Sans serif Wikipedia. From left to right a serif typeface with serifs in red, a serif typeface and a sans serif typeface. 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. Sans serif fonts tend to have less line width variation than serif fonts. In most print, they are often used for headings rather than for body text. They are often used to convey simplicity and modernity or minimalism. Sans serif fonts have become the most prevalent for display of text on computer screens. Avant Garde Gothic Ligatures' title='Avant Garde Gothic Ligatures' />On lower resolution digital displays, fine details like serifs may disappear or appear too large. 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. Before the term sans serif became common 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 East Asian typography and sometimes seen in font names like News Gothic, Highway Gothic, or Trade Gothic. Sans serif fonts are sometimes, especially in older documents, used as a device for emphasis, due to their typically blacker type color. ClassificationeditFor 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. GrotesqueeditThis group features most of the early 1. Influenced by Didone serif fonts of the period and signpainting traditions, these were often quite solid, bold designs suitable for headlines and advertisements. The early sans serif typefaces often did not feature a lower case or italics, since they were not needed for such uses. They were sometimes released by width, with a range of widths from extended to normal to condensed, with each style different, meaning to modern eyes they can look quite irregular and eccentric. Grotesque fonts have limited variation of stroke width often none perceptible in capitals. The terminals of curves are usually horizontal, and many have a spurred G and an R with a curled leg. R9di33_e7w8/SyjS1BrRR7I/AAAAAAAAAVk/M98jjj9bUa8/s640/type+tests+(avant+garde+kerned).jpg' alt='Avant Garde Gothic Ligatures' title='Avant Garde Gothic Ligatures' />Capitals tend to be of relatively uniform width. Cap height and ascender height are generally the same to create a more regular effect in texts such as titles with many capital letters, and descenders are often short for tighter linespacing. Most avoid having a true italic in favour of a more restrained oblique or sloped design, although at least sans serif true italics were offered. Examples of grotesque fonts include Akzidenz Grotesk, Venus, News Gothic, Franklin Gothic and Monotype Grotesque. Akzidenz Grotesk Old Face, Knockout, Grotesque No. Although there have been many other most used font posts, most of them outline fonts used by the notsowelltrained designer. In this post I want to outline. Agafonov Stephan. Creative designer in Moscow who made a Cyrillic font called Origami 2013. This typeface was obtained by scanning cut and folded strips of paper. Monotype Grotesque are examples of digital fonts that retain more of eccentricities of some of the early sans serif types. The term realist has also been applied to these designs due to their practicality and simplicity. Neo grotesqueeditAs the name implies, these modern designs consist of a direct evolution of grotesque types. They are relatively straightforward in appearance with limited width variation. Unlike earlier grotesque designs, many were issued in extremely large and versatile families from the time of release, making them easier to use for body text. Similar to grotesque typefaces, neogrotesques often feature capitals of uniform width and a quite folded up design, in which strokes for example on the c are curved all the way round to end on a perfect horizontal or vertical. Helvetica is an example of this. Others such as Univers are less regular. Neo grotesque type began in the 1. International Typographic Style, or Swiss style. Its members looked at the clear lines of Akzidenz Grotesk 1. In 1. 95. 7 the release of Helvetica, Univers, and Folio, the first typefaces categorized as neo grotesque, had a strong impact internationally Helvetica came to be the most used typeface for the following decades. Other, later neo grotesques include Unica, Imago and Rail Alphabet, and in the digital period Acumin, San Francisco and Roboto. GeometriceditAs their name suggests, Geometric sans serif typefaces are based on geometric shapes, like near perfect circles and squares. Common features are a nearly exactly circular capital o and a single story lowercase letter a. The M is often splayed and the capitals of varying width, following the classical model. Of these four categories, geometric fonts tend to be the least useful for body text and often used for headings and small passages of text. The geometric sans originated in Germany in the 1. Two early efforts in designing geometric types were made by Herbert Bayer and Jakob Erbar, who worked respectively on Universal Typeface unreleased at the time but revived digitally as Architype Bayer and Erbar circa 1. In 1. 92. 7 Futura, by Paul Renner, was released to great acclaim and popularity. Geometric sans serif fonts were popular from the 1. Notable geometric types of the period include Kabel, Semplicit, Nobel and Metro more recent designs in the style include ITC Avant Garde, Brandon Grotesque, Gotham and Avenir. Many geometric sans serif alphabets of the period, such as those created by the Bauhaus art school 1. A separate inspiration for many types considered geometric in design has been the simplified shapes of letters engraved or stenciled on metal and plastic in industrial use, which often follow a simplified structure. Designs considered geometric in principles but which are less descended from the FuturaErbarKabel tradition include Bank Gothic, DIN 1. Eurostile and Handel Gothic, along with many of the fonts designed by Ray Larabie. HumanisteditHumanist sans serifs take inspiration from traditional letterforms, such as Roman square capitals, traditional serif fonts and calligraphy. Many have true italics rather than an oblique, ligatures and even swashes in italic. One of the earliest humanist designs was Edward Johnstons Johnston typeface of c. Gill Sans Eric Gill, 1. Edward Johnston, a calligrapher by profession, was inspired by classic letter forms, especially the capital letters on the Column of Trajan. Humanist designs vary more than gothic or geometric designs. Some humanist designs have stroke modulation strokes that clearly vary in width along their line or alternating thick and thin strokes. These include most popularly Hermann Zapfs Optima 1. Some humanist designs may be more geometric, as in Gill Sans and Johnston especially their capitals, which like Roman capitals are often based on perfect squares, half squares and circles, with considerable variation in width. These somewhat architectural designs may feel too stiff for body text. Cars 2 Lightning Mcqueen Games there. Others such as Syntax, Goudy Sans and Sassoon Sans more resemble handwriting, serif fonts or calligraphy. Frutiger, from 1. The category expanded greatly during the 1. Helvetica and Univers and also due to the need for legible fonts on low resolution computer displays. Designs from this period intended for print use include FF Meta, Myriad, Thesis, Charlotte Sans, Bliss and Scala Sans, while designs created for computer use include Microsofts Tahoma, Trebuchet, Verdana, Calibri and Corbel, as well as Lucida Grande, Fira Sans and Droid Sans.