- [Narrator] An understanding of type and typographic
is central to graphic design.
And here we're going to look at some essential terms
that you'll really need to know.
Starting with this word here is set along a baseline,
all type has a baseline.
And although we only see it when we're working
with type on a computer, it is always there
and is the foundation of all type faces.
And that is the name of the design of the letters
often mistakenly called fonts,
which is actually, the software that delivers the typeface.
But in practice, that word is used interchangeably,
unless of course, you're talking to other designers.
The first glyph,
that's how we refer to the graphical representation
of a character or letter form
is in upper case,
and that's what we call capitals or caps for short
though their proper name is magic skill.
Although hardly anyone uses that word,
so I wouldn't worry too much about that upper case
all caps will do fine.
The lowercase letters or mini skill,
if you're interested in technical words,
follow on from that.
The type of graphic way to describe numbers is as numerals
of which there are two forms, lining numerals,
which are drawn along the baseline and old-style,
which are sometimes used in text and headings
for their attractive qualities,
but not in tabulation
as they often don't align well as lining numerals do.
As now we're back to the baseline,
let's take a look at some other lines associated with type
that you may come across, such as the x-height,
which is the line that dictates
the size of the lowercase letters,
and the cap-height for the upper case.
The ascender line sets the limit of the characters
that have ascenders
and the descender line does the same for descenders.
And that will do us for now,
it's a lot to take in if you're new to this,
but when you're ready to learn more,
perhaps check out courses by Ina Saltz
and Charles Nix to dive in deeper.