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Typography Term of the Day and Graphic Design Commissions!
13 years ago
General
Hey guys! I know it's been WAY too long (you other mods are just as bad of slackers as I am on this stuff D:)
SO I'm gonna give you a TWOFER this time!
Here are your typography terms of the day:
"EM" and "EN"
What is an em? What is an en?
Ems and ens are relative units of measurement used in typography to define spacing functions. They may also be used as special dashes known as em dashes or en dashes.
So how big is an em and how big is an en? And how long is a standard hyphen compared to em and en dashes?
An em is the size of the given type. For example, if you have a 72 point font, your em for that specific type will be 72 points long. An en is half of one em. So again, if you have a 72 point font, your en will be 36 points long. A standard hyphen mark is 1/3 of an em. So once more, a hyphen for a 72 point font would be 24 points long.
What to em and en dashes look like in comparison to a hyphen?
Em dash: —
En dash: –
Hyphen: -
Are em and en dashes interchangeable with hyphens and if not, when do I use them?
Em and en dashes each have their own very specific function in type as they are distinct and specific pieces of punctuation. En dashes are most typically used to show a range of values (such as May 2–5th or April–May) but are also used in other specific/uncommon grammatical situations. Em dashes are most typically used to indicate long pauses in thought that are meant to have a stronger emphasis than use of parenthesis (similar to an ellipsis). They are also typically used to indicate broken or unfinished sentences in literature. For example
"I really didn't intend for you to feel that way —"
"I still can't believe you said that to me"
"— but I promise I will make it up to you."
ANYWAY Hopefully everyone learned something again! And just to make this account more useful than just typography terms of the day and a cool little icon to share with your friends, allow me to pimp out an offer I have extended here for some quick graphic design (and typography) related services!
Have a good day and remember — times new roman might be cool for term papers but forget it when it comes to good typography!
<3
icee
SO I'm gonna give you a TWOFER this time!
Here are your typography terms of the day:
"EM" and "EN"
What is an em? What is an en?
Ems and ens are relative units of measurement used in typography to define spacing functions. They may also be used as special dashes known as em dashes or en dashes.
So how big is an em and how big is an en? And how long is a standard hyphen compared to em and en dashes?
An em is the size of the given type. For example, if you have a 72 point font, your em for that specific type will be 72 points long. An en is half of one em. So again, if you have a 72 point font, your en will be 36 points long. A standard hyphen mark is 1/3 of an em. So once more, a hyphen for a 72 point font would be 24 points long.
What to em and en dashes look like in comparison to a hyphen?
Em dash: —
En dash: –
Hyphen: -
Are em and en dashes interchangeable with hyphens and if not, when do I use them?
Em and en dashes each have their own very specific function in type as they are distinct and specific pieces of punctuation. En dashes are most typically used to show a range of values (such as May 2–5th or April–May) but are also used in other specific/uncommon grammatical situations. Em dashes are most typically used to indicate long pauses in thought that are meant to have a stronger emphasis than use of parenthesis (similar to an ellipsis). They are also typically used to indicate broken or unfinished sentences in literature. For example
"I really didn't intend for you to feel that way —"
"I still can't believe you said that to me"
"— but I promise I will make it up to you."
ANYWAY Hopefully everyone learned something again! And just to make this account more useful than just typography terms of the day and a cool little icon to share with your friends, allow me to pimp out an offer I have extended here for some quick graphic design (and typography) related services!
Have a good day and remember — times new roman might be cool for term papers but forget it when it comes to good typography!
<3
icee