alignment (uh-LYNE-ment) n. 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 (AL-fuh-bet) n. 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 (AM-per-sand) n. 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 (AP-er-chur) n. the opening of a partly enclosed letter, like the gap in a lowercase /c/ or /e/.
apex (AY-peks) n. 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 (uh-POSS-truh-fee) n. 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 (uh-SEN-der) n. part of a letter that extends above the meanline.
auto-hyphenation (AW-toh-hy-fuh-NAY-shun) n. 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 (BAYSS-lyne) n. imaginary line that letterforms sit on in lines of text.
bitmapped (BIT-mapt) adj. showing the squared-off forms of pixels.
body (BOD-ee) n. main part of a text, also called body copy.
bold (BOHLD) n. 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 (BOHL) n. 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 (BRAK-it) n. curved transitional area between a stroke and a serif.
byline (BY-lyne) n. credit line—often, obviously beginning with the word “by.”
capitals (KAP-ih-tuhlz) n. 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 (KAP-lyne) n. imaginary line at the top of capital letters.
centered (SEN-terd) adj. 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 (KAIR-ik-ter) n. any mark in a typeface: letter, numeral, punctuation mark. When counting characters to determine line length, a space counts as a character.
clotheslining (KLOHZ-lyne-ing) n. 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 (KOL-uh-fon) n. 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 (KOL-um) n. vertical division of a page.
composition (kom-puh-ZISH-un) n. layout, the arrangement of elements on the page including the arrangement of the negative space.
contrast (KON-trast) n. difference in stroke width within a letterform, also called stroke modulation. High contrast is elegant and fragile. Low contrast is simple and sturdy.
counter (KOWN-ter) n. 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 (KROSS-bar) n. 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 (dih-SEN-der) n. part of a letter that extends below the baseline.
dingbat (DING-bat) n. 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 (dis-PLAY-type) n. type set in large sizes, usually for headlines. Compare text type.
drop capital (DROP-KAP-ih-tuhl) n. 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 (EER) n. 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 (EM) n. 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 (EM-dash) n. 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 (EN-dash) n. used in place of the words “to” or “through.” It’s half the width of an em-dash. Keyboard it: Option-hyphen.
exdent (EKS-dent) n. 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 (FAM-uh-lee) n. set of typefaces with coordinated forms and characteristics.
figures (FIG-yerz) n. 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 (FIN-ee-uhl) n. 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 (FIKST-width) adj. when each character in a font has the same width, also called monospaced.
fleuron (FLUR-on) n. 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 (FLOR-ee-ay-tid) adj. decorated with flowers and/or leaves.
flush (FLUSH) adj. aligned.
font (FONT) n. 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 (FUT-noht) n. additional details or information typeset at the end of a text, typically indicated within the main text with a superscripted dingbat or numeral.
glyph (GLIF) n. character, form of a letter.
graphic element (GRAF-ik-EL-uh-ment) n. non-alphanumeric mark. Examples include a bullet, pilcrow, or arrow.
grid (GRID) n. imaginary lines defining the margins and gutters on a page—to which you will most definitely be aligning everything, right?
gutter (GUT-er) n. space between columns.
hairline (HAIR-lyne) n. 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 (HANG-ing-punk-choo-AY-shun) n. letting quotation marks, hyphens, and periods sit slightly outside the measure so the edge of the text looks straight.
hangline (HANG-lyne) n. 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 (HED) n. title, also called headline, text that is uppermost in hierarchy.
hierarchy (HY-er-ar-kee) n. order of importance. If everything is important, nothing is. Much of our work as typographers is to create clear typographic hierarchy.
horsey (HOR-see) adj. large and clunky, inelegant.
hyphen (HY-fen) n. 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 (IN-dent) n. 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 (ih-NISH-uhl-KAP) n. 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 (INK-trap) n. 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 (ih-TAL-ik) n. 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 (JUS-tih-fyde) adj. flush on both the left and right sides of the text block. If you dare to justify narrow columns, rivers will result.
kerning (KUR-ning) n. 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 (LED-ing) n. 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 (lej-ih-BIL-ih-tee) n. 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 (LET-er-spay-sing) n. 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 (LIG-uh-chur) n. 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 (LYNE-spayss) n. distance from baseline to baseline, also called leading. Whatever you call it, keep it bigger than your word spaces. Always.
lining figures (LYNE-ing-FIG-yerz) n. 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 (LOH-er-kayss) n. minuscule forms of letters, colloquially called smalls. Named for the drawer their ancestral metal letters lived in, which was the lower one.
margin (MAR-jin) n. negative space from the edge of the page to the elements on it. Margins wider than gutters.
meanline (MEEN-lyne) n. imaginary line across the top of lowercase letters.
