In this article, we’ll discover more about the charming nature of these two typefaces, and explore the key differences between serif fonts and sans-serif fonts.
Read on to explore inspirational fonts and notable examples of serif and sans-serif type styles, and find out how to use serif fonts and sans-serif typefaces in your design projects.
What Are the Key Differences Between Serif and Sans-Serif Fonts?
There are literally millions of fonts now available at the click of a button online, but how can you choose the best font for your design?
Knowing the key differences between serif and sans-serif fonts is a good place to start at the outset of any project, as this will have a huge impact on the mood and character of your design.
The main difference between serif fonts and sans-serif fonts is in the “sans,” which means “without” in French.
Serif fonts feature decorative or additional lines, or serifs, which are sometimes referred to as “tails” or “feet.”
Sans-serif fonts are without these extra elements, making them appear cleaner and simpler.
The main difference between serif fonts and sans serif fonts? Look to the end of the letterforms’ lines, which will feature or lack additional serifs.
In graphic design, we use either serif or sans serif fonts (or a combination of the two) to achieve a particular visual aesthetic.
Serif fonts, for example, pre-date sans-serif typefaces, and generally have an older, more traditional aesthetic as a result. Serif fonts can be used to bring a sense of authority and establishment to designs, and are often associated with book design and academia.
Sans-serif fonts are associated with the later Modernist movement and have a minimal, simple style that brings a clean and contemporary look to designs.
Serif Fonts
Long-used and dripping in history, serif fonts are amongst the oldest type style in the world, and can still be relied on to bring an authoritative air to designs.
What Is a Serif Font?
A serif font features small strokes or “serifs” at the end of longer strokes. An old typeface style that can trace its origins back to the Classical world, serif fonts appear professional, authoritative, and suggestive of historical weight.
The descendants of serif fonts were invented and first used in ancient Greece and Rome, with elegant letterforms carved onto stone.
However, it wasn’t until 1815 that the first commercially available serif typeface Antique was made available for printing by British type-founder Vincent Figgins.
A serif font features small strokes or “serifs” at the end of longer strokes.
Today, we can divide serif typefaces into four categories or subgroups: Old Style, Transitional, Didone, and Slab Serif.
Old-Style serif typefaces are, as the name suggests, the oldest of the group, with these type styles dating back to 1465 and Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press.
Garamond is an example of an Old Style serif font.
Transitional, or Baroque, serif typefaces emerged in the mid-18th century, and feature more pronounced differences between thick and thin strokes, representing a bridging style between Old Style and later Didone fonts.
Times New Rome and Baskerville are examples of transitional serif fonts.
Didone serif typefaces began to be used in the late 18th century and have distinctive letter styles, with exaggerated contrast between thick and thin lines.
While supremely elegant, Didone fonts are perhaps a little less legible than Transitional or Slab Serif fonts.
Bodoni is a classic example of a Didone serif typeface.
Slab Serif fonts are sturdy serif typefaces which were commonly used in poster and newspaper design in the 19th century.
They have a distinctive chunky look we often associate with the aesthetic of Dickensian London and the Wild West, with Rockwell and Clarendon being good examples of slab serif typefaces.
Today, serif fonts are still widely used across brand design, particularly in luxury branding, such as in the logos of Vogue, Prada, and Dior, or in the brand identities of corporations and government institutions.
Clockwise, from top-left: Yaounde italic serif font via exabrar. The Sofia classic serif font via artyway. Belove elegant serif font via Yes Design – Asen Bayu. Valenciaga luxury font via geen graphy.
When Should I Use a Serif Font and Why?
The clever thing about serif fonts is that they bring centuries of history and authority along with them, allowing designers to use these traditional serif typefaces to impart a sense of trustworthiness and experience onto branding.
Also commonly used for editorial design and print design, you’ll see serifs consistently chosen for use as body copy in books, magazines, and reports, due to their legibility and authority.
Notable Serif Fonts
Popular serif fonts include classic serifs such as Times New Roman, Didot, Bodoni, and Garamond, which are used to bring elegance and readability to a range of print and online layouts in contemporary design.
You may also recognize notable serif fonts such as Caslon, Georgia, and Baskerville as popular choices for setting body text in books and magazines.
Font revivals, in which contemporary designers revisit old font styles and refine them for digital design purposes, are also common amongst serif fonts.
Modern type foundries have released new versions of serifs, such as Libre Baskerville (from Impallari Type) and EB Garamond (by Georg Duffner), to optimize these established typefaces as web fonts for digital screens.
Examples of Serif Fonts in Design and Branding
Serif fonts are chosen by designers for their ability to reinforce a sense of history or establishment and, in some cases, to make brands appear older than they actually are.
Serif fonts are also often employed by luxury brands to help them reach a high-end or aspirational audience.
Famous brands that use serif fonts to emphasize trustworthiness and experience include Rolex, Coach, Time Magazine, and Mercedes-Benz.
Clockwise, from top-left: License these images via Tang Yan Song, Thinglass, Anders Nilsson – Sthlm, and Enjoy the Life.
Sans-Serif Fonts
The clean-cut cousin to traditional serifs, sans-serif fonts can be used to bring a clean and minimal aesthetic to a design.
What Is a Sans Serif Font?
Minimalistic and modern, sans-serif fonts lack the extra “serifs” that give serif fonts their more traditional look.
Although we associate sans-serif fonts with the Modernist movement of the early 20th century, the first sans-serif font was actually invented by William Caslon IV around 1816, which was called “Two Lines English Egyptian.”
However, sans-serif fonts didn’t become widely used until much later, in the 1920s and ’30s, when early sans-serif fonts were used by students of the German design school, the Bauhaus.
