Fuse 20

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Welcome back Fuse fans, at last the long

awaited 20th Issue has arrived, and are you in

for a shock.

Seventeen years have passed since the first

edition of Fuse was produced and it has been

a fascinating journey. The constraints of the

commercial world have been broken and

our specially commissioned typefaces have

become progressively more exciting and

unconventional along the way. Whilst we can

appreciate the level of experimentation we

have reached, I feel it is about time that we

took a step back from thinking ‘outside the

box’, after all as proud graphic designers and

typographers our job is to design for function.

It is for this reason I see this 20th celebratory

issue, as an appropriate opportunity to revisit

the fundamental rules and letterforms of

functional typography. Although the word

‘rules’ is one many of you fuse reader’s do not

like to hear, it is important to remember that

to break the rules of typography we must first

understand them.

So join us in going back to basics and

climbing back ‘into the box’, as Fuse’s

limited 20th edition celebrates the rules

and letterforms of the functional, legible

typography, that we should all know and love.

Neville Brody

How to use Fuse 20Before you go any further, please read the following steps.

Step 1Open the box. If you are reading this, you

should have already done this!

Step 2The magazine is split into two different

sections. One section is titled ‘Back to basics’.

This side should be facing you now, below

this page, (1). This section revises some of the

basic typographical rules that we should all

know but are easily overlooked.

Step 3If you turn the magazine over, you will see

the second section of the magazine titled

‘Rockerville Neue’, (2). This section displays

my experimental typeface and explains how

it was developed. It is up to you which section

you read first.

Step 4Underneath the magazine you will find 4

additional fold out kits, (4,5, 6,7). These

contain metal plates that hold the magnetic

parts of broken down letterforms used to

make the word FUSE. Each kit holds the parts

of a different typeface, and they are labeled

accordingly. One of the foldout kits contains

a metal board with lines on, these indicate

the ascender height, x-height, cap height,

median, baseline and descender height, and

allow you to construct your own letterforms

out of the provided parts.

Step 5Pull out posters, ( 4,8) and enjoy.

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5 San Serif/Helvetica Neueuppercase x1 lowercase x1

7 Slab Serif/Rockwelluppercase x1 lowercase x1

6 Transitional/Baskervilleuppercase x1 lowercase x1

3 Magnetic X-height Board

1 Back to Basics

2 Rockerville Neue

8 A2 poster x3

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Rockerville Neue

4 A3 Typeface poster

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Describing letterformsAs with any craft that has evolved over

500 years, typography employs a number

of technical terms. These mostly describe

specific parts of letterforms. It is a good

idea to familiarize yourself with this lexicon.

Knowing a letterform’s component parts

makes it much easier to identify

specific typefaces.

ascender height

cap height

median

baseline

descender height

(In the entries on the following pages,

boldface text indicates terms described

elsewhere on the list.)

Type Rules

BaselineThe imaginary line defining the visual base

of letterforms.

MedianThe imaginary line defining the x-height

of letterforms.

X-heightThe height in any typeface of the

lowercase ‘x’.

Type Rules

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

A M V

F T Y

b d h k

C G S

E T L

b d p q

T l

a d P C

A H

f t

K V

p q y

M d p

f a

g r

1.Apex/VertexThe point created by joining two diagonal

stems (apex above, vertex below).

2.ArmShort strokes off stem of the letterform,

either horizontal (E, F, T) or inclined

upward (K,Y).

3.AscenderThe portion of the stem of a lowercase

letterform that projects above the median.

4.BarbThe half-serif finish on some

curved strokes.

5.BeakThe half-serif finish on some

horizontal arms.

6.BowlThe rounded form that describes a counter. The bowl may be either open or closed.

7.BracketThe transition between the serif and

the stem.

8.CounterThe negative space within a letterform,

either fully or partially enclosed.

9.Cross BarThe horizontal stroke in a letterform

that joins two stems together.

10. Cross StrokeThe horizontal stroke in a letterform

that intersects the stem.

11.CrotchThe interior space where two strokes meet.

12.DescenderThat portion of the stem of a lowercase

letterform that projects below the baseline.

13.EarThe stroke extending out from the main

stem or body of the letterform.

14.Em/enOriginally referring to the width of an

uppercase M, an em is now the distance

equal to the size of the typeface(an em in

48 pt. type is 48 points, for example). An en

is half the size of an em. Most often used to

describe em/en spaces and em/en dashes.

15.FinialThe rounded non-serif terminal to

a stroke.

26

27

28

21

22

23

24

25

A T W

Q j

T t

O O e eAT M

h n

S

b q G

T V b pg

L K R

f ifi f l fl

g

16

17

18

19

20

16.LegShort stroke off the stem of the letterform,

either at the bottom of the stroke (L) or

inclined downward (K,R).

17.LigatureThe character formed by the combination of

two or more letterforms.

