls. Named for the drawer their ancestral metal letters lived in, which was the lower one.

margin negative space from the edge of the page to the elements on it. Margins wider than gutters.

meanline imaginary line across the top of lowercase letters.

measure column width or line length, measured in the number of characters per line. Aim for no less than 25 characters and no more than 100.

monospaced each character having the same width. See fixed width. Typewriter faces are typically monospaced to imitate their origins.

negative leading when leading is set less than point size. May be used on display type or on all caps settings when the lack of descenders makes linespace appear larger. Compare set solid.

oblique slanted weight of a typeface based on the roman. Compare italic. Many sans serifs have obliques rather than true italics.

oldstyle figures numerals that are designed based on the x-height plus ascenders and descenders, also called text figures. Oldstyle figures are proportionally spaced, whereas lining figures are monospaced.

optical alignment adjusting alignment so things look aligned, even though they are not mechanically aligned. This is when your eye is right and the ruler is wrong.

orphan last line of a paragraph alone at the top of a column. Compare widow. Like their human counterparts, orphans and widows are lonely pieces of type—and just like us, type doesn’t like being lonely.

paragraph group of related sentences in a text.

paragraph indication differentiating groups of related sentences within a text. Indent, exdent, extra leading, a rule, size, weight—as you see in the book, there are lots of cool ways. And you wanna be cool.

pica 12 points, and 6 picas to the inch. Your software offers it in settings you’ve probably never opened, but once you measure everything with one system of measurement, you might never go back.

pig bristles excessive punctuation at ends of three or more lines of text in a row. Three lines in a row ending in hyphens, commas, or periods looks a bit messy.

pilcrow classic symbol for a new paragraph. ¶ is the oldest differentiating mark there is.

point the basic unit of type measurement—there are 12 of them in a pica and 72 in an inch. For simplicity’s sake when typesetting in digital environments, 1 point equals 1 pixel. Browsers are the exception, where an inch has 96 pixels and a point equals 1.333 of them.

point size measure of type size in points. If you’ve ever wondered where the numbers on your point size menu came from, these were the sizes metal type used to come in.

prime marks punctuation marks used to indicate inches (double prime) and feet (single prime). Sometimes called straight quotes when used incorrectly as quotation marks.

proportional spacing when each character is given the width it needs, so that an /i/ is narrow and an /m/ is wide. The opposite of monospaced, and what nearly every text typeface does.

punctuation analphabetic marks used to separate sentences, clarify meaning, and make texts easier to read.

quotation marks the punctuation marks that mark the beginning and ending of quoted speech. Compare prime marks. Real quotation marks are sometimes called curly quotes, smart quotes, or typographer’s quotes. Opening quotes are called “sixes” and closing quotes are called “nines.” A single closing quote mark is an apostrophe.

rag the uneven edge of unjustified text. A good rag is often described as similar in shape to the torn edge of a sheet of paper. A bad one makes strong shapes—a triangle, an arc, a staircase.

ragged not flush.

readability degree to which a body of text can be easily read. Compare legibility.

recto originally the front side of a sheet of papyrus. Today, the right-hand page in a book. Compare verso. In a book, recto is on the right and page 1 is always on the right.

reverse contrast when the strokes that are usually thick are thin and the ones usually thin are thick, so the horizontals carry the weight instead of the verticals. See stress.

revival typeface designs derived from an earlier classic design.

rivers when word space is optically greater than linespace, whether or not these large word spaces line up vertically. A manifestation of uneven “color,” and therefore to be avoided.

roman the upright, regular weight of a typeface.

rule a line used as a graphic element, to separate one part of a text from another or to organize a page. A rule between paragraphs is one of the ways to indicate a new paragraph, and one of the 24 chapters in the book.

sans serif typefaces without serifs. “Sans” means “without” in French.

script typefaces based on handwriting or calligraphy.

serif small stroke at the terminal of a main stroke.

set solid when point size is equal to leading. Used for display sizes. Compare negative leading.

setting short for “typesetting.”

slab serif rectangular serifs that meet the main strokes with or without bracketing.

small capitals set of capital letterforms the size of the x-height. Genuine ones are customized to match the stroke weights in the upper and lower case. Fake ones are just shrunken capitals so their stroke weights will be mismatched.

soft return line break that is not a paragraph break.

spine the curved stroke that makes an /S/.

stem the main vertical stroke or strokes of a letter.

stress the imaginary axis through the thinnest parts of a letterform. Stress can be vertical or slanted, and typically back slanted. Horizontal stress means the letterform has reverse contrast.

stroke line making up a letterform. Letters are primarily stroke-based forms.

subhead head that is lower in hierarchy than one or more heads above it. Always put more leading above a subhead than below it. It belongs to the text underneath, not the text above. No extra leading under a subhead is perfectly ok.

swash an extended decorative flourish on a letter. One per page max, possibly one per year.

tail the descending stroke on a /Q/.

terminal ending of a stroke in a letterform, a key distinguishing feature in a typeface design.

text figures numerals that are based on the x-height plus ascenders and descenders, also called oldstyle figures.

text type type set in small sizes, usually set between 7 and 10 points, and intended for continuous reading.

tracking letterspacing, overall amount of space between letters on a passage of text. Compare kerning. Never change tracking willy-nilly, line by line, or on single words. Remember: track text, kern display.

two-letter hyphenation when only two letters precede or follow a hyphen, to be avoided for aesthetic reasons. We think two-letter hyphenations look wonky. Set your hyphenation preferences to a minimum of 3 letters before and after.

typeface complete group of characters designed to work as a set. Today it is used interchangeably with the word “font,” although technically they do not share the same meaning.

typeface classification a system of organizing typefaces into categories according to design features and historical eras. The historical Vox classifications are: humanist, garalde, transitional, modern, slab serif, sans serif.

typesetting practice of composing type on a page.

typographer person who designs typefaces or who sets type.

typographic color overall gray value or texture of a body of text. Even “color” is your highest typographic priority.

typography art and craft of using typefaces.

u&lc or u/lc common abbreviation for upper and lowercase.

underline line used underneath a text to give emphasis or differentiation.

uppercase capital letterforms. Named for the upper drawer of metal type, where they were kept.

vernacular commonplace, ordinary, or everyday.

verso originally the back side of a sheet of papyrus. Today, the left-hand page in a book. Compare recto.

vertex the point where two strokes meet at the bottom of a letter, as in /V/. See apex, which is the same kind of junction upside down.

weight varieties of related character sets within a typeface. Text faces typically contain roman (regular), bold, and italic versions at minimum.

widow single word or a very short line at the end of a paragraph, also the first line of a new paragraph alone at the bottom of a column. Compare orphan.

word space space between words. Use just one space between sentences. Do we really need to explain why? A word space should run about the width of a lowercase /r/, and always look narrower than your linespacing.

wordmark a logo made of letterforms rather than a symbol.

x-height distance from the baseline to the meanline. Varies in size and ratio to cap height from face to face. The reason two faces set at the same point size may not look like the same size. Match x-heights, not point sizes, to make two faces look the same size.