Whats up with these fonts??

[Ken]

One of my favourite utility fonts is Arial + Arial Black. Helvetica is another.
SO..... in these fonts, WHY do some letters decend below the baseline??
It is usually a rounded letter...C...S...E..( lower case)
I'm just wondering..what is the thinking here??? Why do some(normal) letters extend below the baseline? Whats up with that?
Cheers!
Ken

 

[PMG]

Great question Ken,i have asked myself that many time.

 

[Ken]

Well, yeah..you gotta draw a line..or use a strait edge to see where the "g or s, or c" lines up with the rest of the text. ??
Thanks.
Ken

 

[Dave Drane]

Any brush man can tell you that if the rounded letters touched the base lines then it would look smaller than the other letters. It is an optical illusion. Try it for yourself by drawing 2 lines and put some straight letters between them and then get a compasses and draw a round circle.

 

[SignosaurusRex]

Right-O Dave, ....Ken, how long you been in the biz? Thats usually one of the first questions That I hear from the new guys around here. The "rounds" of the characters in all fonts will extend above the top line and below the base line of the other characters.....One of the first things we learn in "Hand Lettering".

 

[Samm]

Any brush man can tell you that if the rounded letters touched the base lines then it would look smaller than the other letters. It is an optical illusion. Try it for yourself by drawing 2 lines and put some straight letters between them and then get a compasses and draw a round circle.

Yuppers, if they matched their counterparts they'd look smaller.

 

[Ken]

Yes , i expected the optical illussion theory..it's a PITA..
Cheers..Ken

 

[Shovelhead]

They're called decending and baseline characters.

 

[Marlene]

don't try to correct the desenders as they are in all fonts and suppose to be there. I've seen Gemini letters installed and some one "fixed" them so they are all on the same baseline and you really notice how wrong that looks.

 

[Si Allen]

Where is Old paint to tell you that you noobies need to go to a sign school before you buy a pooter and declare yourselves as professionals?


:Big Laugh:Big Laugh:Big Laugh:Big Laugh:Big Laugh:Big Laugh:Big Laugh