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Now that you understand
what typography is,

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let's talk about some of the terms used
to describe its different elements.

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This will include typefaces,
parts of letters, layouts, and more.

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Instead of ambiguously trying
to describe something like that

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low swoopy part of the lowercase y,
these terms will make it

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much easier to know what you're talking
about as we dive into typography.

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Let's look at the numerous
elements that shape a typeface.

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First, we have the cap height.

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This is simply the height
of the capital letters.

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Next is the baseline, which is
pertinent to both the uppercase and

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lowercase letters as it's the guideline
for which the majority of characters rest.

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The height of the lowercase letter
set is determined by the lowercase x.

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So this is labeled as the x-height.

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The x-height varies across typefaces and
can greatly affect legibility.

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Let's look at that.

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A high x height means the lowercase is
larger in relation to the uppercase.

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Whereas a low x height means the opposite,
it's smaller.

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When smaller font sizes come into play,
a typeface with a high x height can help

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retain legibility because the lowercase
is larger in relation to the upper case.

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Let's say you have two
different typefaces, and

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both are set at 12 point size.

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One could be easier to read than
the other due to the higher x-height.

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You'll also notice there are certain
areas where some lowercase letters

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descend below the baseline, and
others ascend above the x-height.

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These are called descenders and
ascendes respectively.

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The p here has descender,
and the d has an ascender.

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You might be wondering how
low can descenders go or

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how high can ascenders climb?

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Well, that also varies across typefaces.

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In some typefaces,
ascenders climb up above the cap height.

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In others, they sit below.

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And in some cases, the cap height and
ascenders are aligned.

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This last case, though, can affect
readability and letter recognition.

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For instance,
let's say you're using Helvetica,

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where the cap height and
the ascender height are similar.

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You're writing out a headline
which includes the word ILL.

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The uppercase I, and these two
lowercase L's are hard to tell apart.

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Some might read that as ILL, but others
might read it as the Roman numeral three.

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This would be even harder to decipher if
the letters appeared mixed up in a coupon

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code, where uppercase, lowercase,
and numbers are present.

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I'm not saying don't use Helvetica or
typefaces with a similar cap and

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ascender height.

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I'm saying pay close attention to
your ascenders and descenders, and

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know what's at stake.

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Let's move on to the next term.

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The typeface we are currently
looking at has serifs on it.

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Serifs are projections that finish
off the main strokes of a letter.

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They can sometimes aid legibility and
letter recognition.

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For example, the problem we just
encountered with the ILL would

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not happen here because the serifs are
distinctly different on those two letters.

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Distinctive character shapes
help differentiate letters, and

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serifs help letters flow.

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The shape of letters particularly
helps those with dyslexia and

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reading disabilities.

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Other typefaces forego serifs
on their letter forms.

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These are called sans-serifs,
sans meaning without.

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Next, let's talk about contrast.

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Contrast can relate to a few
different things in typography.

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The first deals with the actual
letter forms in a typeface.

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A typeface with high contrast would
have thick vertical strokes and

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thin horizontal strokes.

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A typeface with low contrast
would have little to no

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difference in stroke thickness.

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Contrast can also refer to the actual text
and how it relates to the background.

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Pure black text on a pure white
background creates high contrast.

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Whereas a light gray on a medium
gray creates low contrast.

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Later, we'll look at when creating high or
low contrast is appropriate.

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According to the WCAG contrast guidelines,
body text color should

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have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1
when compared to its background color.

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Large text that is 18 points and

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larger should have a contrast
ratio of at least 3:1.

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Lastly, let's discuss color.

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Like contrast, color can mean a few
different things in typography.

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The first is the simplest and
is probably what comes to your mind.

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It's the actual color of text such as red,
blue, yellow, etc.

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We can create page contrast
with changes in color.

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Common color blindness conditions
include red/green and blue/yellow.

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People with color
blindness have difficulty

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discerning the differences
between the two.

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Therefore, avoid pairing color text and
backgrounds in those colors.

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There are browser plugins and other tools
which allow you to test how those with

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color blindnesses see your design.

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Check out the teachers notes for links.

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The second meaning refers to the overall
density of ink or text on a page.

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If we want, we can utilize different
weights of the typeface at different sizes

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to create even color on a page.

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We have lighter weights at larger sizes
and regular weights of smaller sizes.

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Or we can create uneven color by setting
our headings to be bolder weights

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while keeping the paragraphs the same.

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These heavy areas of color can
create emphasis if needed.

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When we use this term, we'll distinguish
its context to avoid confusion.

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There are many other terms used
to describe different parts of

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letter forms and typography.

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If you're hungry for more,
you can also check out the teachers notes

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which includes links to
a couple of glossaries.

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With what we know now from this video,

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we'll be able to better understand the
different types of type in our next video.