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Of Bowls and Stems
Ahhh, one reason we love type is that we can talk about bowls and stems and still be legal!
Bowls are the open areas within letters like a, p, d, and o. Type connoisseurs can peg the era a certain typeface is associated with by inspecting the angular slant of the bowls and their overall shape. For example, Old Style typefaces, those commonly associated with 16th and 17th century typography, feature heavily slanted bowls. Modern san-serif typefaces feature nearly vertical bowls, reflecting the Art Deco movement of the 1920s.
Typefaces can also be categorized by x-height. The x-height is the size of the lowercase letters in a certain typeface. We compare the size of the lower case letters with the uppercase letters when selecting typefaces for legibility in certain formats, such as print or electronic design. How does the x-height feel to you in the above example? Fairly large, yes? The lowercase y is nearly three-fourths the size of the uppercase T.
As a general rule, the larger the x-height (the bigger the x), the easier the typeface will be to read on a screen or computer monitor. Readers with failing eyesight will appreciate the use of larger x-height typefaces. However, in the print media, some designers believe typefaces with lower x-heights exude elegance and refinement because they feel old-fashioned and dignified.
Stems are, well, the dangly parts of letters. Stems can ascend, as in b and d, or descend, as in p and y. And, just to be tidy, all our letters sit on a baseline .
Type is traditionally measured in points . Not all points are created equal (which is why typographers are artists!) This graphic illustrates what 48 point means (l-r) in the typefaces listed below.
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