Parts of a Letter Reflection

    Learning the vocabulary and origin of typography is essential to design. Knowing the letterform component parts can make it easier to identify and correctly use specific typefaces. Serif fonts illustrate the largest range of these terms. The three different types of serifs are traditional, modern, and slab. To identify a font as a serif font notice the short strokes that finish off the major strokes of the letterform and identify the brackets, or curving joints between the serif and the stroke.

   Each font has a base line, which each letter sits on, and a cap height, the measurement of the upper case letters, taken from the base line to the top of the character. Fonts are also measured by X height. The X height is the height of the lowercase X starting from the base line. Letters that rise above the measurement of the X height are called ascenders and letters that fall below it are called descenders.

   The different parts of each letter also have a specific vocabulary. The horizontal bar in capital letters like A and H is called a crossbar and the middle, top of capital letters that come to a point like A and W is called the apex. Capitol letters such as C have what is called a barb at the top end of the letterform. The final, the front and beginning stroke of a letter, and the terminal the bottom and end stroke of a letter, characterizes lower case letters. In lowercase letters like p and c the lower curve of the letter is called the counter and the upper curve is called the bowl.

   After reading Parts of the Letter I have a better understanding of letterforms and the vocabulary they entail. This will help me identify fonts and discuss the specific parts of them that I like or dislike and explain my views with intelligent reasoning.