Editing Sans-serif (section)

==Classification<span class="anchor" id="Classification"></span>==<!-- This section is linked from [[Serif]] -->

{{Further|Vox-ATypI classification#Lineal}} 
For 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.<ref name=PJIM /><ref name=BS_2961 />

===Grotesque===
[[File:Akzidenz Grotesk Regular & Italic.svg|thumb|[[Akzidenz-Grotesk]], originally released by [[Berthold Type Foundry|H. Berthold AG]] in the 1890s. A popular German grotesque with a single-story 'g'{{efn|The original metal type of Akzidenz-Grotesk did not have an oblique; this was added in the 1950s, although many sans-serif obliques of the period are similar.}}]]

This group features most of the early (19th century to early 20th) sans-serif designs. Influenced by [[Didone (typography)|Didone]] serif typefaces of the period and sign painting 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 [[Italic type|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.<ref name="Shinn Uniformity" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Coles |first=Stephen |title=Helvetica alternatives |url=http://fontfeed.com/archives/helvetica-and-alternatives-to-helvetica/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130102185551/http://fontfeed.com/archives/helvetica-and-alternatives-to-helvetica/ |archive-date=2 January 2013 |access-date=1 July 2015 |website=FontFeed (archived)}}</ref>

Grotesque typefaces 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. Capitals tend to be of relatively uniform width. Cap height and ascender height are generally the same to produce a more regular effect in texts such as titles with many capital letters, and [[Descender (typography)|descenders]] are often short for tighter line spacing.<ref name="A Neo-Grotesque Heritage" />  They often avoid having a true italic in favor of a more restrained [[oblique type|oblique]] or sloped design, although at least some sans-serif true italics were offered.<ref name="Specimens of type, borders, ornaments, brass rules and cuts, etc. : catalogue of printing machinery and materials, wood goods, etc" /><ref name="Italic Gothic Fonts in Use">{{Cite web |title=Italic Gothic |url=https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/40724/italic-gothic |access-date=25 February 2017 |website=Fonts in Use}}</ref>

Examples of grotesque typefaces include [[Akzidenz-Grotesk]], [[Venus (typeface)|Venus]], [[News Gothic]], [[Franklin Gothic]], [[IBM Plex]] and [[Monotype Grotesque]]. Akzidenz Grotesk Old Face, Knockout, [[Grotesque (Stephenson Blake typefaces)|Grotesque No. 9]] and Monotype Grotesque are examples of [[computer font|digital fonts]] that retain more of the eccentricities of some of the early sans-serif types.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hoefler & Frere-Jones |title=Knockout |url=http://www.typography.com/fonts/knockout/overview/ |access-date=1 July 2015 |publisher=Hoefler & Frere-Jones}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hoefler & Frere-Jones |title=Knockout sizes |url=http://www.typography.com/fonts/knockout/features/knockout-size-proficiency |publisher=Hoefler & Frere-Jones}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Knockout styles |url=http://www.typography.com/fonts/knockout/features/knockout-nine-widths |access-date=1 July 2015 |publisher=Hoefler & Frere-Jones}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lippa |first=Domenic |title=10 favourite fonts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/gallery/2013/sep/14/the-10-best-fonts?picture=417118798 |access-date=1 July 2015 |website=The Guardian|date=14 September 2013 }}</ref>

According to Monotype, the term "grotesque" originates from {{langx|it|grottesco}}, meaning "belonging to the cave" due to their simple geometric appearance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Grotesque Sans |url=https://catalog.monotype.com/type-style/sans-serif/grotesque-sans |access-date=16 March 2021 |publisher=Monotype}}</ref> The term arose because of adverse comparisons that were drawn with the more ornate Modern Serif and Roman typefaces that were the norm at the time.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Greta, P |title=What Are Grotesque Fonts? History, Inspiration and Examples |newspaper=Creative Market Blog |date=21 August 2017 |url=https://creativemarket.com/blog/grotesque-fonts |access-date=16 March 2021 |publisher=Creative Market}}</ref>

===Neo-grotesque===
[[Image:Helvetica.svg|thumb|right|[[Helvetica]], originally released by [[Haas Type Foundry]] (as Neue Haas Grotesk) in 1957. A typical neo-grotesque]]

Neo-grotesque designs appeared in the mid-twentieth century as an evolution of grotesque types. They are relatively straightforward in appearance with limited stroke width variation. Similar to grotesque typefaces, neo-grotesques 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. Unlike earlier grotesque designs, many were issued in large families from the time of release.

