type homework

_ What are small capitals? How are they different than something set in ALL CAPS?

Small capitals are smaller versions of capital letters: they are slightly bigger than the x-height of lower case letters, and they have a matching weight.  They are also wider than capitals and are used for abbreviations or successive capitals.  They are different than just ALL CAPS because they are not as large and don't draw as much attention (provide a better balanced appearance in cases where capitals would make the block of text look too heavy.)

_Does your font have small caps? If not name a font that does.

Meta does not.  Monotype Centaur does.

_ What are ligatures? why are they used? when are they not used? what are common ligatures?

Combinations of characters that were designed because the overhanging ascender in the letter "f" would run into an ascender or the dot of an "i" in typesetting.  They aren't used with most sans-serif typefaces.  Common ligatures are "fi", "fl", and "fj".

_Does your font have ligatures? If not name a font that does.

Meta does not have ligatures.  Garamond is a font that does.

option shift 5, option shift 6: fi, fl

_ What is the difference between a foot mark and an apostrophe?

An apostrophe is curved (has a serif?) and a foot mark is just a straight line.

_ What is the difference between an inch mark and a quote mark (smart quote)?

An inch mark is quotes that are straight lines as well (sometimes difference in stroke between top and bottom).  A quote mark is like the apostrophe, it has a curved ball at the end (serif).

_ What is a hyphen, en dash and em dashes, what are the differences and when are they used?
A hyphen is a dash symbol used to break words.  An en dash is like a hyphen, except for it is longer and is used to mark a parenthetical thought or to show a sudden change of direction.  An em dash is even longer and is used to mark parenthetical thought in English texts, and has no spaces on either side of it.

hyphen, option -, option shift -: – —

:)