Briem’s notes on type design: Casual serifs¶
We don’t want uniform serifs in this design. We’d lose too much of the rough, irregular look of the original. The baseline should be straight, however. (Trust me: I tried random bumps.)
Here’s a systematic approach to accidental results.
![](https://i.fontlab.com/fl8/briem/gif/briem-4-43-serifs1.gif)
The black serif on the right rises twice as high as the black serif on the left. It is also a third longer. These two are our starting points. First we’ll make three variations from the the left one.
![](https://i.fontlab.com/fl8/briem/gif/briem-4-43-serifs2.gif)
The first variation is twice as high. The second has a slightly curved slant. And the third has both the curved slant and twice the height.
![](https://i.fontlab.com/fl8/briem/gif/briem-4-43-serifs3.gif)
Two variations on the second starting point are enough. One has a slightly curved slant. The other serif has it, too, and is shorter as well.
![](https://i.fontlab.com/fl8/briem/gif/briem-4-43-ih.gif)
Put together, these variarions are all we need for a random effect. But you can add more if you like.
Notes on type design. Copyright © 1998, 2001, 2022 Gunnlaugur SE Briem. All rights reserved. Republished with permission in 2022 by Fontlab Ltd.