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Meta Typeface Quick Info

• Sans-serif classification
• Designed by Eric Spiekermann
• Other typefaces designed by Spiekermann
• ITC Officina
• FF Info
• FF Unit
• LoType
• Berliner Grotesk
• Many other exclusive corporate typefaces
• Released in 1991
• More specifically is a humanistic sans-serif
• The larger Meta family includes hairline, thin, light, normal, book, medium, bold, extra bold, and black weights, all of which are available in condensed, italic, and italic condensed variations
• Uses small caps

Type Design Knowledge Dump

Classifications of Typefaces:

• Humanist / Old Style: meant to mimic handwriting, these typefaces are defined by features such as a slanting axis, subtle modulation of thick and thin strokes, inclined crossbars on the lowercase 'e', and roof shaped serifs.
• Examples: Garamond, Bembo, Galliard
• Transitional: typefaces that combine the characteristics of both humanist and modern typefaces
• Examples: Baskerville, Times New Roman, Perpetua
• Modern: these typfaces do not seek to mimic human handwriting, resulting in a vertical or only slightly angled axis, strong contrast in stroke weights, symmetry, and sharp thin serifs
• Examples: Bodoni, Didot, Walbaum
• Slab-Serif: often appearing bold and thick with very little modulation, these typefaces are defined predominantly by their thick block-like serifs as thick as the letters themselves
• Examples: Rockwell, Clarendon, Memphis
• Sans-Serif: typically featuring no stroke width modulation at all, these typefaces take their name from their lack of any serifs whatsoever (This category is often sub-divided further due to the overwhelming number of new sans-serif typefaces in recent years.)
• Examples: Gill Sans, Helvetica, Meta

Definitions

• Stroke Weight: the thickness of the lines of a character, making it appear darker, independent of size
• Axis / Stress: the angle of the thick and thin contrast within characters; humanist typefaces have significant axis angles while modern and later typefaces most typically have a completely vertical axis
• Small Caps: capital letters designed smaller than a typeface's standard capitals; small capitals serve to make capital letters within a body of text more easily legible without losing stroke weight from scaling down normal capitals
• Lining Figures: numerals designed to all sit upon the baseline and reach to the capital height allowing for better use in tabular numeric charts
• Non-Aligning Figures: numerals designed with ascenders and descenders which reach beneath the baseline, these figures read more seamlessly within text
• Ligatures: specially designed combinations of characters which allow for better reading

Type Measurement Summary:

Several type measurement systems have come and gone throughout history, however today the most common system is that of points and picas. The exact measurement of a point has changed somewhat over time. The current specification is one point is equal to 1/72 of an inch. A pica is equal to 12 points. Text sizes and spacing are most commonly identified using points. Measurements such as column widths are often times measured in picas.

Sources:

The wonderfully informative, well organized, and accessible Fontology section of Fonts.com, located at: http://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology

The incredibly detailed and well composed book, Letter Fountain, by Joep Pohlen.