Editing Serif (section)

===Slab serif===
{{Main|Slab serif}}
[[Image:Rockwell sample.svg|thumb|right|Rockwell, an example of a more geometric slab serif]]
[[Image:Clarendon sample.svg|thumb|right|Clarendon, an example of a less geometric slab serif]]
Slab serif typefaces date to about 1817.{{efn|Early slab-serif types were given a variety of names for branding purposes, such as 'Egyptian', 'Italian', 'Ionic', 'Doric', 'French-Clarendon' and 'Antique', which generally have little or no connection to their actual history. Nonetheless, the names have persisted in use.}}<ref name="Three chapters in the development of clarendon/ionic typefaces">{{cite thesis|last1=Miklavčič |first1=Mitja |title=Three chapters in the development of clarendon/ionic typefaces |type=MA Thesis |publisher=University of Reading |date=2006 |url=http://www.typefacedesign.org/resources/essay/MitjaMiclavcic_essay_scr.pdf |access-date=14 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125001608/http://www.typefacedesign.org/resources/essay/MitjaMiclavcic_essay_scr.pdf |archive-date=November 25, 2011 }}</ref> Originally intended as attention-grabbing designs for posters, they have very thick serifs, which tend to be as thick as the vertical lines themselves. Slab serif fonts vary considerably: some, such as [[Rockwell (typeface)|Rockwell]], have a geometric design with minimal variation in stroke width—they are sometimes described as sans-serif fonts with added serifs. Others, such as those of the [[Clarendon (typeface)|"Clarendon"]] model, have a structure more like most other serif fonts, though with larger and more obvious serifs.<ref name="Sentinel: historical background">{{cite web|title=Sentinel: historical background|url=http://www.typography.com/fonts/sentinel/history/|publisher=Hoefler & Frere-Jones|access-date=15 July 2015|archive-date=5 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905170730/http://www.typography.com/fonts/sentinel/history/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Know your type: Clarendon">{{cite web|last1=Challand|first1=Skylar|title=Know your type: Clarendon|url=http://idsgn.org/posts/know-your-type-clarendon/|publisher=IDSGN|access-date=13 August 2015|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224122009/http://idsgn.org/posts/know-your-type-clarendon/|url-status=live}}</ref> These designs may have bracketed serifs that increase width along their length.

Because of the clear, bold nature of the large serifs, slab serif designs are often used for posters and in small print. Many [[Monospace font#Monospaced typefaces|monospace fonts]], on which all characters occupy the same amount of horizontal space as in a [[typewriter]], are slab-serif designs. While not always purely slab-serif designs, many fonts intended for newspaper use have large slab-like serifs for clearer reading on poor-quality paper. Many early slab-serif types, being intended for posters, only come in [[boldface|bold]] styles with the key differentiation being width, and often have no lower-case letters at all.

Examples of slab-serif typefaces include [[Clarendon (typeface)|Clarendon]], [[Rockwell (typeface)|Rockwell]], [[Archer (typeface)|Archer]], [[Courier (typeface)|Courier]], [[Excelsior (typeface)|Excelsior]], [[Thesis (typeface)|TheSerif]], and [[Zilla Slab]]. [[FF Meta|FF Meta Serif]] and [[Guardian Egyptian]] are examples of newspaper and small print-oriented typefaces with some slab-serif characteristics, often most visible in the bold weights. In the late 20th century, the term "humanist slab-serif" has been applied to typefaces such as [[Chaparral (typeface)|Chaparral]], Caecilia and Tisa, with strong serifs but an outline structure with some influence of old-style serif typefaces.<ref name="Phinney Chaparral">{{cite web |last1=Phinney |first1=Thomas |title=Most Overlooked: Chaparral |url=https://blog.typekit.com/2005/11/07/most_overlooked_1/ |website=Typekit Blog |publisher=Adobe Systems |access-date=7 March 2019 |archive-date=16 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216105812/https://blog.typekit.com/2005/11/07/most_overlooked_1/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="LuptonArt2014">{{cite book|author-link=Ellen Lupton|first=Ellen|last=Lupton|title=Type on Screen: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Developers, and Students|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gswEBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT16|date=12 August 2014|publisher=Princeton Architectural Press|isbn=978-1-61689-346-0|page=16|access-date=7 March 2019|archive-date=9 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209075055/https://books.google.com/books?id=gswEBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT16#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bringhurst Caecilia">{{cite book |last1=Bringhurst |first1=Robert |author-link=Robert Bringhurst |title=The Elements of Typographic Style |title-link=The Elements of Typographic Style |year=2002 |publisher=Hartley & Marks |isbn=9780881791327 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780881791327/page/218 218, 330] |edition=2nd }}</ref>
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