TYPOGRAPHY BASICS

BY: ASHLEY POFFENROTH

ASCENDER• The part of a letter that extends above the body.

DESCENDER• The part of a letter that drops below the body.

COUNTER• The empty spaces in letters.

BASELINE• The line that the text rests on. It can be shown, or imaginary.

X-HEIGHT• The height of a lowercase “x”. Fonts with tall x-heights look bigger.

CAP HEIGHT• Cap height is the height of an uppercase letter above the baseline.

SERIF/ SANS SERIF• Arial is a Sans Serif font. It

is easier to read on a screen.

• Times New Roman is a Serif font. It is easier to read when it is printed.

CURLZ MT- WHY I LOVE IT <3• I think that Curlz MT is a cool font because the curls and curves in the font

make it look fun and interesting. I have part of a saying by Dr. Seuss on my bedroom wall in this font.

COMIC SANS MS- WHY I LOVE IT <3• Comic Sans MS is a cool font because the style makes it look like it has

actually been written, and less like a plain computer type. The other part of the quote on my bedroom wall is in this font.

KRISTEN ITC- WHY I LOVE IT <3• Kristen ITC is a cool font because it also looks more like a written font and less

like a plain computer text. I find it interesting because it is unique, yet simple and easy to read at the same time.

JOKERMAN- WHY I HATE IT -_-• I don’t like this font because it is distracting and not very simple to read. I also

don’t like it because the edges seem sharp and rough, and it isn’t very appealing to the eye.

TIMES NEW ROMAN- WHY I HATE IT -_-

• I don’t like Times New Roman because it looks old fashioned, but somehow it is still acceptable as a basic font today, which bugs me. The edges on this are also sharp, which I don’t like, and I find it distracting to read.

CAMBRIA- WHY I HATE IT -_-

• Cambria is like Times New Roman, but a little smoother, so I don’t dislike it as much. I still don’t like the rough edges though, and the way that it looks like an old font.

COOL USE OF A GRAFFITI FONT• I think this is a cool use of the graffiti

font because it makes it look like real graffiti on a brick wall. The photoshop techniques that are used also make the image look cool because it brings the texture of the brick wall through the text.

COOL USE OF A ROPE FONT• The use of the rope font on the

Wrangler’s logo adds more of a country feel to the design. I think it looks cool in this case because it makes it look like the design is carved into the letter.

COOL USE OF A HANDWRITING FONT• I think that the use of the

handwriting font on the Coca-Cola logo is cool because it is unique and gives the drink more of a sophisticated feel.