Even before Gutenberg invented the craft of typography, fancy initials were used to begin chapters and decorate pages in medieval manuscripts. While Gutenberg didn’t create specially designed initial letters to complement his fonts, he left a space in his typeset pages so these typographic embellishments could later be drawn in by hand.

Most type designers who followed Gutenberg added initial letters to their palette. Caslon hand-cut decorative initial letters to be used with his standard types. Bodoni developed an entire range of outsized letters that complemented the weight and proportions of his text designs. There were also initial letters in the fonts by Garamond, Janson and Baskerville. Initial letters probably grew out of medieval scribes’ desire to glorify and add visual beauty to the “words of God.” Their goal was to raise text to the level of art. Today, initial letters are used for the same—although somewhat less ethereal—purpose: to add beauty or emphasis to the beginning of a page, chapter or paragraph.

TWO KINDS OF INITIALS
The oldest initial lettering form is the drop cap. Here the initial letter is set down within the copy, not rising above the top line of text. The other style is a raised initial. This variety rests on the baseline of the first line of copy and rises above the top of the text block.

Raised initials
Raised initials are the easiest to set—just align the baseline of the initial with the first line of text copy. Sometimes the copy to the right of the initial letter needs to be kerned to the left to ensure that the first word is read properly. The initial letters to watch for are the same ones that would usually be kerned in normal text copy: T, W, V, Y.

Dropped initials
Setting dropped initials can be more challenging. Dropped initials should fit snugly within the surrounding copy, and the top of the character should align optically with the top of the opening word or words. If the initial letter has points, like some forms of the cap A or M, they should project above the text letters to achieve optical alignment. The base of a dropped initial letter should also appear to align with a line of the text copy. If the base of the initial is pointed, as in the V and W, then the points should project below the baseline in order to achieve visual alignment. For the same reason, the bottoms of round letters like the C and O should also fall slightly below the lines they align with.

ALIGNMENT ISSUES
With most dropped initials, lines of surrounding text copy are aligned vertically, with just enough indent to provide snug spacing between the initial and the lines of copy it adjoins (this is usually less than the line spacing). As with most things typographic, however, there can be exceptions to this guideline. Sometimes letters like A, L, R or even an E may require special handling. When using initial letters with irregular right sides, the first line of the paragraph is usually brought in close to the letter, and the lines that follow are aligned with the right side of its body. Sometimes when the letter A is used, the first line can be aligned closely to the top of the character, with the following lines indented and vertically aligned. The key to the best alignment of initials is the same as for all other typographic arrangements: It has to look good. What works for one letter in one font may not work for the same letter in another font. Look at the characters and text; make design decisions on how things look.

Optics
Whether you’re using capital letters as dropped or raised initials, some capital letters should be set overhanging the left edge of the text block so they align optically with the edge. For example, when the initial is a cap T, the left-hand serif part of the bar on the top bar should project into the left margin. Round letters like C and O should extend slightly into the left margin to create an optically aligned left-hand edge.

Transitions
Frequently, words that begin with initial letters are completed with capitals. While this isn’t necessary, it makes the transition from large initial letter to text-size lowercase characters smoother. When the first word has only one or two letters, it may facilitate the transition to use capitals for the second word as well.

When the initialed word is a proper name and you are using caps to create a text transition, the entire name should also be in capitals. The first letter of each word in the name should be set in capitals and the rest in small caps to distinguish it from the text.

Special cases
Sometimes initial letters are housed in decorative boxes. In this case, the space to the right of the box should be optically the same as the text line space. When using quotes, the opening quote should be sized somewhere between the initial size and the point size of the text copy, but its alignment should remain at the optical top of the letter. Historically, initial letters have not been used with copy set in sans serif type styles—this is a rule based on tradition, and we all know what rules are made for.

HAVE FUN
It’s OK to be creative with initials. Try putting a subtle ornamental scroll before the opening initial. Maybe a lowercase letter could be used instead of a capital. The initial can be put into a plain box or circle. Initials can be hand-drawn; they can be exceptionally decorative or very simple. They just need to look good.

While your next project may not be as lofty as that of a medieval scribe, a sprinkling of initial letters may be just what you need to elevate the end result.

SIDEBARS:

INITIAL LETTERS: CLASSIFYING THE UNCLASSIFIABLE
Since initial letters have been around for such a long time, they come in more shapes and sizes than can be imagined. And while no one has attempted a systematic classification, initial letters can be categorized into three basic groups: Big Letters, Fancy Caps and Wow!

Big Letters
Big Letters are single fonts specially designed to be used as initial letters—the titling fonts from text typeface families or just great-looking capital letters from regular fonts.

Perhaps the most traditional titling font currently available is Trajan by Carol Twombly. Based on the monumental letters of the ancient Trajan Column, this twoweight family pays homage to what many consider the quintessential Roman alphabet. Other titling fonts are Perpetua Titling and Bembo Titling.

Fancy Caps
Fancy Caps are just that: fancier than simple Roman capitals. Like Big Letters, they were initially elaborate letters cut in wood or cast as fonts of metal type.

Gill Floriated and Lombardic Capitals are two very different revivals of initial alphabets that grew out of hand-lettering. Neither was intended to be used as a font, but both made the transition remarkably well.

Castellar and Schoeffer Initials are digital revivals of fonts first cast in metal. The slightly funky Schoeffer Initials, first released in the latter part of the 19th century, falls at one end of the stylistic spectrum, while Castellar—with its elegant letterforms—falls at the other.

Not all Fancy Caps, however, need to be scholarly studies of ancient letterforms. There are times when it is more appropriate to be playful than erudite. Initial letters such as those found in Buccaneer or ITC Kendo are perfect for these occasions.

Wow!
Wow!, as the name implies, are letters that are just too cool, too outrageous or too illustrative to be called merely “big” or “fancy.” They can be swash characters from script typefaces, such as Zapfino and Edwardian Script. Some—like Hibiscus or Daylilies—are garnished with flowers. Others like Skreech Caps may be almost unintelligible, while still more—like ITC Stained Glass or Ben Franklin Initials—are almost illustrations rather than fonts of type.

Wow! initials can be great typographic fun. Just be sure to use them sparingly. A little Wow! goes a long way.

About the author
Allan Haley is the director of Words & Letters at Monotype Imaging. He is chairperson of AIGA Typography and a past president of the New York Type Directors Club.