Click to See Complete Forum and Search --> : the letter a
you know how some fonts render the lowercase a differently? most of them look like the more complex version (as it would look in helvetica), but others show the more simple version, which is essentially a circle with a line running down one side.
can anyone tell me if there is a name for these different glyphs of the lowercase a, and what they would be called?
eugenetyson
07-02-2009, 01:20 PM
Some people refer to them as single story and double-story letters (or "upper terminals"). A lowercase "h" has the terminal at the base of the stem.
The double-story "a" can be found in serif and non serif fonts. It's usually when they are italicised that the shape changes to single story.
Not all letters do - I guess it's down to the designer of the font.
(I won a typography quiz before go me go me go me... I won a lovely book)
cool, cheers for that.
just had a client suddenly decide, at the 11th hour, that all copy on a job should be using a font with a single story glyph rather than the double story.
man i love clients!
Broacher
07-02-2009, 04:47 PM
Did they offer any insightful typographic wisdom as to 'why'?
garricks
07-02-2009, 11:43 PM
The client's wife's hairdresser's girlfriend's nephew has a copy of Photoshop and said so.
budafist
07-02-2009, 11:45 PM
The client's wife's hairdresser's girlfriend's nephew has a copy of Photoshop and said so.
lolz
well, the flyer in question was for a young audience, and the client decided that children 10 years or under cant read double storey a's. mmmm, patronizing!
all sorted now anyway - thanks for satisfying my curiosity :)