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

In typography, a sans-serif or sans serif typeface is one that does not have the small features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Typography is the art and techniques of arranging type, Type design, and modifying type Glyphs Type glyphs are created and modified using a variety In Typography, a typeface is a set of one or more Fonts designed with stylistic unity each comprising a coordinated set of Glyphs A typeface usually comprises Origins & etymology Serifs are thought to have originated in the Roman alphabet with inscriptional lettering —words carved into stone in Roman antiquity The term comes from the French word sans, meaning "without". French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people

In print, sans-serif fonts are more typically used for headlines than for body text. ^[1] The conventional wisdom is that serifs help guide the eye along the lines in large blocks of text. Sans-serifs however have acquired considerable acceptance for body text in Europe.

Sans-serif fonts have become the de facto standard for body text on-screen, especially online. It has been suggested that this is because the small size of the font causes serif fonts to appear excessively cluttered on the screen. ^[2] This is also true of typography on mobile screens, though it is less commonly used in television screens (the United Kingdom uses a Serif font by default on television). The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located ^[3]

Before the term “sans-serif” became standard in English typography, a number of other terms had been used. One of these outmoded terms for sans serif was gothic, which is still used in Japanese typography and sometimes seen in font names like “New Century Gothic”. Gothic typefaces ( Japanese: ja ゴシック体 Goshikku-tai; Korean: ko 고딕체 Godik-che) are a type style characterised by strokes of even

Sans-serif fonts are sometimes, especially in older documents, used as a device for emphasis, due to their typically blacker type color. In Typography, emphasis is the exaggeration of words in a text with a font in a different style from the rest of the text&mdashto emphasise them In Typography, type color refers to the weight or boldness of a Typeface and is used by designers and typographers to describe the visual tone of a mass of text on

Contents 1 History 1.1 Ancient usages 1.2 Non-Latin types 1.3 Revival of Latin characters 1.3.1 Incorporation by typefounders 2 Other names for sans-serif 3 Classification 3.1 British Standards classification 3.2 PANOSE classification 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

History

Ancient usages

Sans-serif letter forms can be found in Latin, Etruscan, and Greek inscriptions, for as early as 5th century BC. The Etruscan Language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization in the ancient region of Etruria (modern Tuscany plus western ^[4] The sans serif forms had been used on stoichedon Greek inscriptions. The stoichedon ( Greek: στοιχηδόν style of Epigraphy was the practice of engraving ancient Greek inscriptions in capitals such that the letters were

Non-Latin types

The first known usage of Etruscan sans-serif foundry types was from Thomas Dempster's De Etruria regali libri VII (1723). Thomas Dempster ( August 23, 1579 &ndash September 6, 1625) was a Scottish scholar and Historian. Later at about 1745, Caslon foundry made its the first sans-serif types for Etruscan languages, which was used by University Press, Oxford, for pamphlets written by Etruscan scholar John Swinton. John Swinton ( 1703 - 1777) was a British writer He contributed to George Sale 's Universal History.

Revival of Latin characters

According to James Mosley's Typographica journal titled The Nymph and the Grot: the revival of the sanserif letter, the sans serif letters had appeared as early as 1748, as an inscription of Nymph in the Grotto in Stourhead. Typographica was the name of a journal of Typography and visual arts founded and edited by Herbert Spencer from 1949 to 1967 Stourhead is a 2650 Acre (11 km² estate at the source of the River Stour near Mere, Wiltshire, England ^[5] However, it was classified as an experiment rather than a sign of wide-scale adoption. ^[6]

In late 18th century, Neoclassicism movement led to architects to increasingly incorporating ancient Greek and Roman designs in contemporary structures. Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the decorative and Among the architects, John Soane was noted for using sans serif letters on his drawings and architectural designs, which were eventually adopted by other designers, such as Thomas Banks, John Flaxman. Sir John Soane ( 10 September 1753 &ndash 20 January 1837) was an English Architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical Thomas Banks ( December 29, 1735 &mdash February 2, 1805) English sculptor, son of a surveyor who was John Flaxman ( 6 July 1755 - 7 December 1826) was an English sculptor and draughtsman.

Sans-serif letters began to appear in printed media as early as 1805, in European Magazine. However, early 19th-century commercial sign writers and engravers had modified the sans-serif styles of neoclassical designers to include uneven stroke weights found in serif Roman fonts, producing sans-serif letters. ^[7]

In 1816, the Ordnance Survey began to use 'Egyptian' type, which was printed using copper plate engraving of monoline sans-serif capital letters, to name ancient Roman sites. Ordnance Survey (OS is an Executive agency of the United Kingdom government ^[8]

Incorporation by typefounders

In 1786, a rounded sans-serif font was developed by Valentin Haüy, first appeared in the book titled "Essai sur l'éducation des aveugles" (An Essay on the Education of the Blind). Valentin Haüy (aɥi 13 November 1745 in Saint-Just-en-Chaussée ( Oise) - 19 March 1822 in Paris) was the founder ^[9] The purpose of this font was to be invisible and address accessibility. It was designed to emboss paper and allow the blind to read with their fingers. ^[10] The design was eventually known as Haüy type^[11].

