Font Facts

Carl Shank • January 15, 2021

All About Type

1. SERIF – (in TYPE above) “feet” in French; a small finishing stroke to a letter form that crosses roughly perpendicular to the stroke. Serif type is preferred in text, or “body,” copy because it is more readable in longer sections of type. This is because the letter forms are more distinguishable, and the eye naturally follows the horizontal strokes of the letter forms.


2. SANS SERIF – (in STYLE above) “without feet” in French; a font without serifs. Helvetica is an example of a “sans serif” font. Sans serif type is more legible and often preferred in headlines or what is called “display” copy. It’s uniform strokes help the face to stand out.


3. POINT SIZE – the height of the type body, including the ascenders (cf. 8 ) and the descenders (cf. 6) and extending to a fixed depth below  the descenders. In modern desktop publishing, one point equals 1⁄72 inch.This sample is set in 90 point type.


4. X-HEIGHT – the height of lowercase letters without ascenders or descenders, like the “e” measured from the baseline (cf. 5 ) to the mean line (cf. 9), or top of such letters. X-height becomes important when choosing a typeface, or font, for a particular column width. Wider columns use type with greater x-height, while narrow columns generally require a  typeface with a smaller x-height.


5. BASELINE – an imaginary horizontal line on which the font letters forms rest. Note that for font design purposes, some letter forms, like the "o" fall slightly below the baseline.


6. DESCENDER – the portion of letters like “g,” “j,” “p,” “q,” and “y” that extends below the baseline. It is usually less than the height of an ascender.


7. ITALICS – type that slants to the right, used to set off quotes, book titles and special phrases. Some fonts have what are called “true” italics (like the “e” in TYPE), while others have “oblique” or merely slanted letters (like the “e” in STYLE). Sans serif (cf. 2) in STYLE) letter forms usually have “obliques” for italics.


8. ASCENDER – the portion of a lowercase letter that extends above the mean line (cf. 9).


9. MEAN LINE – the imaginary line at the top of lowercase letters without ascenders or descenders, like the “e” measured from the baseline (cf. 7 ). SEE x-height 4.


10. DINGBATS – small decorative marks, bullets, boxes, or symbols that make up a specialty font; once known as “printer’s flowers.” Here the dingbat is from the typeface known as Zapf Dingbats. Dingbats add “spice” to ads and even some kinds of text copy.

Successful Layout & Design

Advances in Typography: Late Twentieth to Twenty-First Centuries A Historical Sketch (Part 3)

By Carl Shank • December 1, 2025
Advances in Typography: Late Twentieth to Twenty-First Centuries A Historical Sketch (Part 3) Late Twentieth to Early Twenty-First Century: Corporate and Contemporary Digital Jonathan Hoefler (b. 1970) is an American type designer known for influential typefaces such as Hoefler Text, Gotham, Knockout, and Mercury. Gotham, co-designed with Tobias Frere-Jones, gained international fame through its use in Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and has since become a staple in corporate and editorial branding. Born in New York City, Hoefler’s early fascination with everyday typography led him to a self-taught career in type design. In 1989, he founded the Hoefler Type Foundry, quickly earning recognition with Champion Gothic for Sports Illustrated. His partnership with Roger Black and later Tobias Frere-Jones resulted in dozens of widely used typefaces. Hoefler’s work is characterized by a blend of historical research and modern engineering, shaping digital typography standards. His typefaces are used by major publications, cultural institutions, and corporations worldwide. In 2021, Monotype acquired his company, marking a significant moment in the evolution of digital type design.  Hoefler’s approach has redefined contemporary type design, bridging historical revivals and modern usability. His influence extends across print and digital media, setting new standards for clarity, versatility, and typographic excellence.

Advances in Typography: Twentieth Century A Historical Sketch (Part 2)

By Carl Shank • December 1, 2025
Mid-Century Modernism & Corporate Typography (1945–1980) Designers like Jan Tschichold were foundational to many of the Swiss design principles. This style evolved from Constructivist, De Stijl and Bauhaus design principles, particularly the ideas of grid systems, sans-serif type and minimalism. Emerging in Switzerland during the 1940s and 1950s, this typography, also known as the International Typographic Style, directly responded to the type chaos of Dada and the stylization of Art Deco. The International Typographic Style (or the Swiss Style) in the 1950s and 1960s focused on grid systems, objective communication and sans-serifs. Key figures were Josef Muller-Brockmann, Emil Ruder and Armin Hofmann. The Swiss style emphasized readability, visual harmony and universality. Clarity, objectivity and functionality were key components. Contributors included Max Miedinger, creator of the Helvetica typeface (1957 by Miedinger & Eduard Hoffmann), and Adrian Frutiger, creator of the Univers typeface in 1957, and Hermann Zapf, creator of Optima in 1958. Swiss style became the dominant graphic language of postwar corporate identity. Other Blogs I have written noted the development of Helvetica ( “Helvetica’s Journey” July 13, 2024 ). Adrian Frutiger (1928–2015) was a Swiss typeface designer whose career spanned hot metal, phototypesetting and digital typesetting eras. Frutiger’s most famous designs, Univers, Frutiger and Avenir, are landmark sans-serif families spanning the three main genres of sans-serif typefaces —neogrotesque, humanist and geometric. Univers is a clear, objective form suitable for typesetting of longer texts in the sans-serif style. Starting from old sketches from his student days at the School for the Applied Arts in Zurich, he created the Univers type family. Folded into the Linotype collection in the 1980s, Univers has been updated to Univers Next, available with 59 weights. This lasting legible font is suitable for almost any typographic need. It combines well with Old Style fonts like Janson, Meridien, and Sabon, Slab Serif fonts like Egyptienne F, Script and Brush fonts like Brush Script, Blackletter fonts like Duc De Berry, Grace, San Marco and even some fun fonts. Univers is not a “free” font and must be purchased from Linotype. Other faces by Frutiger are Frutiger and Avenir. These fonts were designed to be legible, versatile and anonymous, avoiding stylistic “noise” to focus on clear communication. Swiss type used a systematized approach to typography, enabling consistent spacing, alignment and hierarchy, crucial for multilingual and complex layouts. Typography was seen as part of a harmonious, modern composition. Generous white space facilitated clarity and focus.
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