TypeTalk: Choosing and Using Swash Characters

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Want to enhance and spiff up an otherwise ordinary or lackluster type treatment? Try using swash characters. A swash is a flourish or stroke extension that is attached to a glyph for purely decorative purposes. They most commonly appear at the beginning or end of a glyph (usually referred to as initial and terminal swashes), but they can also be found attached to ascenders and descenders, crossbars, and glyph apexes.

A variety of swash types found in Adobe Garamond Premier are shown in orange.

A variety of swash types found in Adobe Garamond Premier are shown in orange.

The incorporation of swash characters into a setting is a great way to draw attention to and embellish type. They are commonly used in invitations, logos and product branding, packaging, movie titles, book covers, magazines, web sites, etc. They are also a terrific option for initial letters. Swashes can be used to add an air of panache, elegance or importance to a type treatment. The tasteful use of swash characters can help you avoid overusing repeated forms, and make a setting look more like custom, hand-lettering.

Swash characters are available in many kinds of typefaces, not just fancy scripts as you might assume. They can be found in both serif and sans designs, text and display faces, formal, informal and casual scripts, as well as handwriting fonts. In fact, they are said to have evolved from decorative handwriting many centuries ago. Some fonts contain swashes for caps only, and others only in the italic versions. (ITC Zapf Chancery Medium Italic is an example of the latter, as the upright medium weight is unadorned.) Swashes can also be found in ligatures, such as Th. While they are usually optional glyphs, some fonts use decorative swashes as the standard characters, and (might) contain the otherwise simple versions as alternates.

Initial swashes should only be used at the beginning of a line or word, while terminal swashes work best at the end of a line or word.

Initial swashes should only be used at the beginning of a line or word, while terminal swashes work best at the end of a line or word.

PF Champion Script has hundreds of swash characters and flourishes, so designing with them requires lots of trial and error to get just the right look.

PF Champion Script has hundreds of swash characters and flourishes, so designing with them requires lots of trial and error to get just the right look.

Centaur is an historic typeface that contains some rather conservative swashes and matching flourishes that can dress up an otherwise unremarkable setting.

Centaur is an historic typeface that contains some rather conservative swashes and companion flourishes that can dress up an otherwise unremarkable setting.

The addition of swashes in this sans serif typeface gives a fun vibe to this logo. Set in Wedding Singer.

The addition of swashes in this sans serif typeface gives a fun vibe to this logo. Set in Wedding Singer.

Some might call Laura Worthington the queen of swashes. She has designed hundreds of typefaces with swashes, including these three.

Some might call Laura Worthington the queen of swashes. She has designed hundreds of typefaces with swashes, including these three.

This swash E set in ITC Bodoni SeventyTwo Italic makes a lovely initial character when used with its companion text, ITC Bodoni Six. Excerpt from Emma, by Jane Austen.

This swash E set in ITC Bodoni SeventyTwo Italic makes a lovely initial character when used with its companion text, ITC Bodoni Six. Excerpt from Emma, by Jane Austen.

How to find and apply swash characters in InDesign

The increasing availability of swash characters in fonts is primarily due to the extended character set of today’s font format of choice, OpenType. OpenType fonts have space for many additional characters—thousands, actually! The challenge is to find out whether any particular font has swash characters—whether it be in your current font library, or one you are considering purchasing. This can sometimes be challenging, as not only do fonts differ in how they categorize swashes, but design software differs in how to locate and apply them.

Swash characters are usually classified and identified as a Swash in design software, and they can be found as such in InDesign’s Glyphs panel. But in some fonts they are classified as Stylistic or Contextual Alternates. Swashes can be accessed in two ways: either globally by choosing OpenType from the Character or Control panel menus, or individually from the Glyph panel. If applied globally to any selected text, all available swashes in the font will replace the standard glyphs. While this is the fastest and easiest way to apply them, if the font in question has numerous swash characters, you might end up with too many in a given setting. When this is the case, you’re better off using the Glyphs panel. That way you have total control over the appearance of your type.

