Typography is the art of setting words in print in the most æsthetic and/or legible manner. Most typeface designs have their origins in calligraphy, and hence much of what concerns us in typography is the same as in the art of fine handwriting.

General Typography

• Typometrics – The various parts and measurements of a typeface.
• Points and picas – About the units used in typometrics.
• Serifs – What makes Helvetica different from Times Roman.

Variations

• Ligatures – Ways letters can be joined or combined.
• Figures (a.k.a. numerals) – Read about old-style versus lining figures and when to use each.

Technical

• Opentype – About the relatively new digital font format and its rich typographic features.
• TrueType – Coming soon
• Type-1 – Coming soon
• PANOSE data – Coming soon

Special Characters

These characters have unique and subtle usage requirements.

• Ampersand (&)
• Hyphens, dashes, and minus signs
• Multiplication sign