Snowdrift

With an x-height of 79.9% of the cap height, its lowercase stands above the 74.5% median for decorative fonts, taller than 33 of the 35 other decorative fonts. Ascenders on b, d, h, k and l rise 3% above the capitals, and descenders on g, j, p, q and y drop 21.1% of the cap height below the baseline, shallower than 25 of the 35 other decorative fonts. It sets wide: an average lowercase letter, spacing included, is 82.7% as wide as the capitals are tall (an average capital, 92.7%), 8.5% more than the median for decorative fonts, so the same words take a longer line. The o is close to a circle, 0.95 times as wide as it is tall, and W is the widest capital, at 1.37 times the width of H. Round letters overshoot: O rises 1% of the cap height above H and dips 1% below the baseline.

The letters stand upright, with no measurable slant. Vertical stems measure 16% of the cap height, heavier than 16 of the 22 other decorative fonts. Ink covers 41.4% of each lowercase letter's box (its advance width by the cap height), darker than 30 of the 35 other decorative fonts. A rounded cap of snow sits on top of each letter, separated from it by a thin gap.

Its 3,329 characters include 2,967 Chinese, 170 Japanese kana and 105 Latin letters, plus 87 figures, punctuation marks and symbols; 53 of the Latin letters are accented or special forms beyond A to Z. The word space measures 32.5% of the cap height, and the blank space either side of a lowercase letter takes up 8.2% of its width. Spacing is adjusted with 274 kerning pairs, the most of all 36 decorative fonts. The tightest of them is VA, which closes up by 23% of the cap height. The figures have different widths, so columns of numbers set in Snowdrift will not line up exactly.

Snowdrift is drawn on the same letter structure as 19 other fonts in the library. Compared with Snowdrift, Halo Light keeps the letters plain, without the snow-cap effect, sets 13% narrower and puts down 60% less ink. Foyer Inline cuts a thin line along each stroke and sets 20% wider. Lobby Deco keeps the letters plain, without the snow-cap effect and has a 73% x-height.