Typography rules and terms that every designer must know

Every designer needs to understand typography. We explain the fundamental concepts and terminology in words that you can understand.

In this article we introduce the fundamental concepts of typography, followed by a detailed glossary of its main terms.



Good typography is partly down to creative intuition, but it's impossible to become skilled in typography without understanding the basic rules of the craft - even if you mean to break them.

Once you're comfortable with the basics, why not try out some typography tutorials, visit some typography resources to investigate font families - and even follow some typography Twitter accounts to keep up-to-date with the latest trends.

Choosing a font

There are an astonishing array of professional fonts to choose from. But with great power comes great responsibility. Just because you can choose from a vast library doesn't mean you have to; there's something to be said for painting with a limited palette, and tried and tested fonts like Helvetica continue to serve us well.

Despite sites such as ours providing links to the best free fonts available, but that doesn't mean it's not worth investing in paid ones. A typeface, like any form of design, is created by craftsmen over a substantial period of time, using the talent and experience they've been honing for many years. And the benefits of a professionally designed font - various weights and styles to form a complete family, carefully considered kerning pairs, multi-language support with international characters, expressive alternate glyphs to add character and variety to type-setting - are not always found in a font available for free.

Basic concepts

Here are some of the most important typographic considerations the professional designers needs to take into account:

01. Size


The height of each character is known as its 'x-height' (quite simply because it's based on the letter 'x'). When pairing typefaces - such as when using a different face to denote an area of attention - it's generally wise to use those that share a similar x-height. The width of each character is known as the 'set width' - which spans the body of the letter plus a space that acts as a buffer with other letter.

The most common method used to measure type is the point system, which dates back to the eighteenth century. One point is 1/72 inch. 12 points make one pica, a unit used to measure column widths. Type sizes can also be measured in inches, millimeters, or pixels.

02. Leading



03. Tracking and kerning



04. Measure

The term 'measure' describes the width of a text block. If you're seeking to achieve the optimum reading experience, it's clearly an important consideration.

05. Hierarchy and scale



The glossary

What is typography?
A visual guide to some common typography terms - see key below


Aesc (phonetic: ash)







A horizontal stroke that does not connect to a stroke or stem at one or both ends - such as the top of the capital T.



What is typography?
The ascender projects above the x-height of the font







Bicameral (as opposed to Unicameral)




Cap height

The height of a capital letter above the baseline.















What is typography?
Dingbat are decorative elements such as bullets

Display fonts


Drop cap




















What is typography?
Glyphs are the singular parts that make up a font











What is typography?
Leading describes the vertical space between each line of type




The lower part of the letter 'g' is known as its loop or lobe. Sometimes called the tail - a term that also takes in the lower portion of letter 'y'.

What is typography?








Fonts in which every letterform occupies the same horizontal space.



Oblique or sloped roman

















The main curved stroke of a lowercase or capital S.



What is typography?
Squoosh is the process of squashing or expanding a typeface digitally




A vertical, full-length stroke in upright characters.





What is typography?
Tittle is the name for the dot above the i or j





This is a revised and updated version of an article published previously on Creative Bloq.

Words: Kerrie Hughes

Kerrie Hughes is channel editor at Creative Bloq.

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