From the course: Learning Type Design
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Stroke angle, weight, and contrast
From the course: Learning Type Design
Stroke angle, weight, and contrast
- [Narrator] The concept of stroke angle comes from handwritten forms. A calligraphy pen is held at a consistent angle during writing, creating a consistent distribution of thicks and thins and a noticeable stress. Serif fonts imitate this angled stroke distributing weight heavily on the vertical strokes and lightly on the horizontal. The angle and stress of the font can be seen in the wedge serif and by connecting the thinnest strokes on the O, and the bowls with an imaginary line. The weight of a font, determined by the width of the strokes, varies from font to font. What is a regular weight, and a regular stroke width in one font, is not necessarily the case in others. If we use stroke width as a gauge, we can see that in a typical typeface like Times, the x height is almost five times the stroke width. In Adobe Garamond, it's about four and a half times. In Bauer Bodoni, it's also about four and a half times. And in Helvetica, it's nearly six times. On average, the x height is…
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