Letters are made up of special lego bits. Here is an incomplete catalog.



I just watched a great [typography fundamentals video](https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/typography-getting-started/table-of-contents) on Pluralsight.

A part of that training was learning some of the specific parts of letterforms in typography.  Here are some of the bits I learned

## Stroke

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/DskIHYG.png)

Generically, a line in the letter. Thickness of line.

## Stem

![steam](https://i.imgur.com/DskIHYG.png)

Vertical stroke.

## Ascender

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/zomp8jy.png)

Vertical stroke above x height.

## Descender

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/u2g64Nb.png)

Vertical stroke below baseline.

## Bar

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/MVtcjCw.png)

Horizontal stroke with no connection on either end. Can be a crossbar as in "A".

## Bowl

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/fUvx8dl.png)

Curved part of the stroke that creates an empty interior space

## Counter

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/k0nAx0o.png)

The interior space inside a bowl.

## Aperture

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/nM0ECly.png)

Opening at bottom of letter openings.

## Serif

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/SMwEiVq.png)

Bar at the end of a stroke.

## Terminals

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/C4w4saP.png)

End of lines that don't have serifs.

## Hairline

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/v6tyDFM.png)

The thinnest line in a serif typeface.

## Brackets

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/g7cn973.png)

Curved, bridge-like connectors on serifs.

## Ear

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/gnqzGP5.png)

Decorative extension.

## Loop

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/bPix3ke.png)

Bottom of "g".  Either fully or partially closed.

## Beak

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/2xpXsbm.png)

Decorative projection at the end of a bar.

## Crotch

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/XN8LyRi.png)

Angled form where 2 strokes meet.

## Fineal

![stroke](https://i.imgur.com/W7VWoRW.png)

Tapered ending of some strokes.

And here's a [graphic of this anatomy](https://i.imgur.com/Qipb2vD.png), all together, that I put together.

What other interesting parts of letterform anatomy are there?

Letters are made up of special lego bits. Here is an incomplete catalog.

visual-design