Stencil Design - Indecision

i4Marc said:
Yep, fonts that don't have the flares on the ends are sans-serif, or "without" serif. These would be fonts like Helvetica, Arial, Trebuchet, etc.

Examples of serif fonts would be Times New Roman, Century Schoolbook, Copperplate, etc.
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How about that - I've been fooling around with computers 'n fonts since late '80s, saw all those "sans-serif" and "serif" fonts but never put it together what they meant. I just looked at some of them and it sure does fit. Thanks again - learned even more today.
 
In the really old days, when much lettering was carved in stone or clay, a serif was the small line made by starting or lifting the chisel or stylus. When handwritten became the standard method of recording, in lifting the pen from the paper/parchment, the same type line was made ... also called a serif. It was easier to do the lift as a sweeping line so it made a little curl or pointed line. Some letters had a nice curly-cue added. In calligraphy, it became more than a trick of the trade and became a fancy style of writing. If you didn't want all that fancy stuff, you asked for sans-serif ....meaning without serif. Sans-serif was also called Grotesque, or Gothic.

In things like signage and makers marks, standard sans-serif in something like Arial Block or new Times Roman show up best. The rule for small things is - As simple as it can be so it will be easily recognized.
 
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Yall have been a wealth of knowledge... I'm sure I'll get the leg up in a trivia one of these days with serifs. Thanks again for the input.

1 12345678910 & Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith Solid point on trying out Arial for simplicity and also for possibly just keeping it simple with "J. Keeton."

@Randy3000 You're 100% right on Texans being a proud bunch... Hard not to be living in the greatest state in the USA. I'll try out your design suggestion below.

K Ken H> Great tip on printing it out to size. Many of the small details will fade I assume.

@i4Marc thanks for sharing that link. Very cool!


Based on feedback here are some modifications below. I'm fairly certain that I'm leaning between "#3 Revised Ariel" and " #4 Revised Ariel".

 
I like the old 5 before the revise, I think the revised 5 you may not have a crisp texas.. others may think different. I also like 4!
 
One problem with people designing or others critiquing a makers mark idea is they forget the scale.

In the examples we are seeing the logo is about 30mm high. In a makers mark it will be 3-4mm high. The little white texas in #5 would be about 1.5X2mm. It would be unrecognizable.
The Texas in #4 will be small, but if the etch is done well it will be recognizable as the state shape. If it isn't really clear, it is not a problem, because the name will be fine.
 
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