From the 1930s to the 1950s, the International Typographic Style and later Swiss Style were graphic design movements that championed the use of sans-serif fonts, such as Akzidenz Grotesk and Neue Haas Grotesk (the original Helvetica).
Minimalistic and modern, sans-serif fonts lack the extra “serifs” that give serif fonts their more traditional look.
Championed for their high legibility, sans-serif fonts became widely used for signage and transport, characterizing the aesthetic of highways and subway stations from the 1930s to modern day.
With the birth of the internet age, sans-serif fonts occupied a new role as a highly legible modern typeface that was innately suited for web and screen readability.
Clockwise, from top-left: Lotus elegant sans-serif font via Yes Design – Asen Bayu. Barcelona condensed display font via Yes Design – Asen Bayu. Paradox modern clean font via Yes Design – Asen Bayu.
When Should I Use a Sans-Serif Font and Why?
While sans-serif fonts were born in the age of print, and defined the typography style of books and posters for centuries, sans-serif fonts found their footing in a different arena.
Due to their excellent legibility, sans-serif fonts have been widely used for signage and safety information for decades, but the humble sans-serif truly went stratospheric in the computer age.
The first fonts you ever used on a home computer in the 1990s were likely to have been Arial or Segoe, while the latest iPhones use Helvetica, a classic neo-grotesque sans-serif first developed in 1957.
Sans-serifs continue to be the most widely used typeface group on the internet, bringing not only legibility to user-interface design but serious style, as well.
Adopted by brands who want to appear modern and forward-thinking, you’ll find sans-serif fonts in use across brand identities for fashion (Chanel, Balenciaga), tech (Apple, Google, Meta) and food (Pepsi, Burger King, Starbucks).
You can also use sans serifs’ friendly vibe to create accessible app designs, easy-to-use maps, or slick, minimal stationery designs.
Notable Sans-Serif Fonts
What are some examples of popular sans-serif fonts? Since the 1920s, type creators have been developing sans-serif fonts to bring minimal sleekness to posters, magazines, signage, and books.
In 1927, Paul Renner released Futura, a geometric sans-serif font that’s still widely used for movie marketing today (see The Social Network, 2010, and Gravity, 2013).
Perhaps the most famous of all sans-serif fonts is Helvetica, released in 1957 by Swiss typeface designers Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, and was influenced by earlier German and Swiss typeface styles including Akzidenz Grotesk.
Arguably the world’s most popular font, Helvetica (formerly named Neue Haas Grotesk) can be seen in distinct places, such as on the signage of the New York Subway system and on the side of the NASA Space Shuttle.
Arial, a variation of Helvetica created by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders in 1982, became ubiquitous when it was chosen as the font for every Windows computer system from 1992 onwards.
A “cleaner,” rounder, and more digital-friendly font for the digital age, Arial is not always beloved by designers who, on the whole, prefer more charming Helvetica . . . but perhaps it’s time for a comeback?
Examples of Sans-Serif Fonts in Design and Branding
Sans-serif fonts are extremely versatile and highly legible, making them perfectly suited for a wide range of purposes and designs.
Often turned to in order to achieve a modern and approachable aesthetic, you can see sans-serifs in use on the logos of a wide range of well-known brands, including Chanel, Apple, Google, and Adidas.
An instant stamp of modernity and sophistication, sans-serifs remain the favorite font style of most tech companies and sports brands, as well as bringing a forward-thinking flair to identities for research bodies and medical companies.
Tech companies have adopted sans-serif fonts in their branding, as well as in their interfaces and software, often making free sans serif fonts such as Poppins, Tahoma, and Roboto widely known and used through phones and apps.
Clockwise, from top-left: License these images via Creative Lab, JPstock, Tada Images, and Nattawit Khomsanit.
Tips for Combining Serif and Sans Serif Fonts
We’ve looked at the different characteristics and applications of serif and sans-serif fonts, but did you know that the best typography is often a result of combining both serif fonts and sans-serif typefaces together?
By combining a traditional serif font with a clean sans-serif as a choice for headings and body text, you can balance the mood of both styles, bringing elegance and contemporary style to a layout.
A good rule of thumb is to only use two fonts on a design—one serif and one sans-serif—and aim to match the moods of the fonts to create a balanced result.
What does balancing font mood mean? Futura, for example, is a geometric sans-serif with an elegant, old-world mood (first released in the late 1920s). A good mood pairing for Futura would be a serif font with a similar Art Deco elegance, such as Imprint (which was designed in 1912) or Caslon (which was designed in the 18th century)—both have an open, airy form and simple elegance that matches well with Futura.
Why does pairing a serif font with a sans-serif font look so good? Once you’ve matched the personality of your two fonts, this simple type pairing technique actually relies on the balance between contrast and similarity.
In other words, a sans-serif looks quite different from a serif, being much more clean and minimal while the latter is more ornamental, creating a contrasting visual result.
However, the high contrast is lessened by matching the fonts’ moods, hence creating an interesting design that engages the eye, but maintains overall balance and harmony.
Conclusion: The Typographic Dream Team
When crafting typography for print designs, websites, or social media posts, the sheer volume of fonts to choose from can be overwhelming, but with a little know-how on hand, you can create beautiful type designs every time.
Serif fonts, with their traditional mood, can bring elegance and luxury to a layout, while their streamlined cousins, sans-serif fonts, inject a much-needed dose of modernity.
By experimenting with combining these different font styles, you can achieve typography that features both contrast and balance, keeping your audience engaged for longer.
Looking for the perfect fonts to get started with? Look no further than these two vector font collections:
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