The Swiss designer Adrian Frutiger developed Serifa in 1964. He based the shapes in Serifa on those in Univers, the sans serif family he designed in the 1950s. While Serifa retains the geometric, linear skeletons of Univers, it has the addition of unbracketed square serifs, a squatter x-height, and boxier caps. Because of these characteristics, Serifa is a true representative of the slab serif, or Egyptian, style. Serifa is surprisingly elegant and legible, and with its six weights, it functions well in both text and display typography.

Serifa is a trademark of Bauer Types registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered in other jurisdictions.