Non-sans-serif

October 19, 2010 12:26 AM

Fontagraphers: I know what a serif is - the little "tail" at the ends of character strokes. Mid-stroke, however, is what?

Watching the Rangers play baseball, the player names and the team name/logo have a bulge mid-stroke... Does this have a name?

posted by panmunjom to Writing & Language (4 answers total)

At the most basic level, they're all strokes. In the 'S', the curve is called the spine. The other vertical or diagonal lines are usually called stems; although diagonal stems are often called diagonals, though. The curve of the 'G' is (I think) a bowl, or you could just call it a 'rounded stroke'. Often elements of characters have several different names. A fairly thorough illustrated guide.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:01 AM on October 19, 2010 [2 favorites]

Best answer: In the description of this Old West-style font, the designer refers to "center spurs". Maybe that's something? I can't tell if it's standard terminology

On the other hand, in the description of this other Old West-style font, those ornaments are described as "pointy flares that pop in and out of the centers of each stroke".

In this discussion of Tuscan-style fonts (e.g.: similar to the Boston Red Sox typeface), they're described as often having "ornamentation midway along the stems".
posted by mhum at 2:36 AM on October 19, 2010

Best answer: I would call it a mid-stem decorative spur.
posted by Mizu at 2:51 AM on October 19, 2010

Disregard my previous answer - I thought you were asking what the mid-stroke itself was called. I'd also call the little bulge a decorative spur.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 3:28 AM on October 19, 2010