# Typography basics

Every standardized form of printed language uses a set of characters that abide by a set of rules, which defines itself together as a "type".

- Each type is a characteristic expression of its creator.
- Even while people constantly use typefaces without permission, they're still subject to [intellectual property laws](legal-ip.md) like any other created work.

At least with Latin/Cyrillic characters, each type possesses several components that structure it:

- Baseline: the imaginary line that most characters rest on
- Cap Height: the height of uppercase letters from the baseline
- X-Height: the average height of lowercase letters except for ascenders and descenders
- Ascenders: the portions of lowercase letters that extend above the x-height (e.g., h, b, d, f)
- Descenders: the parts of lowercase letters that extend below the baseline (e.g., y, g, p, q)
- Kerning: the amount of space between specific pairs of characters to improve readability and aesthetics
- Tracking: the adjusted spacing between all characters in a block of text.
  - Tracking is either "monospaced" (where each character is using the same width) or "proportional" (where each character uses differing widths relative to the size of the letter).
  - Monospaced type are still used frequently for what is known as "ASCII art", which uses different characters to portray a minimalist image.
  - [Programmers](computers-programming.md) prefer monospaced because it makes it easier to read and [debug](computers-software-redesign.md) code.
- Leading: the vertical space between lines of text.
- Serif: for the sake of readability, a type can have small lines at the end of characters, or not (sans serif).
  - Serif fonts are convenient for reading text, but the pixelation of [screens](engineering-graphics.md) mean that sans serif fonts are ideal for computers.

Every type represents a symbolic form, which then presents with variations called "fonts":

- Weight: the characters' thickness (light, regular, bold, black, etc.)
- Style: the slant and orientation of the characters (italic, oblique, etc.)
- Width: the horizontal space the characters occupy (condensed, expanded, etc.)

The entire design of fonts, alongside everything else, contributes heavily to [visual hierarchy](engineering-design.md).