Neo-grotesque type began in the 1950s with the emergence of the [[International Typographic Style]], or Swiss style. Its members looked at the clear lines of [[Akzidenz-Grotesk]] (1898) as an inspiration for designs with a neutral appearance and an even colour on the page. In 1957 the release of [[Helvetica]], [[Univers]], and [[Folio (typeface)|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.{{sfn|Meggs|2011|pp=376-377}}{{efn|Digital publishing expert Florian Hardwig describes the main features of neo-grotesques as being "consistent details and even [[type color|text colour]]."<ref>{{Cite tweet |number=1140368448482172928 |user=hardwig |title=The mid-20th century saw a reappraisal of these classic sans serif forms. Fueled by modernist ideas, they were rethought and redrawn, now with consistent details and even text color. Transferred into systematic families of numerous weights and widths, the neo-grotesque became an essential ingredient of the International Typographic Style. |date=16 June 2019}}</ref>}}{{better source needed|reason=It's a tweet|date=May 2024}}
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===Geometric===
[[Image:Futura.svg|thumb|right|[[Futura (typeface)|Futura]], originally released by [[Bauer Type Foundry]] in 1927. A typical geometric sans-serif]]

Geometric sans-serif typefaces are based on geometric shapes, like near-perfect circles and squares.<ref name="A short intro to the geometric sans">{{Cite web |last=Ulrich |first=Ferdinand |title=A short intro to the geometric sans |url=https://www.fontshop.com/content/short-intro-to-geometric-sans |access-date=17 December 2016 |publisher=[[FontShop]]}}</ref> Common features are a nearly-circular capital 'O', sharp and pointed uppercase 'N' vertices, and a "single-storey" lowercase letter 'a'. The 'M' is often splayed and the capitals of varying width, following the [[Roman square capitals|classical model]].

The geometric sans originated in Germany in the 1920s.<ref name="Types of their time – A short history of the geometric sans">{{Cite web |last=Ulrich |first=Ferdinand |title=Types of their time – A short history of the geometric sans |url=https://www.fontshop.com/content/short-intro-to-geometric-sans |access-date=19 August 2015 |publisher=FontShop}}</ref> 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 (typeface)|Erbar]] ({{Circa|1925}}).<ref name="On Erbar and Early Geometric Sans Serifs">{{Cite web |last=Kupferschmid |first=Indra |title=On Erbar and Early Geometric Sans Serifs |url=http://cjtype.com/dunbar/#research |access-date=20 October 2016 |publisher=CJ Type}}</ref> In 1927 [[Futura (typeface)|Futura]], by [[Paul Renner]], was released to great acclaim and popularity.{{sfn|Meggs|2011|pp=339-340}}

Geometric sans-serif typefaces were popular from the 1920s and 1930s due to their clean, modern design, and many new geometric designs and revivals have been developed since.{{efn|In this period and since, some sources have distinguished the nineteenth-century "grotesque/gothic" designs from the "sans-serifs" (those now categorised as humanist and geometric both) of the twentieth, or used some form of classification that emphasises a different between the groups.<ref name="The Typography of Press Advertisement" />}} Notable geometric types of the period include [[Kabel (typeface)|Kabel]], [[Semplicità (typeface)|Semplicità]], [[Bernhard Gothic]], [[Nobel (typeface)|Nobel]] and [[Metro (typeface)|Metro]]; more recent designs in the style include [[ITC Avant Garde]], [[Brandon Grotesque]], [[Gotham (typeface)|Gotham]], [[Avenir (typeface)|Avenir]], [[Product Sans]], [[HarmonyOS Sans (sans-serif typeface)|HarmonyOS Sans]] and [[Century Gothic]]. Many geometric sans-serif alphabets of the period, such as those authored by the [[Bauhaus]] art school (1919–1933) and modernist poster artists, were hand-lettered and not cut into metal type at the time.<ref name="True Type of the Bauhaus">{{Cite web |last=Kupferschmid |first=Indra |title=True Type of the Bauhaus |url=http://fontsinuse.com/uses/5/typefaces-at-the-bauhaus |access-date=15 October 2016 |website=Fonts in Use|date=6 January 2012 }}</ref>

