Expressive Words

Type Classification

There are 5 main categories that Typefaces and Letterforms fall into...

• Serif
• Sans Serif
• Slab Serif
• Script
• Decorative

SERIF

The definition Serif is a slight projection finishing off a stroke of a letter in certain typefaces. Serif being translated from French to English is Feet, which are the ‘finishing off strokes of the letters’. Serif fonts will also have varying thicknesses in terms of the strokes and stems. Serifs originated from the Latin alphabet when the Romans would carve the letters into stone and were kept because they were considered to be beautiful letterforms when discovered in the remains of Rome and Italy. Serif fonts are still very commonly used for large bodies of text. This is because according to conventional wisdom, the layout and spacing in the characters is easiest for the human eye to read.

SANS SERIF

Sans being interpreted from French is ‘without’ and that is essentially what a Sans Serif font is, characters without the serif feet. Sans serif fonts will mostly have the same thickness and width in terms of the strokes and stems of the characters. Sans serif fonts were first formed in the 1800s but didn’t become commonly used until the early 1900s, around the time of many of the Modernism movements such as Art Deco and Futurism movements. This was probably because the whole purpose of the movements were to bring a futurist change to popular culture and the only way for a movement to be successful, or for there to be change is to use or do something that’s not been used or done before.

SLAB SERIF

Slab Serif was developed in the early 1800s and is characterized by thick, block-like serifs. The serifs may be either blunt and angular like the ones of the typeface Rockwell, or rounded like the typeface Courier New. Slab serif typefaces are very much like Serif typefaces only there is no bracket on the feet of Slab Serif typeface. This is the defining difference between the two.

SCRIPT

Script typefaces were created to look like human handwriting. The word script comes from the word Scribe. Historically a scribe was a person who would record things by hand. The type of typeface is used mostly for logos, however occasionally can be seen in headlines of magazines. This kind of typeface wouldn’t be appropriate for large bodies of text because it would be difficult to read in a small font.

DECORATIVE

Decorative typefaces became popular in the 19^th century. Being used both then and now as typefaces for titles and headlines. A decorative typeface will almost be picturesque in its style and may follow themes such as a shape-based font or a nature-based font. Decorative text would not be suitable in a large body of text as they can be quite difficult to read if they are not expressing simple words. They are good for titles, headlines and logos because they give the text an identity. Decorative typefaces have been used widely for decades in popular music, on album covers and for movies. Again this is because through decorative text a feeling, mood or image can be given through the text to represent the film, music or artist in however way they want it to.