In 1816, William Caslon IV produced the first sans-serif printing type in England for Latin characters under the title 'Two Lines English Egyptian', where 'Two Lines English' referred to the font's body size, which equals to about 28 points. Originally cut in 1812. ^[12]

The term Sans-serif was first employed in 1830 by Figgins foundry.

In 1832, Thorowgood of Fann Street Foundry introduced Grotesque, which include the first commercial Latin printing type to include lowercase sans-serif letters.

Other names for sans-serif

• Egyptian: The term was first used by Joseph Farington after seeing the sans serif inscription on John Flaxman's memorial to Isaac Hawkins Brown in 1805. Joseph Farington ( 21 November 1747 &ndash 30 December 1821) was an eighteenth-century English landscape painter and ^[13]

• Antique: In about 1817, the Figgins foundry in London made a type with square or slab-serifs which it called 'Antique', and that name was adopted by most of the British and US typefounders. An exception was the typefounder Thorne, who confused things by marketing his Antique under the name 'Egyptian'. In France it became Egyptienne, and to worsen the confusion, the French called sans-serif type 'Antique'. ^[14] Some fonts, such as Antique Olive, still carry the name.

• Grotesque: It was originally coined by William Thorowgood of Fann Street Foundry, the first person to produce a sans-serif type with lower case, in 1832. The name came from the Italian word 'grottesco', meaning 'belonging to the cave'. In Germany, the name became called Grotesk. German typefounders adopted the term from the nomenclature of Fann Street Foundry, which took on the meaning of cave (or grotto) art. ^[15] Nevertheless, some explained the term was derived from the surprising response from the typographers^[16].

• Doric: It was the term first used by H. W. Caslon Foundry in Chiswell Street in 1870 to describe various sans-serif font at a time the generic name 'sans-serif' was commonly accepted. Eventually the foundry used Sans-serif in 1906. At that time, Doric referred to a certain kind of stressed sans-serif types.

• Gothic: Not to be confused with blackletter typeface, the term was used mainly by American type founders^[17]. Blackletter, also known as Gothic script or Gothic minuscule, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 The term probably derived from the architectural definition, which is neither Greek or Roman^[18]; and from the extended adjective term of 'Germany', which was the place where sans-serif typefaces became popular in 19th to 20th century^[19]. Early adopters for the term includes Miller & Richard (1963), J.  & R.  M.  Wood (1865), Lothian, Conner, Bruce McKellar. Although the usage is now rare in the English-speaking world, the term is commonly used in Japan.

• Heiti (Chinese: 黑體): Literally meaning 'black type', the term probably derived from the mistranslation of Gothic as blackletter typeface, even though actual blackletter fonts have serifs.

• Lineale, or Linear: The term was defined by typographic historian Maximilien Vox in the VOX-ATypI classification to describe sans-serif types. In Typography, the Vox-ATypI classification makes it possible to classify Typefaces in eleven general classes Later, in British Standards Classification of Typefaces (BS 2961:1967), lineale replaced sans-serif as classification name. British Standards are produced by BSI British Standards, a division of BSI Group that is incorporated under a Royal Charter and is formally designated

• Simplices: In Jean Alessandrini's désignations préliminaries (preliminary designations), simplices (plain typefaces) is used to describe sans-serif on the basis that the name 'lineal' refers to lines, whereas, in reality, all typefaces are made of lines, including those that are not lineals. ^[20]

Classification

For the purposes of type classification sans-serif designs broadly divide into four major groups:

• Grotesque, early sans-serif designs, such as Grotesque, Helvetica, Univers, Akzidenz Grotesk, Franklin Gothic and Royal Gothic. Grotesque, or Grotesk in Germany is a style of Sans-serif typeface from the 19th century Helvetica is the name of a widely used Sans-serif Typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss Typeface designer Max Miedinger. Univers (ynivɛʀ French: "universe" is the name of a realist Sans-serif Typeface designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1954 Akzidenz-Grotesk is a realist Sans-serif Typeface originally released by the H Franklin Gothic is a realist sans-serif Typeface designed by Morris Fuller Benton (1872–1948 in 1902

• Neo-grotesque or Transitional or Realist, modern designs such as Standard, MS Sans Serif and Arial. Akzidenz-Grotesk is a realist Sans-serif Typeface originally released by the H MS Sans Serif is a proportional Raster font introduced in Windows 1 Arial, sometimes marketed as Arial MT, is a Sans-serif Typeface and Computer font packaged with Microsoft Windows, other These are the most common sans-serif fonts. They are relatively straight in appearance and have less line width variation than Humanist sans-serif typefaces. Transitional sans-serif is sometimes called "anonymous sans-serif" due to its relatively plain appearance.