A separate inspiration for many types described "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 and are sometimes known as "rectilinear" for their use of straight vertical and horizontal lines. Designs which have been called geometric in principles but not descended from the Futura, Erbar and Kabel tradition include [[Bank Gothic]], [[DIN 1451]], [[Eurostile]] and [[Handel Gothic]], along with many of the typefaces designed by [[Ray Larabie]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tselentis |first=Jason |date=28 August 2017 |title=Typodermic's Raymond Larabie Talks Type, Technology & Science Fiction |url=http://www.howdesign.com/design-creativity/typodermic-fonts-raymond-larabie-type-technology-sci-fi-fonts/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418150848/http://www.howdesign.com/design-creativity/typodermic-fonts-raymond-larabie-type-technology-sci-fi-fonts/ |archive-date=18 April 2018 |access-date=29 October 2017 |website=How}}</ref><ref name="Some type genres explained">{{Cite web |last=Kupferschmid |first=Indra |title=Some type genres explained |url=http://kupferschrift.de/cms/2016/01/type-classification-texts/ |access-date=31 October 2017 |website=kupferschrift (blog)|date=15 January 2016 }}</ref>
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===Humanist===
[[Image:Syntax example.png|thumb|right|[[Syntax (typeface)|Syntax]], originally released by [[D. Stempel AG]] in 1969. A humanist sans-serif]]

Humanist sans-serif typefaces take inspiration from traditional letterforms, such as [[Roman square capitals]], traditional serif typefaces and calligraphy. Many have [[Italic type|true italics]] rather than an [[Oblique type|oblique]], [[typographic ligature|ligature]]s and even [[swash (typography)|swash]]es in italic. One of the earliest humanist designs was [[Edward Johnston]]'s [[Johnston (typeface)|Johnston]] typeface from 1916, and, a decade later, [[Gill Sans]] ([[Eric Gill]], 1928).{{sfn|Tracy|1986|pp=86-90}}  Edward Johnston, a [[Calligraphy|calligrapher]] by profession, was inspired by classic letter forms, especially the capital letters on the [[Column of Trajan]].<ref name="In Defence of the Roman Letter">{{Cite journal |last=Nash |first=John |title=In Defence of the Roman Letter |url=http://www.ejf.org.uk/Resources/JRNarticle.pdf |journal=Journal of the Edward Johnston Foundation |access-date=13 October 2016}}</ref>

Humanist designs vary more than gothic or geometric designs.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Blackwell |first=written by Lewis |title=20th-century type |date=2004 |publisher=Laurence King |isbn=9781856693516 |edition=Rev. |location=London |page=201}}</ref> 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 Zapf]]'s [[Optima]] (1958), a typeface expressly designed to be suitable for both display and body text.{{sfn|Lawson|1990|pp=326-330}} 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.{{sfn|Tracy|1986|pp=86-90}} Others such as [[Syntax (typeface)|Syntax]], [[Goudy Sans]] and [[Rosemary Sassoon|Sassoon Sans]] more resemble handwriting, serif typefaces or calligraphy.

