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Anatomy of Type

Understanding Anatomy

Individual letter forms have unique parts which have changed in visual form over the centuries. A nomenclature helps identify major elements of their construction. The evolution of lettering styles over time is a result of optical adjustments to the basic components by type designers over the ages.

Even though the typefaces on this page have the same point size, they are not perfectly aligned. For the designer this means that the kerning for each family is set on an individual basis and would need to be adjusted if more than one family is mixed together. Any two families can be mixed but it is usually best not to mix serif with sans serif. The two anatomical attriubtes that all families share are the base lines and the cap line.

Mythopoeic
Hairline Fillet Tail Descender

Capline Meanline x-height Baseline

Mythopoeic Mythopoeic Mythopoeic Mythopoeic

Ascender

Shoulder

Crossbar

Counter

Stroke

Serif

Eye

Anatomy of Type

Anatomy of Type | Single Letter

A word is more legitble when its bottom half is covered. As more of the letterform is removed the word becomes increasingly difcult to decipher. So long as the top or left side of a letterform is visible a typical reader can complete the letterform correctly in his mind and decipher the word.

Every letterform can be cropped in a manner which still reads. If cropped appropriateley, the letterform can aslo communicate a secondary idea through motion, or appeallng composition.

Mythopoeic Mythopoeic Mythopoeic

Anatomy of Type | Cropping Studies

4 single letter studies

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Anatomy of Type | Counterpart and counter point

One way of creating visual ow is to organize the letterforms in a sequential order. Dynamic ow can be emphasized through rhythmic pattern and punctuation. To articualte auraly and visually the typographic detials within each composition as well as the whole. To identify form/counterform relationships.

4 counter studies

Form and Counterform

Kinetic Type

When creating a visual hierarchy in typographic space, a designer balances the need for harmony, which unies a design, with the need for contrast, which lends vitality and emphasis. As in music, elements can have a counterpart or a counterpoint relationship. Counterparts are elements with similar qualities that bring harmony to their spatial relationship.

Counterpoint occur when letter forms have contrasting characteristics, such as size, weight, color, tone, or texture. Counterpoint relationships bring opposition and dissonance to the design.

One way of creating visual ow is to organize the letterforms in a sequential order. Dynamic ow can be emphasized through rhythmic pattern and punctuation. To articualte auraly and visually the typographic detials within each composition as well as the whole. To identify form/counterform relationships.

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The Structure of Letters

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ABCD EFHILT abcd ilt KMNY kmny
All letter forms are built by combining 4

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strokes; vertical, horizontal, slanted, and curvilinear. Through our long exposure to reading and writing, we are able to see these strokes as the foundation, or visual code that is recognizeable regardless of differences in style. As a result, letter forms derive their visual character from combinations of these basic strokes and not from being light or bold, wide or narrow, Roman or italic, sans serif or serif. An entire alphabet can be categorized using only six basic underlying visual combinations of strokes as the example illustrates.

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