When you work with your web designer or graphic designer do you often get confused with the terms they use? We totally understand. Typography is full of technical terms which can make the average business owner feel a bit out of their depth. Essentially though, when you cut through the technicalities it’s all about improving the appearance and readability of your website, marketing material and branding collateral such as your logo.
Here’s 50 typography terms (you can find Part 1 – A to C here and Part 2 – D to H here) that you might come across in designing your brand and/or website and what these terms actually mean. We even put them in alphabetical order in case there was something specific that was confusing you – you can quickly and easily find it.
Italic – this is when a font has a cursive or slanted appearance. Italics should be used rarely in website copy and only for emphasis.
Joint – this is the point where a stroke connects to a stem.
Justified – this describes text that is aligned so the its left and right edges are flush with both the left and the right margins.
Kerning – describes the amount of space in between the individual letters in a font. Within different fonts the kerning varies between different pairs of letters. It’s an important aspect in web design since it can subtly affect the way in which people perceive the text. If the kerning is not quite right then particular will appear too close together or too far apart and cause a disconnect.
Leading – this is the amount of vertical space between the line of text. Just the right amount of leading will ensure the reader’s eye to move more easily across the page.
Ligature – this describes two or more letters that are joined into one glyph. If you plan to display text that required ligatures then ensure you select a font that supports them.
Midline – this is the point halfway between the baseline and the cap line. Important for when considering other typography aspects such as ascenders.
Point Size – this is the numerical value which describes the relative size of a font. Selecting the right point size is actually one of the easiest things you can do to improve the readability of your website.
Roman – this is a font in its normal state rather than in bold or italics. Roman font is recommended for the bulk of your webpage copy since readers find it more comfortable to read.
Sans-Serif – (a character with serifs) This group of fonts works well for heading since their clean quality gets the reader’s attention. Pair with a contrasting serif font for good font pairing.
Serif – (serif – the line at the end of a handwritten letter) Serif fonts are traditionally the fonts used for body copy and can be used on your website if you wish to evoke the feeling of the printed page.
Shoulder – this is a stroke that make an arch type shape within a glyph – such as in m, h and n.
Stem – this is the main stroke of a letter, quite often vertical.
Stroke – this is any of the lines which make up a letter. And, the way in which a stroke ends will determine if it is a serif or a sans-serif font.
Subheading – this refers to the text that, like headings, breaks up sections of a web page.
Swash – this is a stroke added to a glyph for embellishment or decoration.
For more help with typography and your website, just contact the team at Website Design Centre.
