Serif

For the software company Serif, see Serif (company).

	Sans-serif font
	Serif font
	Serif font (red serifs)

In typography, serifs are the structural details on the end of strokes that make up letters and symbols. A serif font (or seriffed font) has these features. A typeface (font) without serifs is called sans-serif (from French sans: "without"). Some typography sources refer to sans-serif typefaces as grotesque (or in German, grotesk) or gothic, and serif typefaces as roman; however, these terms no longer appear to be in widespread use.

Background

In the Roman alphabet, serifs originated with the carving of words into stone in ancient Italy. Artisans would carve out a bit of extra space at the end of the long strokes of letters to prevent gravel and dust from collecting in the corners of the letters.

The etymology of "serif" is obscure, but in any case almost as recent as the face. The oldest citations in the Oxford English Dictionary are 1841 for sans serif, which the OED gives as sanserif, and 1830 for serif. Indeed, the OED speculates that serif was a back-formation from sanserif. On the other hand, Webster's Third New International Dictionary traces serif to the Dutch schreef, meaning "wrote", and ultimately through Dutch schrijven, German schreiben and Latin scribere, all also meaning "to write". Incidentally, schreef now also means "serif" in Dutch.

The OED's earliest citation for grotesque in this sense is 1875, giving "stone-letter" as a synonym. It would seem to mean "out of the ordinary" in this usage, as in art grotesque usually means "elaborately decorated". Other synonyms include Doric and Gothic, commonly used for Japanese Gothic typefaces.

In Japanese typography, the equivalent of serifs on kanji and kana characters are called uroko (fish scales), and the equivalent of serif fonts is called mincho.

Usage

In traditional print, serif fonts are used for body text because the serifs create more positive word-pictures which are easier to read. Sans-serif fonts are used for shorter pieces of text and for subject matter requiring a more casual feel than the formal look of seriffed types. Sans serif types have recently begun to supplant seriffed types for headings with a 'cleaner' look.

Seriffed fonts are the overwhelming type choice for lengthy text printed in books, newspapers and magazines.

The coarse resolution of computer screens caused a reassessment of the role of serifs in readability, with a large percentage of web pages employing sans-serif type for body text. The use of fonts that provide hinting information (such as TrueType fonts) and a rendering engine that provides anti-aliasing (such as the FreeType library or the ClearType scheme in newer versions of Microsoft Windows) largely mitigates these concerns.

Classification

Serif fonts can be classified into one of four subgroups: old style, transitional, slab serif, or modern.

The Garamond typeface

Old Style

Old style typefaces date back to the 15th century, and are characterized by a diagonal stressing, subtle differences between thick and thin lines (low line contrast), and excellent readability. Old style typefaces are reminiscent of the humanist calligraphy from which their forms were derived.

The angled stressing of old style faces generates diagonal lock, which, when combined with their bracket serifs creates detailed, positive word-pictures (see bouma) for ease of reading.

Old style faces are sub-divided into Venetian and Aldine or Garalde. Examples of old style typefaces include Jenson, Garamond, Bembo, Goudy Old Style, and Palatino.

The Times New Roman typeface

Transitional

Transitional (or "baroque") serif typefaces are among the most common and include such widespread fonts as Times Roman and Baskerville. They are a mixture between modern serif and old style serif, thus the name "transitional." Differences between thick and thin lines are more pronounced than they are in old style, but they are still less dramatic than they are in modern serif fonts. Transitional serif fonts are neutral in appearance, partially due to their universal use as a default font.

The Rockwell typeface

Slab Serif

Main article: Slab serif

Slab serif (a.k.a. "egyptian") typefaces have very little if any contrast between thick and thin lines. Serifs tend to be as thick as the vertical lines themselves and usually have no bracket. Slab serif fonts have a bold, rectangular appearance and sometimes have fixed widths, meaning that all characters occupy the same amount of horizontal space (as in a typewriter). They are sometimes described as sans-serif fonts with serifs because the underlying character shapes are often similar to sans serif typefaces, with less variation between thin and thick shapes on the character. (A subcategory of slab serif is the Clarendon typefaces, which do have small but significant brackets.) Examples of slab serif typefaces include Clarendon, Rockwell and Courier.

The Bodoni typeface

Modern

Modern serif typefaces are characterized by extreme contrast between thick and thin lines. Modern typefaces have a vertical stress, long and fine serifs, with minimal brackets. Serifs tend to be very thin and vertical lines are very heavy. Most modern fonts are less readable than transitional or old style serif typefaces. Common examples include Bodoni and Century Schoolbook.

See also

• Typography
• Typeface
• Sans-serif
• San Serriffe, an elaborate typographic joke.

References

• Ellen Lupton, Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students, 2004, Princeton Architectural Press, New York
• "Serif vs. Sans Serif", a discussion on Blogdorf about serif vs. sans serif type.