typeworkshop.com   home : type-basics : references : archive mailing list type basics 100% practical. Sketches have been made to explain some basic issues in type design during the workshops. They get used to point out some problems which raise while creating a new typeface. Only some foundations are shown, no deep sophisticated details. Any suggestions? Let us know. [Type-basics in hungarian] : [Type-basics in spanish] : [Type-basics in german] same size for all type terminology fluent shapes calligraphy spacing black vs. white italic vs. cursive one for all readability proportions small caps swash caps x-heights bold-faced digitizing copy-paste? balance shapes kerning ligatures    picture 10 of 19 Proportions. Which x-height to define? Which descender depth? Defining these proportions are essential, and very strongly connected to the purpose of the type. The proportions within a certain typeface are influencing the way your type will work & look. For example, it's impossible to create a space saving newspaper typeface with an extremely wide body width. Extremely short descenders will give a strange look to a text typeface. Even worse, they might not be visible at all anymore. But extremely short descenders can also be a smart decision, while creating a display or headline type. For a text typeface the ascender height should be as big or, even better, bigger than then cap height to give a optical pleasurable result (see drawing).   background information :  I have a question :  contact : browse :  site-map