Anatomy of Type

In the Anatomy of Type lecture it was very helpful to learn the terminology for typography and get an understanding of all the different aspects of type and typography.

Typeface

Is an artistic interpretation or design of a collection of alphanumeric symbols. A typeface can include letters, numerals or punctuation. 

Font 

Is a collection of letters. It refers to the physical embodiment. A font is what you use, a typeface is what you see. 

Lettering

Is essentially illustrations of letters, words and phrases. Letterers draw the work as a unique image.

Display typefaces are less elaborate than text typefaces.  Display Typefaces are usually used for headings and Text Typefaces are usually used for bodies of text.

Anatomy of Type

Cap-height

The height from the baseline to the top of the uppercase letters. It is specifically the height of capital letters that are flat like H and I not rounded letters like O or A because it is pointed. They both might display overshoot.

x-height

The height of a lower-case x, considered characteristic of a given typeface or script. The height of the lowercase letters disregard ascenders or defenders typically exemplified by the letter x. The relationship of the x-height to the body defines the perceived type size. A typeface with a large x-height looks much bigger than a typeface with a small x-height at the same size.

Baseline
The imaginary line upon which the the letters in a font appear to rest.

Serif 
The little extra stroke on letters.

Sans-Serif
The french word sans means "without" so they are letters without the little extra stroke.

Bracket
Curved or wedge - like the connection between the stem and serif of some fonts. Usually found on old fonts.

Terminal
Is a type of curve. The terminal may be the end (straight or curved) of any stroke that doesn't include a serif.

Italic 
A (mostly) slanted type style which takes form of hand writing, usually narrower than its roman counterpart. It is used of emphasis in text - usually in serif. It's a completely new design. It is not the letters being pushed over.

Oblique
Is the original letter form that has been pushed over

Descender
The portion of some lowercase letters, such as g and y, that extends or descends below the baseline is the descender. The length and shape of the descender can affect readability of lines of type and is an identifying factor for some typefaces.

Ascender 
b, d, f, h, k in lowercase letter forms. An ascender is the portion of a minuscule letter in a Latin-derived alphabet that extends above the mean line of a font. That is, the part of a lower-case letter that is taller than the font's x-height.

Diacritic
To signify an accent.

Uppercase
Capitals

Lowercase
Small form of letters

Superscript
A letter, figure or symbol printed or placed above the normal line of type.
Example: weather, the degree in the weather is a form of superscript.

Underline
The horizontal line immediately below

Strikethrough
The horizontal line through the centre. It is used to signify a mistake or recently deleted information. It has been used as a typography trend but it signifies a mistake so be aware with trends the actual message you are communicating.

Counter
The enclosed or partially enclosed circular or curved negative space (white space) of some letters such as d, o, and s is the counter. The term might sometimes be used to refer to only the closed space.

Eye
Specific to negative space in lowercase e only.

Bowl
The bowl is the curved part.

Aperture
Partially enclosed spaces such as in m, n, or h are the aperture.

Cross Bar
Usually a horizontal stroke typically found on lowercase letters.

Link / Neck
Often the curved part or tail. It is the decorative stroke for example on Q. 

Colophon
Typographic and/or production specifications, usually listed at the end of a publication. The specifications usually contain information about typefaces used, the publisher, place and date of publication.

Kerning
Refers to the process of adding or subtracting space between specific letters or characters.

Tracking
Refers to loosening or tightening a block of texts whereas kerning is individual letter space.

The 6 key typefaces in The Vignelli Canon are Garamond, Bodoni, Century Expanded, Futura, Times Roman and Helvetica.