Typeface: Bitstream Charter

The typefaces that I have written about so far have long histories, some reaching back into the 19th Century. They were all intended to be used for printing books and newspapers, and they were later adapted for digital use. The typeface Charter, more commonly called Bitstream Charter, is a child of the digital age. Matthew Carter, the founder of Bitstream Inc, designed the typeface for use on the low resolution laser printers in use at the time. 300 dpi (dots per inch) was the standard resolution. Most serif fonts looked poor at any size below 12 points.

Charter is a very efficient, no-nonsense font. There's only a slight difference in width between the thin and the thick strokes. The serifs are at right angles to the strokes, most of them rectangular, but the few that aren't rectangular (like the capital J) have only very slightly slanted sides. It's a font that can easily be used at 10 points on a 300 dpi laser printer.

The italic font is also attractive while retaining simplicity. My only complaint is the small Z, which seems out of character for the font. I would have preferred the upper and lower bars to be straight instead of curved. Instead of bulbs, the bars could have been terminated with small serifs, like the italic Y.

I've used a few terms in my posts so far, assuming they're easily understood, but maybe I should explain them here.

Font size is measured in points. There are 72 points to the inch, so 12 points is one sixth of an inch. This is a historical measurement from the days when fonts were made up of little metal blocks, so don't expect it to be changed any time soon. The point size of a font isn't the maximum height. It's the height of the capital M. This has led to the point size being referred to as the M-height. In modern literature it's more commonly called the cap height, but that's deceptive, because in some fonts the capital letters vary in height. The capital M is every font's guideline.

Another important measure is the x-height, which describes the height of the small letters, based on the small letter X. It's often said that a font has a small x-height or a large x-height. This is in comparison to the M-height.

In this example, Charter (left) has a large x-height, while Cheltenham (right) has a small x-height. Don't worry, I'll describe Cheltenham in more detail in a future post.

Some of the small letters have strokes that are higher or lower than the letter X. The strokes that rise above the X are called ascenders, and the strokes that fall below the X are called descenders. Q is usually the only capital letter with a descender.

The only small letter that has both an ascender and a descender is the italic F, making it the largest small letter.

The dots on the letters I and J, as well as the German special letters, are almost as high as the ascenders.

In the English language no capital letters rise above M, but the German special letters have dots above the top of the M.

Compare the word Milk in Charter (above) and Century Schoolbook (below). In the case of Charter, the dot is on a level with the top of the M, whereas the serifs of the L and K begin above it, making the complete height of the small letters more than the capital M. In contrast, in the case of Century Schoolbook the dot is below the top of the M, and the serifs begin on a level with the top of the M, rising gently above it towards the right. It's common for the ascenders to rise above the M-height, usually only slightly. Fonts in which the ascenders rise significantly above the M-height look eccentric.

Instead of a bold font, Matthew Carter designed a black font as a companion to the regular Charter font. It offers a bigger contrast than usual to the regular font. This was also necessary for low resolution laser printers, to be significantly different from the regular font. It emphasises the difference between the light and the heavy strokes, which can barely be noticed in the regular font.

A few years later a normal bold font was designed for the Charter typeface. It's a good font, but I personally prefer the black font.

In order, this table shows Charter Regular, Charter Bold and Charter Black. Charter Black has a bigger contrast than Charter Bold.

This is even clearer when emboldening individual words in a sentence. Charter Black looks better, don't you agree?

Bitstream Charter is my favourite typeface. Maybe it isn't as friendly as Century Schoolbook, but it has a minimalistic beauty that appeals to me.