Typography is the process of designing text. In most cases, this means making text readable and appealing. Typography can also be used to command attention, as a visual identity and as an element of look and feel. The following are common elements of typography.
Typeface
The art of designing typefaces composed of symbols known as glyphs in different weights and styles. Each combination of typeface, weight and style is known as a font.
Point Sizes
A point size is the unit of measure for fonts with a point being 0.353 millimeters or 1/72 of an inch.
Line Length
The characters per line in a block of text. People tend to be most comfortable with reading between 45-75 English characters per line as this is historically common in printed books. Shorter lines have too many words needing to wrap to the next line resulting in irregular spacing. Longer lines are thought to be difficult to read.
Line Spacing
The distance between lines, known as leading. This is measured between baselines, or the line on which most letters sit with exceptions such as "g" that dip below the baseline. Typographers use point sizes for leading or base it on a percentage of the font size. For example, a 150% leading for a 12pt font is 18pt.
Tracking
A constant space between letters that can often be configured by users of a typeface.
Kerning
A variable space between letters that is a feature of a typeface. Kerning concerns combinations of letters that look better closer together or further apart in a particular typeface. For example, "AV" may be designed to be closer together as the two letters slope towards each other. The term negative kerning is used for combinations pushed closer together and positive kerning is for combinations pushed further apart.
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