The Evolution of Slab Serif Typefaces
Before we jump into slab serif fonts, let's go back to where it all started. The early 1800s were a time of great change. Frederick Koenig improved the printing press in 1810. In 1814, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took the very first photograph with a camera obscura, a process that took an entire eight hours to complete, and George Stephenson designed the first steam locomotive. John Walker came along and invented modern matches in 1827. In 1829, William Austin Burt patented the predecessor to
1800s
A Fabulous Vintage Font Rediscovered and Reinvented
The original Aetna font was patented by William Page on April 18, 1871. The sturdy letters featured the Detroit Serif with trapezoidal rather than rectangular terminations. The point was a bolder display font that could "withstand rough handling," as described in Rob Kelly's American Wood Type 1828-1900. We recommend reading Mark Simonson's excellent summary of the Aetna story, which can be found here. Although the original Aetna's popularity faded in the early 20th Century, it is now
An Elegant Art Nouveau Type Design From Louise Fili: Montecatini
Louise Fili has led an incredibly prolific career as a graphic designer and typographer. The director of Louise Fili Ltd in New York City, Louise worked as an art director for Pantheon Books for more than a decade, designing more than 2,000 book covers during that time. She has co-authored more than 25 books on design and typography, received three James Beard award nominations, and her work is among the permanent collections of the Library of Congress. Louise has also received a Lifetime
Janson Text: A Classic Serif Font Design with 17th Century Origins
Janson is a serif inspired by a style created in the Dutch Baroque era. Intended for body text, it's an excellent style you can use in marketing or advertising. As a popular search item here at YouWorkForThem, we want you to appreciate the deep history of of this stylistic font. There's been some controversy over the decades regarding the creator. The font was initially thought to come from a Dutch printer and punch-cutter named Anton Janson. He lived in Leipzig, Germany during the 17th
Grottel by The Northern Block
The Northern Block just released yet another great sans-serif typeface - Grottel. Grottel is a modern grotesque sans serif font family that follows the philosophy of original grotesque typefaces with enhanced personality. Fine details and tuning, balance functionality and the beauty representative of the aesthetic movement in the 19th century. Details include 5 weights, a full European character set, manually edited kerning, ligatures and alternatives to allow users to add further