Letter Fountain 37-51

Tonight I printed my poster set full size:

I'm afraid my background color on the informational poster is too dark :/ I'll have to play with that but I'm liking where they're heading.

Here are some notes on the Letter Fountain reading assigned:

• What are small capitals? How are they different than something set in ALL CAPS?

Small capitals are smaller versions of capital letters.  They are not simply reduced capitals but especially designed small capitals.  They have a slightly bigger x-height than lowercase letters and a matching weight — making them different from something in all caps.  They are also generally wider than capitals.

• Does your font have small caps? If not name a font that does.

Yes, Serifa has small caps.  Syntax is another font with small caps.

• What are ligatures? why are they used? when are they not used? what are common ligatures?

Ligatures are combinations of character that were designed because the overhanging ascender in 'f' would crash into an ascender of the dot of an 'i' if it directly followed the 'f'.  It is as if the terminal of the 'f' is extended to replace the end mark on the i.

For most sans serifs, this occurrence is not a problem and ligatures would not need to be used.  Another ligature is the & sign - originally a combination of the e and t.

• Does your font have ligatures? If not name a font that does.

Serifa does not have ligatures as it is virtually a sans serif.  Bembo is a font with ligatures.

• What is the difference between a foot mark and an apostrophe?

An apostrophe can be viewed as a 'nine' and is mainly used to show possession within a sentence.  A foot mark, on the other hand, is literally a foot mark.  5' is equal to five feet.

• What is the difference between an inch mark and a quote mark (smart quote)?

A quote mark is either a double 'six' or 'nine' depending on which side of the statement the mark is on.  They signify the statements in between were spoken word or quoted from another source.  An inch mark, signifies an inch.  They are two straight marks. 5" is equal to five inches.

• What is a hyphen, en dash and em dashes, what are the differences and when are they used.

A hyphen is used as a symbol to break words. (ex-ample)
An en dash is longer than a hyphen and is used to demarcate a parenthetical thought or to indicate a sudden change in thought. (here – there)
An em dash is used to demarcate parenthetical thought in English texts, but the dashes are unspaced. (here—there)