Quotes About Serifs

Says John Updike, 'Serifs exist for a purpose. They help the eye pick up the shape of the letter. Piquant in little amounts, sanserif in page-size sheets repels readership as wax paper repels water; it has a sleazy, cloudy look.

The designs involved two abiding techniques by Roman stonemasons. First, certain parts of each letter was subtly widened – one leg of the A, two opposite sides of the O – in contrast to others. This gave the shape a sense of perspective and graceful solidity. The second technique was to add small finishing strokes (we call them serifs) at the letters' end points. Clear examples include letters E, G, H, S and T.