Slab Serif Type: A Century of Bold Letterforms

Since being introduced in the 19th century, when they were considered the bastard cousins of more refined serif types, slab serif typefaces have become ubiquitous. Prized for their bold visual impact and versatility, they are used on a broad variety of demonstrative communications, from posters and newspapers to product packaging. In 1931, Morris Fuller Benton created the Stymie typeface, a reworking of a slab serif type popular in Europe at that time: Memphis. The IBM logo is one of the most famous slab serif marks: it began as Stymie and was refined by Paul Rand. Slabs come in many iterations and are recognized as a face with many characters – and nationalities.
Following the cult typography volumes Scripts , Shadow Type and Stencil Type , this new volume artfully selects classic examples to present fresh and unexpected typographic ideas. The authors employ their decades of combined experience as art directors to present hundreds of wonderful examples in a visual resource that will delight and inspire today’s designers.