The Next Time You're on Jeopardy

So, in Graphic Design we've been learning about type faces and type settings, so, I've been learning a lot of new and interesting vocabulary words that I thought would come in handy the next time you're on jeopardy, or you know, at a party and want to be a sparkling conversationalist and sound really smart.

Point(s): a vertical unit of measurement, 72 points= 1 inch... a font is measured in points from the top of the Ascender, i.e. the top of the lower case "k," to the bottom of the Descender, i.e. the bottom of the lower case "p."

Pica(s): a horizontal unit of measurement, 12 points= 1 pica, 6 picas= 1 inch

Character: letter, space, or number- any unit that involves type, punctuation, etc.

X-Height: the height of a lower case letter without any ascenders or descenders, i.e. the lower case "o." Font size includes the ascenders and descenders, but the x-height carries the visual size of a font, meaning that two fonts can be the same size, but if one font has a smaller x-height, that font will look smaller even though both fonts are the same point size.

Leading: line spacing, also measured in points. Measures the space from one baseline to the next, including the next line of type. For instance, consider the previous line, being "Measures the..."; leading measures from the bottom of the upper-case "M" to the bottom of the upper-case "F" in the line starting, "For instance...." Leading does not include the measurement of any descenders because descenders reach below the baseline, although descenders are allotted for in the previous line's measurement. Complicated, I know... it would be easier for me to explain in person with visuals, etc.

Line Length: measured in picas... important, for instance, if you are writing for a magazine and have a specific column width that must be adhered to.

Alignment: arrangement of type on the page, i.e. left justification, right justification, centered, or ragged.

Kerning: the management of the space between two letters, this becomes more important with larger font sizes, 60 point or bigger, so that letters do not look too far apart or too close, etc.

Tracking: the management of the space between a series of things, whether those things be whole words or single letters. Again, becomes important with larger font sizes for the same reason.

Serif: a type of font classification. For instance, the font in this blog is a serif font... the letters have little "flags" or "triangles" on the ascenders and descenders and at a letter's termination on the baseline. Serifs are said to make a font easier to read, especially when there is body copy or large chucks of text to be read.

Sans Serif: another font classifiication, simply meaning that a font does NOT have any serifs.

And those are the basics... I'm glad that I'm not going to have to take any typography classes while I'm at Edinboro, because you have no idea how complicated this actually is... the computer does everything for us, and un-artfully I might add. Designers have a lot more to compete with than I thought. I will never look at a magazine or a poster the same way again.

We're working on type exercises in class... and when you find yourself analyzing a font based on its serifs or lack there of, it's kinda creepy. Cool that you're learning to use your eyes in a new way, but creepy.