[[Frutiger (typeface)|Frutiger]], from 1976, has been particularly influential in the development of the modern humanist sans genre, especially designs intended to be particularly legible above all other design considerations. The category expanded greatly during the 1980s and 1990s, partly as a reaction against the overwhelming popularity of [[Helvetica]] and [[Univers]] and also due to the need for legible [[computer font]]s on low-resolution computer displays.<ref name="Berry Not Your Father’s Sans Serif">{{Cite web |last=Berry |first=John D. |title=Not Your Father's Sans Serif |url=https://creativepro.com/dot-font-not-your-father-s-sans-serif/ |access-date=24 February 2019 |website=Creative Pro|date=22 July 2002 }}</ref><ref name="Berry Human Side of Sans Serif">{{Cite web |last=Berry |first=John D. |title=The Human Side of Sans Serif |url=https://creativepro.com/dot-font-the-human-side-of-sans-serif/ |access-date=24 February 2019 |website=Creative Pro|date=5 August 2002 }}</ref><ref name="Questioning Gill Sans">{{Cite web |last=Coles |first=Stephen |title=Questioning Gill Sans |url=http://typographica.org/2007/on-typography/questioning-gill-sans |access-date=18 December 2015 |website=Typographica}}</ref><ref name="Kupferschmid Gill Sans Alternatives">{{Cite web |last=Kupferschmid |first=Indra |title=Gill Sans Alternatives |url=http://kupferschrift.de/cms/2019/02/gill-sans-alternatives/ |access-date=23 February 2019 |website=Kupferschrift}}</ref> Designs from this period intended for print use include [[FF Meta]], [[Myriad (typeface)|Myriad]], [[Thesis (typeface)|Thesis]], [[Charlotte Sans]], [[Bliss (typeface)|Bliss]], [[Skia (typeface)|Skia]] and [[FF Scala Sans|Scala Sans]], while designs developed for computer use include Microsoft's [[Tahoma (typeface)|Tahoma]], [[Trebuchet MS|Trebuchet]], [[Verdana]], [[Calibri]] and [[Corbel (typeface)|Corbel]], as well as [[Lucida Grande]], [[Fira Sans]] and [[Droid fonts|Droid Sans]]. Humanist sans-serif designs can (if appropriately proportioned and spaced) be particularly suitable for use on screen or at distance, since their designs can be given wide [[Counter (typography)|apertures]] or separation between strokes, which is not a conventional feature on grotesque and neo-grotesque designs.
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===Other or mixed===
[[File:Stroke modulation sans-serif.jpg|thumb|Rothbury, an early modulated sans-serif typeface from 1915. The strokes vary in width considerably.]]

Due to the diversity of sans-serif typefaces, many do not exactly fit into the above categories. For example, [[Neuzeit S]] has both neo-grotesque and geometric influences, as does [[Hermann Zapf]]'s [[URW Grotesk]]. [[Whitney (typeface)|Whitney]] blends humanist and grotesque influences, while [[Klavika]] is a geometric design not based on the circle. Sans-serif typefaces intended for signage, such as [[Transport (typeface)|Transport]] and [[Tern (typeface)|Tern]] (both used on road signs), may have unusual features to enhance legibility and differentiate characters, such as a lower-case 'L' with a curl or 'i' with serif under the dot.<ref name="New Transport">{{Cite web |last=Calvert |first=Margaret |author-link=Margaret Calvert |title=New Transport |url=http://www.newtransport.co.uk/ |access-date=2 May 2016 |website=A2-TYPE}}</ref> This is also often seen in typefaces designed for readers with [[Visual impairment|impaired vision]] like [[Atkinson Hyperlegible]].

====Modulated sans-serifs====
A particular subgenre of sans-serifs is those such as Rothbury, [[Britannic (typeface)|Britannic]], [[Radiant (typeface)|Radiant]], and [[National Trust (typeface)|National Trust]] with obvious variation in stroke width. These have been called 'modulated', 'stressed' or 'high-contrast' sans-serifs. They are nowadays{{When|date=August 2021}}<!-- Since when? --> often placed within the humanist genre, although they predate Johnston which started the modern humanist genre. These may take inspiration from sources outside printing such as brush lettering or calligraphy.<ref name="Identifont blog Feb 15">{{Cite web |last=Coles |first=Stephen |title=Identifont blog Feb 15 |url=http://blog.identifont.com/show?U59 |access-date=17 August 2015 |website=Identifont}}</ref> One study looked into the effect of stroke contrast between sans serif and serif typefaces, and although they were limited in testing only one typeface, they found that their modulated sans serif performed better for their low-vision readers compared to the unmodulated sans serif.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Minakata |first=Katsumi |last2=Eckmann-Hansen |first2=Christina |last3=Larsen |first3=Michael |last4=Bek |first4=Toke |last5=Beier |first5=Sofie |date=2023-02-01 |title=The effect of serifs and stroke contrast on low vision reading |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0001691822003250 |journal=Acta Psychologica |volume=232 |pages=103810 |doi=10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103810 |issn=0001-6918}}</ref>
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