Serif vs sans serif – the difference between typefaces with and without serifs

Serif typefaces have serifs, the small strokes at the ends of the letters' main strokes, like Garamond, Baskerville and Times. Sans serif typefaces, also called grotesques, have no serifs, like Futura, Gill Sans and Helvetica. Serif type has its roots in 15th-century Italy, while sans serifs broke through in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Facts

What is a serif?

A serif is the small stroke or cross-line at the end of a letter's stroke, like the foot of a T or an I. Serifs appear on Roman inscriptions in stone, and Renaissance printers took up the form when they designed their types. In Swedish, typefaces with serifs are called antikva, after the ancient model.

Typefaces without serifs are called grotesque, linear or sans serif. The word grotesque was already used in the 19th century, when the first typefaces without serifs were seen as clumsy and strange. Read more in the category typography.

The history of serif type

The first printed books, such as Gutenberg's Bible of the 1450s, were set in textura, a dense Gothic book hand. In Venice Nicolas Jenson designed a roman type around 1470 after the humanists' handwriting, and in the 16th century Claude Garamont in Paris cut the types that gave their name to Garamond.

In the 18th century the contrast between thick and thin strokes increased. William Caslon's type was used in printing the American Declaration of Independence, and John Baskerville made sharper and lighter letters. Giambattista Bodoni took the contrast furthest, with hairline serifs and heavy stems.

The breakthrough of sans serif

In the 19th century posters and advertising demanded bigger and bolder letters. Types with heavy, block-like serifs, slab serifs, such as Clarendon of 1845, and the first sans serifs were used for headlines. In Berlin the Berthold foundry issued Akzidenz-Grotesk in 1898, which became a model for later sans serifs.

In 1916 Edward Johnston designed a typeface for the London Underground, Johnston, and his pupil Eric Gill made Gill Sans in 1928. In Germany Paul Renner designed Futura in 1927 on the basis of the circle, square and triangle, in the spirit of the Bauhaus.

Times and Helvetica

In 1932 The Times in London began using a new typeface, Times New Roman, developed under Stanley Morison to be legible and economical in narrow columns. It became one of the most widely used typefaces in the world, not least through computers and word processors.

In 1957 Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann at the Haas foundry in Switzerland designed Neue Haas Grotesk, which soon got the name Helvetica. The neutral, clear typeface became the face of the International Style and appears in countless logos and signage systems. In 1996 came Verdana, designed to be legible on screens.

Which should you choose?

It is often said that serif type is easier to read in long texts on paper, because the serifs help the eye follow the line, and that sans serif is better on screens and signs. Research gives no clear answer; habit, size, line spacing and paper or screen matter at least as much as the serifs.

A common approach is to combine a serif for body text with a sans serif for headings, or vice versa. Notice what the app itself does: the art section uses serif faces for both headings and body text, while the design section has a heavy sans serif in its headings. Read more about the school's view of form in the guide to the Bauhaus.

How to tell them apart

Exercise

Which of these typefaces is a sans serif?