The swash characters in Adobe Garamond Premier are found under the Swash and Stylistic Alternate categories in the Glyph panel.

The swash characters in Adobe Garamond Premier are found under the Swash and Stylistic Alternate categories in the Glyph panel.

Swashes can be turned on globally via InDesign’s OpenType panel.

Swashes can be turned on globally via InDesign’s Character panel.

When using a font with many swash characters, don't make the mistake of using OpenType’s global command, or you might get a hot mess such as this (upper right). Take the time to insert just the ones you want individually from the Glyph panel for a tasteful result (lower).

When using a font with many swash characters, don’t make the mistake applying them globally, or you might get a hot mess such as this (upper right). Take the time to insert just the ones you want individually from the Glyph panel for a tasteful result (lower).

There is one thing to avoid like the plague: that is using swash characters in all-cap settings. They are almost impossible to read when set one next to the other, as they were not intended—both in design and spacing—to be used this way.

Swashes and Glyph Substitution

OpenType fonts have a feature entitled glyph substitution. This capability is a built-in script, or brain in a manner of speaking, that programs a font to know when to insert situational glyphs, which can include initial, medial and terminal swashes and alternates. This is an optional feature that has to be programmed into the font. Unfortunately, there is usually no way to know in advance (unless the foundry indicates this) if a font has this built-in brain, except by trial and error. It can be an extremely useful and timesaving feature for a font that contains either many, or location-specific swashes. For instance, some swash characters are intended for either the beginning or end of a word to avoid crashing into other letters or creating too much space between two characters. When a font has glyph substitution, the correct swash will be automatically inserted. If the copy is changed, it will automatically change the swash character back to the standard one as necessary. (This can always be overridden by the user.)

Glyph substitution is built into PF Champion Script, making the insertion of the correct swash happen automatically as you type, as long as you have Contextual Alternates turned on (as it was below the top setting). Swashes will appear at the beginning and ending of the word, and will adjust as you add or delete characters to the beginning and end of the setting. Note the swash characters in this font are identified as Stylistic or Contextual Alternates, not swashes.

Glyph substitution is built into PF Champion Script, making the insertion of the correct swash happen automatically as you type, as long as you have Contextual Alternates turned on (as it was below the top setting). Swashes will appear at the beginning and ending of the word, and will adjust as you add or delete characters. Note the swash characters in this font are identified as Stylistic or Contextual Alternates, not swashes.

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While swashes can be a wonderful enhancement to a type setting, not all swashes are well-designed and created with useful purpose. Mark Jamra of TypeCulture has designed swash caps for three of his classically-inspired, typefaces: Expo Serif Pro, Jamille Pro, and Latienne Pro. He says in his typical witty yet observant manner, “there are three kinds of swashes: really well-conceived swashes that make a typographic contribution, okay swashes that someone might use somewhere, and completely pointless swashes that are only useful for marketing the font.” Whether you agree with him or not (and I do!), it makes sense to explore the fonts with swash characters you might have in your own library, as well as those in fonts you are considering using. Keep in mind that they should be used sparingly and thoughtfully so they don’t overwhelm and overpower. When used tastefully and appropriately, they can make the difference between a just “okay” design, and one that stands out from the crowd.

The use of the swashes as well as true-drawn small caps which are available in Latienne Pro transform a simple title into a much more exciting one.

The use of the swashes as well as true-drawn small caps which are available in Latienne Pro transform a simple title into a much more exciting one.

Ilene Strizver is a noted typographic educator, author, designer and founder of The Type Studio in Westport, Connecticut. Her book, Type Rules! The designer’s guide to professional typography, is now in its 4th edition.
  • Gordon says:

    Ilene, I thought I read from you that you preferred to use the word “titled” rather than “entitled” in your writing. Was I mistaken? The “political” use of the word entitled is so prevalent these days that it sounds wrong in the context you use it in this article.

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