Language, Typography
iLT: Letterforms, Classification, Ps & Qs
24 Mar 2008 by Christian Eager
If you want to talk like you’re in-the-know when it comes to type—or even just understand what those typophiles are going on about— this article on terminology over at I Love Typography is a treasure.
It starts with basics: the difference between glyphs, graphemes, sorts, and characters, to list a few closely-related concepts. Then come the broad classifications, with a bit of required history, and an awesome portmanteau (inelegantly referred to as a “mash-up”), “Garalde”—Claude Garamond + Aldus Manutius. Trivia nerds will find the conclusion, containing the origins of “uppercase,” “lowercase,” and “mind your p’s and q’s”, most rewarding.
