Here's a potentially dumb question: In some typefaces, left and right serifs are uneven, and not only where that would serve better contrast, such as K and R, but also I. My untutored eye can't find a system there. Is it even designed like that, or is it just the way the ink flowed, and the serifs should be balanced? Are there any rules I should follow? Take the example below, for instance. The I seems to have stronger serifs on the left, with a shallower curve into the stem. H seems to be the other way round? I'm so confused
Comments
The fact that there is no recurring logic between the I and H makes me fairly confident that the inconsistency stems from either an imperfectly cut punch, imperfect pressure when printed, or ink bleed.
By the time this was made, Schelter & Giesecke was a giant foundry, using many of the technological aides in type making that were available. They used pantographs (to some extent I can’t define) in punchcutting, and they also had an internal drawing office (although I don’t know if the draughtsmen and draughtswomen [there was at least one woman on the team]) worked on every new typeface or not. If there are asymmetrical serifs in this typeface, then I would suspect that they are there by design, not by accident.