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-Paul Rand, Art director and graphic designer whose logos include IBM.

The anatomy of type describes the visual elements that make up the letterforms within a typeface. Each letterform is made up of individual components. Did you know that letters can be dissected into parts as if they were a puzzle? Like people, fonts have personalities, moods, stylesand even anatomical features!

The cap height is a measurement of all capital letters in the same typeface. The most accurate measurement is found in flat bottomed characters like the letter E.

The x-height isn’t exactly a part but rather a measurement. It measures the height of all lowercase letters that are part of the same typeface. It’s called x-height because the letter x of each typeface is what determines the measurement.

The Baseline is the imaginary line on which most letters and other characters sit. Descenders usually rest on the Baseline, but part of the letterform sits below the imaginary line.

A serif is a short line at the beginning and the end of strokes.Serifs are what make a typeface a serif or a sans serif. Serifs can have different shapes: hairline, square/slab, wedge. They can all be bracketed or unbracketed, meaning that their connection to the stroke is rounded or perpendicular.

A Stem is the main stroke of a letterform, which can also be known as a Stroke. The stem is the main vertical stroke in upright characters. When a letter has no verticals like a capital A or V, the first diagonal stroke is considered the stem.

The Bar of a letterform is the horizontal stroke that goes across the middle of an uppercase A or H and the stroke that goes under the Eye of a lowercase ‘e’. The bar can also be known as a crossbar.

A Terminal is the end of any Stroke that doesn’t include a Serif, but instead includes ball terminals and finials (curved or tapered in shape).

Aperture is similar to a Counter but has an opening instead of being fully enclosed. The letters ‘n’, ‘c’, ‘s’ and ‘e’ all have an aperture.

Kerning, not to be confused with Tracking, is the horizontal spacing between two consecutive letters which you can manually adjust to add negative space or to take it away.