Serif fonts are a favorite with the print medium. Serif fonts make the alphabets more distinctive and easy to be deciphered. But in case of web content, serif fonts are usually avoided. This is because computer screens generally have lesser resolution than that of print and that makes small serif characters harder to read. Here are some key points where sans-serif fonts fare better over serif fonts.
Sans-Serif fonts display well on most of the sizes:
They have a professional look and feel.
They are rendered efficiently by most operating systems.
Serif fonts are less readable in smaller sizes:
Because
Windows tend to smooth the edges of screen fonts, serif fonts can look
good. However, most default setting don't have that setting turned on.
However,
with the advancements of the web serif fonts are not all that
unsuitable for usage. If deployed efficiently, Serif fonts can be used
really well. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of using Serif
fonts.
Advantages of Serif Fonts
Serif fonts can
make your web pages more appealing. It can instantly freshen it up,
make it more personal and inviting. The visual appearance of the
website is highly enhanced with the serif fonts. All you need to do is
a little bit of styling and you can create different and stylish looks
with only the serif fonts.
Since it is not a very popular trend on
the Internet as of now, web pages that use Serif fonts can stand apart
from the crowd and look really different.
Serif fonts offer a
plethora of options. Basically designers have a wide area and extend to
work with. They offer a variety of choice from being rigid and stoic to
being elegant and understated.
One can try out different color combinations with Serif fonts and create a broad variety of looks and appearances
Disadvantages of Serif Fonts
When
Serif fonts are italicized they create a very ugly look on Windows. If
you want the fonts to look good, the ClearType option has to be turned
on. However, this options is always turned off by default and generally
users do not know where and how to turn it on from. This creates a very
tricky situation and can severely hamper the look and feel of the
website.
Serif fonts are not readable in smaller sizes. They display
well in medium and large sizes but when used in smaller sizes they are
hardly recognizable.
Serif fonts can break down and make users strain their eyes when displayed in utterly small sizes.
Serif
fonts do not guarantee a professional look and feel to the website.
They are more casual in appearance. Thus, it is not really advisable to
use them for commercial and business websites. They are better off used
for information thats is personal or generally informative.
How to Overcome Problems with Serif Fonts?
The two major problems with Serif fonts are readability and text size concerns. Fortunately, both these problems can be solved.
Because
the ClearType feature can be turned on, you still have margin to make
the serif fonts render well. Internet Explorer 7 is one of the few
browsers that have the feature automatically turned on. Also, you can
include a small caveat on your web pages guiding your audiences to turn
on the feature so that they can better view the website.
The
text size concern is actually no concern at all. When you know Serif
fonts don't render well on smaller sizes, an obvious thing that you can
do is to use them in medium and large sizes.