Eagle-eyed readers may notice that in Figure 5-2, a few of the lines do vary a
little bit in thickness, and some are a tiny bit flared at the end (notice the Q).
However, the standard division between sans serif and serif nonetheless
overwhelmingly prevails. Over the centuries, various typeface designers have
fiddled a little with sans serif fonts to make them ever so slightly less rigid.
Likewise, during most of the twentieth century, serif fonts have generally
tended to evolve into designs slightly less decorative (or shall we say less
ornate) in obedience to the modern preference for simplicity, straight lines,
and boxy shapes. You’ve doubtless heard the famous dictum, “Less is more.”
Today’s architects and painters seem to be emerging from the minimalist aes-
thetic that has ruled for the past five decades, but only time will tell. For now,
less is still considered more in most creative fields.Serif fonts have traditionally been used more for body text, where they are
thought to improve readability because the letters have more visual variety.
This diversity and the small strokes and flourishes at the ends give letters
more individuality than the cleaner but more uniform sans serif styles.You can think of serif italic fonts as an amplification of the qualities associ-
ated with serif, plus they are tilted to the right.Sans serif fonts and all-caps have traditionally been used more often than
serif fonts in headlines because headlines are brief and relatively large, and
readability is less of an issue with large text. These traditional design rules,
however, are now widely ignored.One exception to the greater legibility of sans serif faces happens at extremely
small sizes. When squeezed into “mousetype,” serifs start to obscure readabil-
ity and the cleaner lines of a sans serif face are actually an advantage. If you
don’t want people to read the fine print in a contract, be sure to put it in a serif
font. Here’s an example of small typefaces you can load into your browser to
see the difference:<html>
<head><style>serif
TIMES ROMAN Q
Lines vary in
thicknessLines taper to an endFigure 5-3:
Serif fonts
have
curlicues at
the tips and
their line
weights
vary.