Old Style Serif
オールドスタイル・ローマン / 15th–16th century– / Style / Type Classification
Set the standard for text faces that read without fatigue: the pen's oblique axis and gentle stroke contrast.
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At a glance
Visual cues
- Oblique stress
- Gentle contrast
- Bracketed serifs
- Modest x-height
Best used for
- Book and long form text meant to be read for hundreds of pages without fatigue
- Magazines and annual reports with long copy that need a settled humanist voice
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Dictionary entry
- Type
- Modest size with open leading, letting the gentle contrast do the work
- Composition
- One column at a short measure, with asymmetric inner and outer margins
- Material
- Slightly warm paper and ink that sinks a little to thicken hairlines
- Caution
- Pushed into tight display settings the oblique axis and fine serifs turn ragged, and classical calm starts to read as merely old fashioned.
- Further study
- Claude Garamond / Nicolas Jenson / the Aldine roman
Related entries
- Italic (イタリック)Same Type Classification lineage.Compare Old Style Serif and Italic
- Transitional Serif (トランジショナル)Same Type Classification lineage.Compare Old Style Serif and Transitional Serif
Often confused with
More from Type Classification
Continue through styles in the same Type Classification family, prioritised by shared effects.
- Neo-grotesque Sans (ネオ・グロテスク)Shared effects: Trust / Calm.
- Mincho (明朝体)Shared effects: Trust / Calm.
- Calligraphic Revival (カリグラフィー復興)Shared effects: Calm / Trust.
Browse all Type Classification entries
Cite this entry
The dictionary is meant to be linked to. Take whichever form fits where you are writing.
- Link
- https://indexstyle.org/styles/old-style-serif
- Markdown
- [Old Style Serif — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/old-style-serif)
- HTML
- <a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/old-style-serif">Old Style Serif — IndexStyle</a>