The Numeral

Requiring only two strokes of
the calligrapher’s brush, the
design of the numeral 7 looks
deceptively simple—deceptive
because those two strokes must
balance perfectly or the figure
will look ungainly and unstable.

In the lowercase version the
horizontal stroke is positioned
at the mean line of the x-height,
while in uppercase versions it
aligns at the cap height. Some¬
times the 7 will have a crossbar
in order to distinguish it fur¬
ther from the 1.

The diagonal can either be
straight or curved, and at times
will have a serif or ball terminal
at its base. Its angle is critical to
the stability of the figure. If its
orientation is too vertical, the 7
will appear to lean to the left; if
it is too sharp, the figure will
seem to fall over backward. In
some fonts the top horizontal
has a serif that also serves to
help balance the figure.

The Numeral

Künstler Script
Medium

Monotype

Onyx

8

Berthold City
Medium

Letraset

Citation

Optima

The 8 has the same propor¬
tions and alignment whether it
is a lowercase or uppercase de¬
sign, and its bottom bowl must
be large enough to support the
top one.

Except in the most geomet¬
ric of sans serif alphabets, an 8
should never be designed as
two circles, one on top of the
other. The calligraphic version Саг£сс^"'
of the character is comprised of bthree strokes: a spine similar to
an S’s, with top and bottom
strokes that curve back into it.

In many designs the crossover
of the top and bottom bowls
created by these strokes is
stepped; that is, the bottom
bowl joins the spine at a higher
point than the top bowl. Occa¬
sionally, one or both bowls
remain

ITC Serif
Gothic Black

Letraset

Follies

Broadway