The Big Typography Glossary
There are many different terms to learn when it comes to typography. If you’re learning graphic design, or even if you’re working on a project that’s type-heavy, it’s important that you’re up to speed with the various words and terms that you’re likely to come across.
Let’s get into them…
Font / Typeface – These two are synonymous with one another. A font (or typeface) is a collection of letter, numbers and symbols that are all in a similar style. A complete font (or typeface) usually contains upper and lowercase variants of letters, as well as a wide array of punctuation symbols.
It’s important to choose the right typeface when creating a brand image.
Font Family – It’s not uncommon to see several fonts make up a “family.” A font family is a collection of individual fonts, each in the same style but with variations in each. For example, there may be a specific font for bold, some for light, some for italic, and so on.
The Neue Helvetica font family contains a whopping 51 individual fonts in a range of styles! (source)
Character – This is the induvial symbol that makes up a font or typeface. A character can be a letter, number, punctuation mark, etc.
Alternate Character / Glyph – Both terms are synonymous. An alternate character refers to an alternate style. For example, a font with English characters may contain alternate letters that contain accents.
Serif – This is the small line or stroke that’s attached to the ends of letters. Serif is also the name given to the category of fonts that have been designed with this feature.
Sans Serif (or just Sans) – Sans = without, Serif = line, literally “without line.” This refers to typefaces that don’t include the lines or strokes typically seen in serif styles. Again, this also refers to the category of font specifically designed in a sans serif style.
Script - A typeface that’s usually in a cursive and/or handwritten style. This term also refers to the category of font designed in script style.
Italic – This is the name given to the slated variant of a typeface. Truly italic typefaces are designed specifically to be italic. When using something like Word, it will artificially create an italic by slanting the standard font. Many font families include a dedicated italic font.
Baseline – The invisible line on which characters will sit. Parts of characters, such as the letter q will drop below the baseline.
Cap Line – Like the baseline, but for capital letters. This invisible line will indicate the maximum height of characters, typically capital letters, however, some lower-case characters will also hit the cap line, such as h.
Kerning – The horizontal space between two consecutive characters. Because some letters are wider than others, the kerning may require editing to ensure complete words are balanced.
Line Spacing – The vertical spacing between lines in a chunk of text. This spacing is measured from baseline to baseline.
Make sure to keep this page bookmarked so you can come back to it if you ever get stuck on a word or term!