18.Link The stroke that connects the bowl and the

loop of a lowercase G.

19.LoopIn some typefaces, the bowl created in the

descender of the lowercase G.

20.SerifThe right-angled or oblique foot at end of

the stroke.

21.ShoulderThe curved stroke that is not part of bowl.

22.SpineThe curved stem of the S.

23.SpurThe extension that articulates the junction of

a curved and rectilinear stroke.

24.StemThe significant vertical or oblique stroke.

25.StressThe orientation of the letterform, indicated

by the thin stroke in round forms.

26.SwashThe flourish that extends the stroke of

a letterform.

27.TailThe curved or diagonal stroke at the finish

of certain letterforms.

28.TerminalThe self-contained finish of stroke without a

serif. This is something of a catch-all term.

Terminals may be flat(‘T’), flared, acute, (‘t’),

grave concave, convex, or rounded as a ball

or a teardrop (see finial).

razorsrazors

Maintaining x-heightAs you already know, the x-height

generally describes the size of lowercase

forms. However, you should keep in mind

that curved strokes, such as in ‘s’, must

rise above the median (or sink below the

baseline) in order to appear the same size

as the vertical and horizontal strokes

they adjoin.

Compare the ‘a’ in the large examples above

with the ‘o’ and ‘s’. The latter two characters

clearly seem too small, and bounce

around within the perceived x-height of

the typeface, because they do not extend

beyond the median or baseline.

median

baseline

ERG

Form/counterformJust as important as regocnizing specific

letterforms is developing a sensitivity to

the counterform (or counter) - the space

described, and often contained, by the

strokes of the form. When letters are joined

to form words, the counterform includes

the spaces between them. The latter

is a particularly important concept

when working with letterforms like the

lowercase ‘r’ that have no counters per se.

How well you handle the counters when

you set type determines how well words

hang together-in other words, how easily

we can read what’s been set.

TYL

U jwH

fp

IK

Bt yev

iGu

l

kbM

Fl

xd

n

vc

Q

im A

r

N2

5

4

l

W

Type Classification

ModernThis style represents a further

rationalization of Oldstlye letterforms.

Serifs were unbracketed, and the contrast

between thick and thin strokes was extreme.

English versions (like Bell) are also known

as Scotch Romans and more closely

resemble transitional forms.

ExamplesBell

Bondoni

Calendonia

Didot

Walbaum

Didot

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g

ScriptOrinally an attempt to replicate engraved

calligraphic forms, this class of type is not

entirely appropriate in lengthy text settings.

In shorter applications, however, it has always

enjoyed wide acceptance. Forms now range

from the formal and traditional to the casual

and contemporary.

ExamplesKuenstler Script

Mistral

Snell Roundhand

Bickham Script Pro

Bickham Script

abcd e f gh i jk lmnopq r s tuvwxyz

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

0123456 7 89P

4 SL

Cz

H

f

KM

X

Garalde/OldstyleBased upon the lowercase forms used by

Italian humanist scholars for book copying

(themselves based upon the ninth-century

Caroline miniscule) and the uppercase

letterforms found inscribed on Roman

ruins, the forms evolved away from their

calligraphic origins over 200 years, as they

migrated across Europe, from Italy

to England.

ExamplesBembo

Caslon

Dante

Garamond

Janson

Jenson

Palatinod

WGaramond

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Rockwell Kit of Parts

These are the typeface parts you can find

in your magnetic kits.

Slab SerifOriginally heavily bracketeds serifs, with

little variation between thick and thin

strokes, these faces responded to the

newly developed needs of advertising for

heavy type in commercial printing. As they

evolved, the brackets were dropped.

ExamplesClarendon

Memphis

Rockwell

Serifa

Rockwell

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L

Baskerville Kit of Parts



TransitionalA refinement of Oldstyle forms, this style

was achieved in part because of advances

in casting and printing. Thick-to-thin

relationships were exaggerated, and

brackets were lightened.

ExamplesBaskerville

Bulmer

Century

Times Roman

Baskerville

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0123456789

j

Helvetica Neue (UltraLight) Kit of Parts



Sans serifAs their name implies, these type-faces

eliminated serifs altogether. Although

the form was first introduced by William

Caslon IV in 1896, its use did not become

widespread until the beginning of the

twentieth century. Variations tended toward

either huminist forms (Gill Sans) or the

rigidly geometric (futura). Occasionally,

strokes were flared to suggest the

calligraphic origins of the form (Optima).

Sans serif is also referred to as grotesque

(from the German ‘grotesk’) and gothic.

Helvetica Neue

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0123456789

ExamplesAkzidenz Grotesk

Grotesque

Gill Sans

Franklin Gothic

Frutiger

Futura

Helvetica

Meta

News Gothic

Optima

Syntax

Trade Gothic

Univers

G

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Rockerville Neue

Fuse 20

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