Describe how the terminals, angle of stress, contrast, stroke weights, set widths, and x-heights look for each type family category.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Blackletter- sharp terminals that may include flourishes, terminals may or may not have serifs, usually and oblique angle of stress, high contrast between thicks and thins, tall x-height, Gothic set widths often appear narrow and Celtic set widths often appear wide

Humanist- terminals may be softly pointed, rounded, angled or may end in a teardrop or ball shape, lowercase ascender terminals are often angled, serifs are usually bracketed, may be uneven and/or slightly concave and rounded, usually an oblique angle of stress, low contrast between thicks and thins, x-height is generally medium to tall, set width tends to be moderate to wide.

Old Style- terminals may be pointed, rounded, angular or may end in a teardrop or ball shape, but generally lighter, sharper and straighter than Humanist terminals, serifs are usually more lightly bracketed and straighter than Humanist, serifs are usually bracketed, moderately oblique angle of stress, low to medium contrast between thicks and thins, generally tall x-height, set width is moderate to wide.

Transitional- terminals may be pointed, rounded, angular or may end in a teardrop or ball shape, but generally lighter, sharper and straighter than Old Style terminals, lowercase terminals are often horizontal or very slightly angled, serifs are lightly bracketed and straighter and sharper than Old Style serifs, usually vertical angle of stress, medium contrast between thins and thicks, generally higher contrast than Old Style typefaces, medium x-height, characters tend to be narrower than Old Style typefaces.

Modern- terminals may be pointed, rounded, angular or may end in a teardrop or ball shape, but generally lighter, sharper and straighter than Transitional terminals, lowercase ascender terminals are usually horizontal, serifs usually have little or no bracketing and are straighter and sharper than Transitional serifs, usually a vertical angle of stress, high contrast between thins and thicks, x-height is generally short to medium, the set width tends to be narrower than Transitional typefaces.

Egyptian- terminals may be rounded or squared, lowercase ascender terminals are usually horizontal, serifs usually have little to no bracketing and are generally as thick as stem strokes, serifs often look like thick slabs, if there is an angle of stress at all it is usually vertical, there is high contrast between thick and thin strokes, x-height is medium to tall, set width tends to be wide

Sans-serif
Grotesque sans serif- tall x-height, narrow to moderate set width, slightly squarish appearance
Geometric sans-serif- fairly wide set width, letterforms appear highly mechanized and precise, letterforms are based on geometric shapes
Humanist sans serif- are based on the proportions of the original Humanist typefaces, they have an organic feel

Scripts- are designed to look hand-rendered

Display- old and new typefaces that do not fit into any of the other categories, members of this family do not necessarily share a common aesthetic, display faces are suited for decorative and attention grabbing purposes rather than for legibility.