Helvetica bears the same essential features of a sans serif typeface- simple, lack of embellishment, and no-nonsense. It was disputed by some, but nevertheless, Futura was definitely refreshing and new.Įven if Futura was a revolution on its own, its influence and usage in the world of typography and design wasn’t as resonating as with Helvetica who took the reins as the standard to the masses on what sans serif should look like. It bears a strict, geometric form and carries no embellishing and lightly conforms to the shapes of historical forms. One of the more popular sans serif styles to have come up on 1928 was Futura. It seems the prevalence of sans serif, from the Akzidenz Grotesk would not push through without the Bauhaus ideology which began and evolved in Germany. The idea of things being beautiful only if it bears significance or purpose has become the reason why a simplistic typeface would become a preferred type during these periods since there is no reason to artificially embellish the type. The main appeal of Sans Serif would not be understood until the early 20 th century. A unique typographic expression became essential to firmly establish this new revolution in art and industrial design. The typeface remained till new art and industrial trends appeared especially with the blossoming of the German Bauhaus. When the first typefaces of this sort came about in the 1830, people first considered them as blatantly grotesque and due to their controversial appeal they are a rarity in texts and other printed forms with an exception of advertising. It was initially used as a display face but a lower case has been included to make it more suitable for text.Įstablishing categories for Sans Serif Fonts Why grotesk / grotesque? Soon enough, many other type foundries are designing sans serif typefaces similar to that of Akzidenz Grotesk. The history and overall design of Akzidenz Grotesk was far more interesting and became an instant hit.
Then came Akzidenz Grotesk created in Berlin at the German Berthold type foundry.
Design-wise, the very first sans-serif type bears no value. Nevertheless, Caslon was not fully convinced on the success of the English Egyptian. The English Egyptian Typeface is designed only in capital letters in 28 points. Based on known historical accounts, officially, modern sans serif has been created on 1816 by William Caslon IV at the English Type foundry. Sans Serif Fonts: Most Popular Typefaces, Best for WebfontsĪs San Serif typefaces have only been around for about 100 years, it is necessary for designers or enthusiasts to have an understanding how it all came about.