The early sans-serif typefaces often did not feature a lower case or italics, since they were not needed for such uses.

Influenced by Didone serif typefaces of the period and sign painting traditions, these were often quite solid, bold designs suitable for headlines and advertisements. This group features most of the early (19th century to early 20th) sans-serif designs.

A popular German grotesque with a single-storey 'g' Grotesque Akzidenz-Grotesk, originally released by H. Sans-serif typefaces are sometimes, especially in older documents, used as a device for emphasis, due to their typically blacker type color.įurther information: Vox-ATypI classification § Linealįor the purposes of type classification, sans-serif designs are usually divided into three or four major groups, the fourth being the result of splitting the grotesque category into grotesque and neo-grotesque. One of these terms for sans-serif was 'grotesque', often used in Europe, and ' gothic', which is still used in East Asian typography and sometimes seen in typeface names like News Gothic, Highway Gothic, Franklin Gothic or Trade Gothic. In printed media, they are more commonly used for display use and less for body text.īefore the term 'sans-serif' became standard in English typography, a number of other terms had been used. The term comes from the French word sans, meaning 'without' and 'serif' of uncertain origin, possibly from the Dutch word schreef meaning 'line' or pen-stroke. On lower-resolution digital displays, fine details like serifs may disappear or appear too large. Sans-serif typefaces have become the most prevalent for display of text on computer screens. For the purposes of type classification, sans-serif designs are usually divided into these major groups: § Grotesque and § Neo-grotesque, § Geometric, § Humanist and § Other or mixed. They are often used to convey simplicity and modernity or minimalism. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than serif typefaces. In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif, gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called ' serifs' at the end of strokes. Typeface classification for letterforms without serifsįrom left to right: a Ming serif typeface with serifs in red, a Ming serif typeface and an East Asian gothic sans-serif typeface

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