letterforms
Alphabet's visual designs
Letterforms are the shapes of letters—the specific visual design of alphabetic characters.
The term appears in typography and calligraphy, where practitioners study how letters are constructed: The letterforms in that typeface are elegant but hard to read at small sizes.
A letterform encompasses a letter's proportions, curves, angles, and stroke weights.
Pen's writing tip
- quillFeather used for writing
- flourishTo grow vigorously
- swashWater flowing over ground
- illuminationProvision of light
gilding · penmanship · chirography · blackletter · copperplate · uncial · majuscule · minuscule
Lettering style design
- glyphVisual form of character
- ligatureCord for binding
- kerningLetter-pair spacing adjustment
- trackingMonitoring location over time
leading · italic · bold · roman · swash · monospace · display · weight
Original text before publication
- parchmentTreated hide for manuscripts
- vellumPrepared calfskin for writing
- scrollWound document of parchment
- papyrusAncient plant-derived writing material
inscription · palimpsest · codex · rune · hieroglyph · cuneiform · uncial · Caroline
Letter terminal flourish
- sans-serifType without terminal strokes
- baselineStandard for comparison
- ascenderOne moving upward
- descenderLetter part below baseline
x-height · counter · bowl · stem · crossbar · terminal · apex · vertex
Framework of intersecting lines
- proportionComparative relation of parts
- legibilityClearness of text
- readabilityEase of understanding text
- contrastNotable difference between things
rhythm · texture · color · weight · spacing · hierarchy · balance · consistency
Quantity with direction
- bezierMathematical curve formula
- outlineSummary of key elements
- hintingSuggesting indirectly
- rasterizationConverting to pixel grid
OpenType · TrueType · interpolation · masters · instances · bitmap · pixel · anti-aliasing
nib
Pen's writing tip
illumination · gilding · penmanship · chirography · blackletter · copperplate · uncial · majuscule · minuscule · hairline
typeface
Lettering style design
tracking · leading · italic · bold · roman · swash · monospace · display · weight · width
manuscript
Original text before publication
- parchmentTreated hide for manuscripts
- vellumPrepared calfskin for writing
- scrollWound document of parchment
papyrus · inscription · palimpsest · codex · rune · hieroglyph · cuneiform · uncial · Caroline · Trajan
serif
Letter terminal flourish
- sans-serifType without terminal strokes
- baselineStandard for comparison
- ascenderOne moving upward
descender · x-height · counter · bowl · stem · crossbar · terminal · apex · vertex · spine
grid
Framework of intersecting lines
- proportionComparative relation of parts
- legibilityClearness of text
- readabilityEase of understanding text
contrast · rhythm · texture · color · weight · spacing · hierarchy · balance · consistency · overshoot
vector
Quantity with direction
rasterization · OpenType · TrueType · interpolation · masters · instances · bitmap · pixel · anti-aliasing · webfont
- lettersa, d, e, h, q
- typographyfont, calligraphy, font design, sans serif, typefaces
- writing historyalphabet, cuneiform, hieroglyphics, hieroglyphs, scripts
- calligraphyChinese calligraphy, Japanese calligraphy, Arabic calligraphy, Islamic calligraphy, blackletter
- letteringcalligraphy, handwriting, serif, cursive, italic
- Lettering Stylescalligraphy, script, typography, copperplate, penmanship
letterformsmeaning
What something signifies
semantics · content · word meaning · signification · denotation
letterformsspeech sounds
Units of spoken language
phonemes · spoken language · phonetics · pronunciation · vocalization