Describing type

1. Describing type
Thomas Cavanagh

2. Typeface & font
Typeface is the group of fonts, for example
Times new roman, meaning the specific font
would be Times new roman italic.
Times new roman italic

3. Upper case / Caps (or capitals)
Using capital letters generally is to make specific
parts of text stand out more, and in some
situations act more aggressive. This is opposed
to using smaller letters (lower case)
E.g. UPPER CASE

4. Lower case
This is smaller text as opposed to uppercase
(capitals)
E.g. lower case

5. Numerals
A figure/symbol, that demonstrates a number.

6. Glyph
A symbol that forms the appearance of a
character. Other common glyphs are question
marks, bullet points for example.

7. Point size - leading
Point size - the size of the text written, 12 has
become the default size in word processing.
Leading - How text is spaced in vertical lines.

8. Alignment styles
To ‘align’ (move/set) the text
left, right or centre.
Initial - Sets the property to
its default value
Justify, flush, etc. Are other
types of alignment styles.

9. Kerning
Just like leading, this adjusts the space of type,
but between the letters.

10. Tracking
This is similar to kerning, but once every letter’s
space has been adjusted, tracking can be used
to adjust the whole words letter spacing at once.

11. Dingbats
These are characters/symbols that replace
normal letters and numerals.