What degree of the text is true italic?

[Islam Ashour]

I have a magazine redesign for school and I was wondering if there was a certain degree that makes the text "truly italic" in the photo, I have the title of the book at 10 degrees. 

[Barb Binder · Accepted solution]

Hi IAshour:

True italics are designed that way by a typographer. Each letter form is drawn at the desired angle (which varies from designer to designer). When you (or software) slants roman text to look like italics, that's called Oblique, and is normally done when the designer did not intend the type to be italized. There is no "correct" angle for obliques that I am aware of.

See:

https://typedecon.com/blogs/type-glossary/italics/

https://www.sololearn.com/Discuss/818847/what-kind-of-difference-are-between-oblique-and-italic

https://creativepro.com/typetalk-italic-vs-oblique/

~Barb

[johns9323463]

Short answer: "an oblique is a roman font that has been skewed a certain number of degrees (8-12 degrees, usually)."

[Doug A Roberts]

It's even possible to have italic that doesn't slant at all, since it is defined by its letterforms.

[Danny Whitehead.]

Italics aren't just skewed text - they're specific letterforms that in most cases slant at an angle chosen by their designer. For instance, I can see that your example isn't using the proper italic forms, as italics usually have a single-story 'a'. I'd be very surpised if a serif font like that didn't have a true italic version, and if you don't have it, then it shouldn't be used for editorial body text.