A serif is a small decorative design to the end of stroke in letter or symbol.
Serifs originated in the Latin alphabet with inscriptional lettering—words carved into stone in Roman antiquity.
The explanation proposed by Father Edward Catich in his 1968 book The Origin of the Serif.
Uses
Serif are used in printed work and headlines.
The serifs in print make it easier to read, as they allow people to differentiate the letters more clearly.
Classification
Serif fonts are classified into four subgroups:-
Old-style
It is appeared on back to 1465.
This style is designed on the basis of thick and thin lines and the thinnest part of the letter are at an angle rather than at the top and bottom.
It has normally a left inclining curve axis.
Transitional
Transitional or baroque serif typefaces first appeared in the mid-18th century.
Differences between thick and thin lines are more pronounced than they are in old style.
Stress is more on vertical.The ends of many strokes are marked not by blunt or angled serifs but by ball terminals.
Didone
Didone or modern serif typefaces, which first introduced in the late 18th century.
These are characterized by extreme contrast between thick and thin lines.
These typefaces have a vertical stress and long and fine serifs, with minimal constant width.
Slab serif
It is introduced in 18th century.
These have very thick serifs, which tend to be as thick as the vertical lines themselves.
Latin or wedge serif
A Latin or wedge-serif is a typeface with serifs that form a point and visibly widen outwards from the main stroke of the letter.
Sans-serif
A sans-serif, gothic or simply sans letter form is one that does not have the small projecting features called "serifs" at the end of strokes.
Sans-serif fonts tend to have less line width variation than serif fonts.
Uses
Sans-serif are used for web pages.
Grotesque
This group feature came between 19th century to early 20th century.
These have limited variation of stroke width the terminals of curves are usually horizontal and "G" and "R" with a curled leg.
Capitals have relatively uniform width and cap height are generally same to create a more regular effect in texts.
Neo-grotesque
These are evolution of grotesque. They are relatively straight forward in appearance with limited width variation.
Geometric
These are based on geometric shapes, like circle and square.
Humanist
Humanist designs vary more than geometric designs. Some humanist designs have stroke modulation or alternating thick and thin strokes. This designed to be suitable for both display and body text.
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