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(DefinING Blog About Typographic Specifications)
Here's one for the holidays. You may see this on a few greeting cards.
A SWASH is is an embellishment or flourish added to a standard font. Not all fonts have swashes. They're not to be confused with script fonts. (hmm. maybe I'll do a script font next)
/^..^\ DINGBATS /^..^\
(DefinING Blog About Typographic Specifications)
Serifs are the little lines at the ends of the strokes in some letters. They come in different sizes and styles. Here are but a few. Most every font can be broken down into either Serif or Sans-Serif.
(*Note - Sans means “without,” so a sans-serif font has no serifs.)
Now, don't you feel wicked smaat?
/^..^\ DINGBATS /^..^\
(DefinING Blog About Typographic Specifications)
Today's helpful design term is simple but very important.
Kerning is the careful calibration of space between pairs of letters to create a balanced and visually pleasing effect. Letters shouldn't be too far apart and if they're too tight they can bump into each other.
For example, with the word "FLICKS", if the letters are too tight, that would read very differently.
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(DefinING Blog About Typographic Specifications)
Every typeface is made up of a series of Glyphs. A glyph is simply a written symbol that carries meaning. Letters, in any language, are glyphs. Some design applications even have a glyph list that shows all the existing symbols for the typeface you are using. This is how you can get [ é] or [Ç] or [®] or even [].
Ask the designer of your next project "Let me see all the glyphs available for that font. Why? No reason. I just wanted to use that word, thanks." And, you're welcome.
