Typographic Rules and Terms
-- Parts of the grid: what are the following: margin, column, alley, module, gutter, folio.
COLUMNS that divide the page vertically into many sections and groups so each section is very individualized. The space between two columns of printed text is called a GUTTER. Also the layout of the text creates a unique frame because of the strict order, which create blocks of text. These grids create frames for fields of text, which are known as MARGINS. The MARGIN creates a pristine barrier around a solid block of text. There are many layouts known as GRID MODULES, they are flexible structures, which serve as a skeleton to any mass of information, usually consist of many columns and rows. FLOW LINES are lines that help connect the flow of the text.
-- Why is there only one space after a period?
Fonts on a MAC have proportional character spacing and take up a proportional amount of space. A single space is enough visually to separate them and two spaces creates a big gap.
-- Why is the baseline grid used in design?
where all the letters sit. The is the most stable axis along a line of text, and it is a crucial edge for aligning text with images or with other text
-- What is x-height, how does it effect type color?
the main body part of a letter of the lowercase letter , excluding its ascenders and descenders
-- Define Tracking.
adjusts and affects the amount of spacing between characters
-- Define Kerning. Why do characters need to be kerned? What are the most common characters that need to be kerned (kerning pairs)?
The removal of space between characters to create visually-consistent letter-spacing. Awkward spacing looks unprofessional and disrupts the communication of the words.
HL - verticals next to each other need the most amount of space
HO - vertical/curve needs less space
OC - curve on curve needs very little space
OT - curve can overlap into white spaces under or above the bar or stem of a character
AT - closest kerning is done when both letters have a lot of white space around them
-- What is the difference between a foot mark and an apostrophe? What is the difference between an inch mark and a quote mark (smart quote)?
inch mark (") quote mark (“ or ”)
footmark (') apostrophe (’)
-- What is a hyphen, en dash and em dashes, what are the differences and when are they used.
Both the em and en are used in punctuation to provide a measurement for dashes.
The hyphen (-) is smaller then an "en" and 1/3 of an "em" and it also serves as a compound modifier where two words become one (hyphenating words or line breaks).
The en (–) dash is used to separate words ending induration (hourly time, months, or years), pages numbers, dates, and to replace the word "to" in constructions implying movement.
The em dash is twice as long as the en dash (—). Used in a manner similar to a colon or parentheses, or it indicates an abrupt change in thought, or its used in a spot where a period is too strong and comma is too weak. No space on either side of it.
-- What is a widow and an orphan?
Widow when a paragraph ends and leaves fewer than seven characters on the last line creates lone word called a widow. It is worse to leave part of a word.
Orphan is the final one or two lines of a paragraph separates from the main paragraph to form a new column at the top of the page.
