Web Typography I Flashcards

A collection of vocabulary terms covering the principles of type design, measurement units, and font properties based on the Web Typography I lecture notes.

Type

A general encompassing term that defines the face and body of text, denoting typeface and font as well as their usage and definitions.

Typeface

A single, shared design for a collection of letters, figures (numbers), symbols, etc., that allows characters to harmoniously blend together.

Font

The format of a typeface, traditionally referring to metallic blocks used in mass printing and in modern times to digital formats like TrueType Font.

TrueType Font (TTF)

A common digital font file format with the file extension .ttf.

Typeface Quantity Principle

The common practice of using at most two (2) or three (3) typefaces to avoid confusing the visitor.

Typeface Distortion

The discouraged practice of stretching or squeezing a typeface to make it fit or use up space, which is considered taboo in graphic design.

Font Size

A numerical value that corresponds to a specific size of a typeface and determines how large or small text is displayed.

Point (pt)

A unit used to measure font height, where there are approximately 72 ($72.272$) points in one (1) inch or $2.54\,cm$.

Baseline

The invisible line upon which a line of text rests, used in Material Design to measure the vertical distance between text and an element.

Cap Height

The height of a typeface’s flat capital letters (such as M or I) measured from the baseline.

X-Height

The height of the lowercase x for a typeface, which indicates how tall or short each glyph will be.

Ascenders

An upward vertical stroke found in certain lowercase letters that extend beyond either the cap height or baseline.

Descenders

The downward vertical stroke in certain lowercase letters.

Weight

The relative thickness of a font’s stroke, typically ranging from four to six available weights increasing toward boldface.

Tracking

A term for letter spacing refers to the uniform adjustment of spaces within bodies of text.

Kerning

A term for letter spacing referring specifically to the adjustment of space between two characters in a typeface.

Line Height (Leading)

The amount of space between baselines in a block of text, which is proportional to its type size.

Serifs

Small shapes or projections that appear at the beginning or end of a stroke in a letter.

Monospaces

Typefaces that use the same width across all characters, such as a letter M and all other characters having a width of $1\,pt$.

Handwriting (Typeface Classification)

Unconventional typefaces with a natural, handwritten feel popularly used as headers for websites.

Display (Typeface Classification)

A miscellaneous classification for typefaces that are only usable at large point sizes, ideal for website banners.

4dp grid

A rule in web design where a text’s baseline must sit on a grid and line-height values must be divisible by 4 (where dp stands for "dimensions per pixel").

Line length

The number of characters per line in a body of text, usually between 40 to 60 characters for website body text and 20-40 characters for short English text.