3 ms·

I've never seen a font designed with both serif and sans-serif faces before (though it's seemingly unclear whether the Aptos Serif variant shown in the article

by derefr 3y ago

I've never seen a font designed with both serif and sans-serif faces before (though it's seemingly unclear whether the Aptos Serif variant shown in the article is going to make it into wide availability.) Makes me wonder: could "serif to sans-serif" be an OpenType variable-font axis — i.e. could a font be designed to gradually "grow" serifs out of a sans-serif base, and to look good at any "degree" of serif-ication, the way modern variable fonts are designed to look good at any "degree" of weight? What would a 30% serif'ed font even look like? Would it have little vestigial bumps only visible at large optical sizes?

tombl 3y ago
There are a few fonts exploring this concept here: https://v-fonts.com/tags/C114 https://v-fonts.com/tags/C114
- derefr 3y ago
  TT Geekette Variable there is especially bizarre/interesting, in that it conflates weight and serification, in that some, but not all, serifs appear only at the lightest weight. Which almost makes a strange kind of sense, given that a fat enough main stroke erases serifs anyway. You can almost say that serifs as ornaments can only usefully exist below some ratio of optical weight to optical size.
pavlov 3y ago
It's not uncommon for contemporary font families to include both Serif and Sans versions. The "Best of" page by FontFont, a famous foundry, includes several of these pairs (FF Meta, FF Tisa, FF Yoga): https://www.fontshop.com/people/fontshop-team/fontlists/best-of-fontfont https://www.fontshop.com/people/fontshop-team/fontlists/best...
porridge_ 3y ago
Apple's San Francisco has a serif counterpart in New York. ABC Dinamo has a dual serif/sans typeface called Arizona^[1]. It even has that set as a variable axis! [1]: https://abcdinamo.com/typefaces/arizona https://abcdinamo.com/typefaces/arizona
Sunspark 3y ago
They exist. You can read about the free Reforma typeface for example which goes from sans to serif. https://pampatype.com/blog/reforma https://pampatype.com/blog/reforma
WillAdams 3y ago
ITC Stone exists in both Sans and Serif options, and Lucida Sans is paired with Lucida Bright (serif) as well as Lucida Fax (almost slab serif). Adobe's Penumbra font has a sans--serif axis, well, had. Similarly there was the font Walker which had "snap-on" serifs: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/139311 https://www.moma.org/collection/works/139311 Yes, the distinction is quite subtle for the variable axis options.

by derefr 3y ago

tombl 3y ago

There are a few fonts exploring this concept here: https://v-fonts.com/tags/C114 https://v-fonts.com/tags/C114

derefr 3y ago
TT Geekette Variable there is especially bizarre/interesting, in that it conflates weight and serification, in that some, but not all, serifs appear only at the lightest weight. Which almost makes a strange kind of sense, given that a fat enough main stroke erases serifs anyway. You can almost say that serifs as ornaments can only usefully exist below some ratio of optical weight to optical size.

pavlov 3y ago

It's not uncommon for contemporary font families to include both Serif and Sans versions. The "Best of" page by FontFont, a famous foundry, includes several of these pairs (FF Meta, FF Tisa, FF Yoga): https://www.fontshop.com/people/fontshop-team/fontlists/best-of-fontfont https://www.fontshop.com/people/fontshop-team/fontlists/best...

porridge_ 3y ago

Apple's San Francisco has a serif counterpart in New York. ABC Dinamo has a dual serif/sans typeface called Arizona^[1]. It even has that set as a variable axis! [1]: https://abcdinamo.com/typefaces/arizona https://abcdinamo.com/typefaces/arizona

Sunspark 3y ago

They exist. You can read about the free Reforma typeface for example which goes from sans to serif. https://pampatype.com/blog/reforma https://pampatype.com/blog/reforma

WillAdams 3y ago

ITC Stone exists in both Sans and Serif options, and Lucida Sans is paired with Lucida Bright (serif) as well as Lucida Fax (almost slab serif). Adobe's Penumbra font has a sans--serif axis, well, had. Similarly there was the font Walker which had "snap-on" serifs: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/139311 https://www.moma.org/collection/works/139311 Yes, the distinction is quite subtle for the variable axis options.