The Numeral

Shelley Volante

ITC Serif
Gothic Light

Baskerville

ITC Benguiat Bold

Clarendon

Caslon Open Face

There are two varieties of 3.
One consists of two connected
semicircles, and the other is
comprised of a horizontal top
stroke linked to a bottom bowl
by a short diagonal. (Some
type designers believe that the
latter is more “calligraphically
correct.”) Regardless of the dif¬
ferences between them, the
bottoms of both characters
must be strong enough to opti¬
cally support the tops.

In roman fonts, the hori¬
zontal stroke of the second ver¬
sion usually ends in a serif. The
top and bottom strokes (some¬
times just the bottom) of the
roman double-loop 3 end
either in ball terminals or in
subtle flares. The short diago¬
nal of the calligraphic 3 is al¬
most always a hairline stroke.

ITC Garamond
Light Italic

The Numeral

The 4 is made up of three
strokes, the first of which is a
vertical. If the numeral is an
uppercase design, this stroke
begins at the cap height and
ends at the baseline. If it is a
lowercase design, it begins at
the x-height and ends slightly
above the descender line.

The second stroke is a diag¬
onal that begins at, and nor¬
mally connects with, the top of
the vertical. In some roman

The third stroke is a hori¬
zontal, and its length is essential
to the balance of the character.
In lowercase designs it rests on
the baseline, while in uppercase
designs it is positioned at ap¬
proximately one-fourth of the
overall cap height. Sometimes
the 4’s horizontal terminates in
a small serif.

ITC Mona Lisa
Reçut

GoudyText

Bernhard Modern

Friz Quadrata

Letraset

Heliotype

ITC Tiffany Heavy
Italic

Bellevue

Variex

Futura

ITC Clearface

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