The W is almost always the
widest letter in a typeface, and
there are many ways to design
one. It can look like two Vs set
side by side that share a middle
serif. Adobe Caslon and ITC
Souvenir are typical examples.

Another version of the W
substitutes a pointed apex for
the center serifs, as seen in
Baskerville and Palatino. In a

w

"Adobe
Caslon

Adobe Garamond

It can also be rendered as two
wider Vs that cross over each
other in the center of the char¬
acter, resulting in four serifs on
the cap line. The Ws in Adobe
Garamond and Bembo display
this characteristic. (Note that
sometimes the four center serifs
in the Ws of this style are joined
by a single horizontal line.)

Baskerville

variation on this treatment, the
second V appears to cut off the
right diagonal of the first. ITC
Isbell and Janson both contain
this sort of W.

ITC Anna

Janson Text

Modula Black

ITC Machine

Windsor
Light

Adobe Cas >n

Swash Ital

ITC Serif Gothic

ITC Tiffany Italic

ITC Mona Lisa Recut

ITC Lubalin Graph Book

58

The Y is clearly a member of
the V and W family, but it is
probably best to consider it as a
cousin, or some more distant
relative, rather than a parent or
sibling. The point is that while
the Y incorporates a V as an im¬
portant part of its design, it
should not be as wide as a stan¬
dard capital V.

The Y is another one of
those characters whose design
looks deceivingly simple. A
type designer must maintain a
delicate balance among its
three basic elements; overem¬
phasizing one will result in an
awkward look and detract
from the letter’s legibility. The
most common mistake is to
make the vertical stem too
short, which in turn accentu¬
ates the apex, making it opti¬
cally incapable of supporting it.

Generally, a Y is a Y is a Y, with
little deviation from the stan¬
dard model. There are, howev¬
er, some notable exceptions.

The Y in Hermann Zapfs
Palatino, for example, extends
an elegant swash from its left
diagonal, and the one in ITC
Kabel exhibits the characteris¬
tics of a lowercase letter.

Corvinus Skyline

Revue

У

Y

Shelley Allegro

Caslon
Open Face

Letraset

Heliotype

Friz Quadrata

Rusticana

Bembo

ITC Galliard Italic

ITC Fenice

Zapf Chancery

59