{"id":6728,"date":"2022-01-20T12:05:21","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T12:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/digital-learning\/?p=6728"},"modified":"2023-08-23T16:56:13","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T15:56:13","slug":"fonts-an-introduction-to-typography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/digital-learning\/2022\/01\/20\/fonts-an-introduction-to-typography\/","title":{"rendered":"Fonts – An introduction to Typography"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The hardest decision in writing, I find, is choosing the right font. Should you start with a Times New Roman, the reliable choice? Perhaps you want to suggest that this text is not serious, so you’ll use Comic Sans. Our font choice informs our readers of emotion and tone, it denotes the legibility and readability of our typed text and guides their expectations of our writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typeface Design – Height<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every font can be measured and compared by looking at the foundation components of the typeface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Baseline<\/strong>: The foundation line that text is aligned to. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. X-height<\/strong>: The expected height of lowercase letters measured from the baseline.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Ascender:<\/strong> The expected height of lowercase letters extended above the X-height.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Descender:<\/strong> The expected depth of lowercase letters extended below the baseline.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"A
    The four components of letter design are baseline, X-height, ascender and descender.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    You may have noticed that uppercase letters use the same structure. The expected height of your uppercase letters is equivalent to the expected height of your lowercase with ascenders. The same can be said with descenders too, although in some fonts the letter “Q” does not adhere to this convention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In this image, all fonts are the same size, the only difference is the capitalisation of the font. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"\"\"<\/div>
    Components of uppercase and lowercase letters.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Did you know that the terms “lowercase” and “uppercase” originate from where each letter was stored when it was not being used in the printing process? The small metal cast of each individual letter was stored in a case above or below the printing workstation. Since lowercase letters were used with more frequency. They were kept within easy access, in the lower letters<\/em> case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Typeface Design – Weighting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The weight of a font is the measurement of character thickness. Heavyweight fonts are built using thick lines and lightweight fonts with thin lines. The weight of a character does not impact its size in regards to the four height components, well<\/em>, in truth it does, but the differences are negligible with most fonts. However, the overall words and sentences will need more space on the page when the weight of a font is increased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n