The Letters

V

w

In most type designs, lowercase
V s, ws, and xs are scaled-down
versions of their capital letter-
forms. They share the same
design traits, and their serif
structures are almost always
the same.

Just about the only time
there is a significant design dif¬
ference between the capital and
the lowercase versions of these
letterforms is when the capital
W is of the overlapping V vari¬
ety, a trait that is very seldom
seen in its lowercase version. In
old style designs that recall the
influence of the calligrapher’s
brush, the v, w, and x some¬
times lack the inside serif on
heavy diagonal strokes. And in
revival faces like ITC Benguiat,
the point where the diagonals
join sometimes lacks a serif
altogether.

Frutiger

V

V

Some xs look like simple
crossed Is, while others, like
those in Walbaum Italic and
ITC Century Italic, appear to
be made from flip-flopped cs.
Actually, italic xs provide type
designers with many creative
opportunities. Consider Her¬
mann Zapf s x design in ITC
Zapf Book Italic, or the x that
Georges Auriol created in the
italic variant of his eponymous
type design.

The design of the lowercase
у is for the most part based on
that of the v, although in some
typefaces the point at which
the y’s two diagonal strokes
meet occurs slightly above the
baseline rather than slightly
below it. The tail of the у is not
generally a place where a type
designer can get overly effu¬
sive. Since the у is an often-
used letter, adding a fancy
swash tail to it can negatively
affect the overall readability
the typeface.

98

Weiss

ITC Kabel

Medium Italic

Friz Quadrata Bold

Modula

Adobe
Caslon Italic

Geometric 415 Black

Diotima

Bauer Bodoni

Insignia

ITC Galliard Italic

Excelsior Italic

University

Roman