Ion Hairline

Its lowercase is tall: the x-height is 73.3% of the cap height, against a median of 71.1% for sans serif fonts, taller than 9 of the 16 other sans serif fonts. Ascenders on b, d, h, k and l rise 4% above the capitals, and descenders on g, j, p, q and y drop 28.1% of the cap height below the baseline, shallower than 10 of the 16 other sans serif fonts. Its letters are of average width for sans serif fonts: an average lowercase letter, spacing included, is 101.1% as wide as the capitals are tall (an average capital, 116.8%), within 4.1% of the median. The o is wider than it is tall, 1.40 to 1, and W is the widest capital, at 1.39 times the width of H. Round letters overshoot: O rises 1.3% of the cap height above H and dips 1.3% below the baseline.

The letters stand upright, with no measurable slant. Vertical stems measure 6.3% of the cap height, lighter than 14 of the 16 other sans serif fonts. Ink covers 16.9% of each lowercase letter's box (its advance width by the cap height), lighter than 11 of the 16 other sans serif fonts. Strokes keep one thickness in every direction: the sides of o and O measure the same as their tops and bottoms.

Its 148 characters include 105 Latin letters, plus 43 figures, punctuation marks and symbols; 53 of the Latin letters are accented or special forms beyond A to Z. The word space measures 44.6% of the cap height, and the blank space either side of a lowercase letter takes up 13% of its width. Spacing is adjusted with 144 kerning pairs, more than 13 of the 16 other sans serif fonts. The tightest of them is AY, which closes up by 30.9% of the cap height. The figures have different widths, so columns of numbers set in Ion Hairline will not line up exactly.

9 other library fonts share Ion Hairline's underlying letter structure. Compared with Ion Hairline, Velocity Stripes cuts horizontal stripes through the letters, leans about 10° and puts down 92% more ink. Bubble Tech Outline draws the letters as hollow outlines, sets 6% wider and puts down 20% less ink. Circuit Outline draws the letters as hollow outlines, sets 9% wider and has a 82% x-height.