• Humanist (Calibri, Johnston, Lucida Grande, Segoe UI, Gill Sans, Myriad, Frutiger, Trebuchet MS, Tahoma, Verdana and Optima, a. Calibri is a humanist sans-serif typeface family under the Microsoft ClearType Font Collection Johnston (or Johnston Sans) is a Humanist sans-serif typeface designed by and named after Edward Johnston. Lucida Grande is a humanist sans-serif Typeface included with the Mac OS X operating system Segoe (pronounced /siɡoʊ/ is a series of typefaces designed by Steve Matteson during his employment at Agfa Monotype. Gill Sans is a humanist Sans-serif Typeface designed by Eric Gill in 1927 and released 1928 Myriad is a Humanist sans-serif Typeface designed by Robert Slimbach and Carol Twombly for Adobe Systems Frutiger (pronounced with a hard g) is a series of Typefaces named after its designer Adrian Frutiger. Trebuchet MS is a Humanist sans-serif Typeface designed by Vincent Connare for the Microsoft Corporation in 1996 Verdana is a humanist sans-serif Typeface designed by Matthew Carter for Microsoft Corporation, with hand- hinting done by Tom Optima is a Humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf between 1952 - 1955 for the D k. a. Zapf Humanist). These are the most calligraphic of the sans-serif typefaces, with some variation in line width and more legibility than other sans-serif fonts.

• Geometric (Futura, Avant Garde, Century Gothic, Gotham, or Spartan). Futura is a geometric Sans-serif Typeface designed between 1924 and 1926 by Paul Renner. Century Gothic is a geometric Sans-serif typeface designed for Monotype Imaging in 1991 Gotham is a family of geometric Sans serif typefaces designed by American type designer Tobias Frere-Jones in 2000 As their name suggests, Geometric sans-serif typefaces are based on geometric shapes. Note the optically circular letter "O" and the simple construction of the lowercase letter "a". Geometric sans-serif fonts have a very modern look and feel. Of these four categories, geometric fonts tend to be the least useful for body text.

Note that in some sans-serif fonts, such as Arial, the capital-i and lowercase-L appear identical. Verdana, however, keeps them distinct because Verdana's capital-i, as an exception, has serifs. Other fonts may have two horizontal bars on the capital-i, a curved tail on the lowercase-L, or both.

British Standards classification

In British Standards Classification of Typefaces (BS 2961:1967), the following are defined:

• Grotesque: Lineale typefaces with 19th century origins. There is some contrast in thickness of strokes. They have squareness of curve, and curling close-set jaws. The R usually has a curled leg and the G is spurred. The ends of the curved strokes are usually horizontal. Examples include Stephenson Blake Grotesque No. Stephenson Blake is a British Type foundry, based in Sheffield England. 6, Condensed Sans No. 7, Monotype Headline Bold.

• Neo-grotesque: Lineale typefaces derived from the grotesque. They have less stroke contrast and are more regular in design. The jaws are more open than in the true grotesque and the g is often open-tailed. The ends of the curved strokes are usually oblique. Examples include Edel/Wotan, Univers, Helvetica. Univers (ynivɛʀ French: "universe" is the name of a realist Sans-serif Typeface designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1954 Helvetica is the name of a widely used Sans-serif Typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss Typeface designer Max Miedinger.

• Geometric: Lineale typefaces constructed on simple geometric shapes, circle or rectangle. Usually monoline, and often with single-storey a. Examples include Futura, Erbar, Eurostile. Futura is a geometric Sans-serif Typeface designed between 1924 and 1926 by Paul Renner. Eurostile (sometimes misspelled as Eurostyle) is a geometric Sans serif Typeface designed by Aldo Novarese in 1962.

• Humanist: Lineale typefaces based on the proportions of inscriptional Roman capitals and Humanist or Garalde lower-case, rather than on early grotesques. They have some stroke contrast, with two-storey a and g. Examples include Optima, Gill Sans, Pascal. Optima is a Humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf between 1952 - 1955 for the D Gill Sans is a humanist Sans-serif Typeface designed by Eric Gill in 1927 and released 1928

PANOSE classification

In PANOSE 1. The PANOSE System is a method for classifying Typefaces solely on their visual characteristics 0, if E, A, and N glyphs are serifed and the TipRat variable is greater than or equal to 0. 1, it is classified as serif, otherwise it is sans-serif. The classification system picks out the type of sans-serif subclasses, in the order specified below:

• Flared: The designs are typified by stems that widen slightly at their base.
• Rounded: If the RonRat value is less than 0. 2 then the stem end is not considered rounded. If the RonRat value is greater or equal to 0. 2 then the Serif Style is classified as Rounded.
• Perpendicular Sans Serif: It is determined by the slant of the bottom of the leg end of non perpendicular stems. If the FootPitch is equal to 0, then the stem end is not considered serifed. If the FootPitch is greater than 0, then the design is classified as Perpendicular Sans Serif.
• Obtuse: If the SerOb value is either greater than or equal to 1. 03 or less than or equal to 0. 97, then the design is classified as Obtuse Sans Serif.
• Normal: If the SerOb value is both less than 1. 03 and greater than 0. 97, then the design is classified as Normal Sans Serif.

See also

• List of Sans Serif typefaces
• Serif
• Roman type
• Italic type
• Monospace
• Emphasis (typography)
• The British literary spoof island San Serriffe

References

External links

• everything2.com: sans serif
• British Standards for Type Classification

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