measure (MEZH-er) n. 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 (MON-oh-spayst) adj. each character having the same width. See fixed width. Typewriter faces are typically monospaced to imitate their origins.
negative leading (NEG-uh-tiv-LED-ing) n. 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 (oh-BLEEK) n. slanted weight of a typeface based on the roman. Compare italic. Many sans serifs have obliques rather than true italics.
oldstyle figures (OHLD-styl-FIG-yerz) n. 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 (OP-tih-kuhl-uh-LYNE-ment) n. 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 (OR-fun) n. 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 (PAIR-uh-graf) n. group of related sentences in a text.
paragraph indication (PAIR-uh-graf-in-dih-KAY-shun) n. 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 (PY-kuh) n. 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 (PIG-BRIS-uhlz) n. 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 (PILL-kroh) n. classic symbol for a new paragraph. ¶ is the oldest differentiating mark there is.
point (POYNT) n. 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 (POYNT-syze) n. 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 (PRYME-marks) n. punctuation marks used to indicate inches (double prime) and feet (single prime). Sometimes called straight quotes when used incorrectly as quotation marks.
proportional spacing (pruh-POR-shun-uhl-SPAY-sing) n. 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 (punk-choo-AY-shun) n. analphabetic marks used to separate sentences, clarify meaning, and make texts easier to read.
quotation marks (kwoh-TAY-shun-marks) n. 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 (RAG) n. 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 (RAG-id) adj. not flush.
readability (reed-uh-BIL-ih-tee) n. degree to which a body of text can be easily read. Compare legibility.
recto (REK-toh) n. 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 (rih-VURSS-KON-trast) n. 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 (rih-VY-vuhl) n. typeface designs derived from an earlier classic design.
rivers (RIV-erz) n. 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 (ROH-mun) n. the upright, regular weight of a typeface.
rule (ROOL) n. 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.
script (SKRIPT) n. typefaces based on handwriting or calligraphy.
serif (SAIR-if) n. small stroke at the terminal of a main stroke.
set solid (SET-SOL-id) adj. when point size is equal to leading. Used for display sizes. Compare negative leading.
setting (SET-ing) n. short for “typesetting.”
slab serif (SLAB-SAIR-if) n. rectangular serifs that meet the main strokes with or without bracketing.
small capitals (SMAWL-KAP-ih-tuhlz) n. 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 (SOFT-rih-TURN) n. line break that is not a paragraph break.
spine (SPYNE) n. the curved stroke that makes an /S/.
stem (STEM) n. the main vertical stroke or strokes of a letter.
stress (STRESS) n. 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 (STROHK) n. line making up a letterform. Letters are primarily stroke-based forms.
subhead (SUB-hed) n. 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 (SWAHSH) n. an extended decorative flourish on a letter. One per page max, possibly one per year.
tail (TAYL) n. the descending stroke on a /Q/.
terminal (TUR-mih-nuhl) n. ending of a stroke in a letterform, a key distinguishing feature in a typeface design.
text figures (TEKST-FIG-yerz) n. numerals that are based on the x-height plus ascenders and descenders, also called oldstyle figures.
text type (TEKST-type) n. type set in small sizes, usually set between 7 and 10 points, and intended for continuous reading.
tracking (TRAK-ing) n. 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 (TOO-let-er-hy-fuh-NAY-shun) n. 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 (TYPE-fayss) n. 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 (TYPE-fayss-klass-ih-fih-KAY-shun) n. 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 (TYPE-set-ing) n. practice of composing type on a page.
typographer (ty-POG-ruh-fer) n. person who designs typefaces or who sets type.
typographic color (ty-puh-GRAF-ik-KUL-er) n. overall gray value or texture of a body of text. Even “color” is your highest typographic priority.
typography (ty-POG-ruh-fee) n. art and craft of using typefaces.
u&lc or u/lc (YOO-and-EL-SEE) abbr. common abbreviation for upper and lowercase.
underline (UN-der-lyne) n. line used underneath a text to give emphasis or differentiation.
uppercase (UP-er-kayss) n. capital letterforms. Named for the upper drawer of metal type, where they were kept.
vernacular (ver-NAK-yuh-ler) adj. commonplace, ordinary, or everyday.
verso (VUR-soh) n. originally the back side of a sheet of papyrus. Today, the left-hand page in a book. Compare recto.
vertex (VUR-teks) n. 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 (WAYT) n. varieties of related character sets within a typeface. Text faces typically contain roman (regular), bold, and italic versions at minimum.
widow (WID-oh) n. 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 (WURD-spayss) n. 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 (WURD-mark) n. a logo made of letterforms rather than a symbol.
x-height (EKS-hyte) n. 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.
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