Design theory: Serif fonts

In typography, a line refers to a decorative stroke that is outside the stroke of the letter structure. A serif font is called a liner body (serif), and a font without a serif is called a sans-serif (sans-serif).

Taken in 2007 at the historic Roman Amphitheater in Lyon (about 43 BC), we can see from the preserved stele that 1 of all letters are capitalized, and 2 of the lines are carved.

Historians believe that the lining came from ancient Roman inscriptions on stone inscriptions. There has always been controversy as to why these decorative strokes are produced and what role they play. Most of the people accepted the explanation from Father Edward Catich, who wrote the book "The Origin of the Serif" in 1968, thinking that the Roman alphabet was first carved onto a stone tablet before it was first painted with a square brush, and the carved craftsman was later carving by the writing. Because the direct use of the square brush will lead to the beginning and end of the stroke coarse, so in the beginning of the stroke, the end and corner of the time to increase the finishing strokes, but also naturally formed a lining. The carving of the craftsmen according to the written word carving, formed the so-called "serif".

Zoom in on the letter "T" and we can see how the liner was eventually born under the craftsman's carving knife (pay attention to the tangent direction I marked in the left picture)

The etymology of the word "serif" is not to be tested, and the Latin text forms a font style at the same time. In 1813, William Hollins Unified the English capital statement and the Roman alphabet I in the British national standard. He defines the term "surripses", usually pronounced "surriphs", which means "in addition to the letter O and Q, the prominent portion of the head and tail of the letter strokes, sometimes at the beginning of the stroke, sometimes at the end, sometimes at the same time." The standard also points out that the word "surripses" may originate from a combination of Greek words συν (together) and ριψισ (prominent ones). In 1827, Julian Hibbert, a Greek scholar, printed his own experimental nature of the Ansai-uppercase Greek font. He considered the lining of the alphabet to be more of a decoration than a form of wear and tear as the natural aging. He also believes that the etymology of "serif" should be "syrifs" or "cerefs".

The Oxford English Dictionary, "serif" of the relevant citations first appeared in 1830 years, "sans serif" is now in 1841, written as a word: "Sanserif." The Oxford English Dictionary holds that the word "serif" is an inversion of "sanserif" in words and formations. Weshi The third edition of the New International dictionary that the "serif" originated in Dutch "noun schreef", meaning line, pen and pen. In Dutch, "Schreef" and from the verb "schrappen" (delete, delimit), meaning equivalent to "serif". The Sans in sans Serif (Sans-serif) is a French word, meaning "no". In Germany, sans Serif is called "Grotesk" (absurd). The corresponding English word "grotesque", first appeared in the 1875 Oxford English Dictionary, is synonymous with the inscription font. Also refers to the meaning of "unusual". In the field of art, "grotesque" refers to "exquisite decoration". Other terms of consent include "Doric" (Doric, a column of ancient Greece) and "Gothic" (Gothic). When the Japanese name sans Serif, they are called Gothic fonts.

It is generally accepted that in traditional text printing, the lining has a better readability (compared to sans-serif), especially in large passages, where the line increases the visual reference to the letter when reading. Sans serif are often used in headings, shorter text passages, or some entertainment. Compared to serious lines, no liner gives a relaxed feeling of leisure. With the changes in modern life and trends, people nowadays are becoming more and more interested in using sans-serif because they look "cleaner". Surveys show that Europeans are slightly more receptive to sans than North America, with large passages written in books, newspapers and magazines, and lined with an overwhelming advantage.

Although the lining is derived from inscriptions, people are not used to adding those lines when writing letters. The only exception is the uppercase I, plus the lining to differentiate with the lowercase L, and the numbers 1 and 7 are also commonly used to underline and distinguish between handwritten lines. 、

the types of serif fonts are :

• The old-fashioned style (old style) is typically: Adobe Jenson, Janson, Garamond, Bembo, goudy older style, and Palatino
• Transitional style (transitional) is representative of: Times Roman, Baskerville
• Modern (modern) are representative of: Didot, Bodoni
• The thick lining line (slab Serif) is representative of: Rockwell

Reference

• Wikipedia
• ' Don ' t be afraid of the Serif Fonts ', by David Rodrguez