Block serifs in a Roundel? Yes or No?

[heycurly]

Hey all, got a question for you.

Should block serif fonts be used in roundels?

The reason I ask is because I placed some on a curved path in a logo I'm designing, and it seems to create an optical illusion that the letters are bulging. Now, I could be just suffering design fatigue, and I could just be going generally crazy, but I'd really like to know if any one has experience with this.

I'm hunting around for best practices...

Cheers!

[heycurly]

Here's the thing:

[CDixonDesign]

Are you using "Type to Path" method? Or placing them manually?

[heycurly]

Type to path. I've tried converting to outlines and then arching the result, but the top serifs end up way to chunky.

[officeglenn]

I think you're OK to use block serifs in a roundel, but I think you just need to give them a little more room to breathe. I'd give a little more space between the tops and bottoms of the letters and the edge of the roundel, and kern out the lettering quite a bit more.

[heycurly]

Good advice, thanks.

Here is the result (Homestead is the name of the font, not part of the logo!):

[heycurly]

And here are some alternates:

(edit: try to ignore the fact that I placed the "A" letter mark too high! OOPS!)