In typography, a slab serif (also called mechanistic, square serif or Egyptian) typeface is a type of serif typeface characterized by thick, block-like serifs. Serif terminals may be either blunt and angular (Rockwell), or rounded (Courier). Slab serif typefaces generally have no bracket (feature connecting the strokes to the serifs). Some consider slab serifs to be a subset of modern serif typefaces.
Because of their bold appearance, they are most commonly used in large headlines and advertisements but are seldom used in body text. The exception is those that are monospaced, because of their usage intypewriters, but that is declining as electronic publishing becomes more common. Another recent exception is the typeface designed for The Guardian newspaper in the UK which is an Egyptian used through the paper as body text.
Berlow majored in fine arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, although he didn’t have any formal training in drawing letters, exposure to letterpress in school sparked his interest in type. Berlow's career in the graphic arts began while he was still at the University of Wisconsin. “I was a fine arts major and a friend approached me to draw a logo. I guess he figured ‘drawing was drawing.’ The logo was for a local travel agency, and what I drew turned out to be completely typographic.” Berlow had seemed to become hooked on type from that point on, but this was not the case.
The logo project did, however, open Berlow’s eyes to the world of graphic design. After graduation, he moved to New York and took a job in an advertising agency. It lasted two months. “I learned pretty quickly that the New York agency scene wasn't for me,” he recalls. “I just couldn’t fit in with the structure. I probably also had authority issues.” Berlow knew he had to put together a plan. “I figured I’d spend a few years drawing letters, a few years learning photo editing and then work as the art director for a music magazine like Rolling Stone or SPIN.”
Berlow applied for work at a number of places, including Marvel Comics, a diploma factory and the newly opened drawing office of Mergenthaler Linotype. Linotype made the first offer and Berlow took the job. “The money wasn't great,” he remembers, “but the job was fantastic. I discovered you could actually get paid to draw letters all day long.” He worked there four years, then left to join several of his colleagues at their newly formed company in Cambridge, the digital type foundry Bitstream Inc.
Berlow left Bitstream in 1989 to found The Font Bureau with Roger Black. The independent foundry and design studio quickly gained a reputation for producing high-quality classic types and outspoken but perfectly constructed display faces.
Although known for having a quirky sense of humor, Berlow is attracted to the classics. His retail types at Font Bureau include the sensitive Californian™ Goudy revival and the Bureau Grotesque™ type family, an interpretation of the English nineteenth century sans that’s seen in newspapers and magazines worldwide. Other Berlow faces range from the silent film title stylings of the Meyer Two™ family to the powerful voice of Rhode® typeface, a Figgins-inspired elephantine grotesque design.
In 1995, Agfa Corp. commissioned Berlow to conduct research at the Plantin Moretius Museum in Antwerp, Belgium, and develop a type family exclusive to the Creative Alliance label. The result of Berlow’s exploration was the Throhand® family, an elegant serif in 12 styles with three fine variations in weight.
As with the Throhand brief, Berlow’s motivation for designing a typeface usually comes from listening to the needs of others, whether it’s a corporate client or his own sales team. He constructs a solution to meet customer needs, listens to feedback, and then draws a new family.
“When I start working on something typographic, and I need to follow clue after clue to get into the mind of the designer and the audience for which he worked, that I love,” Berlow says.
Berlow works from his home studio on Martha’s Vineyard, where he’s inspired by nature and keeps grounded in reality by working with his hands. Other Font Bureau staffers often work independently or have flexible hours. It’s a unique arrangement that works. “We don’t have a traditional structured hierarchy, so it’s like we’re all at a round table (electronically), and anyone can say anything,” Berlow says. “In the end, if no one else can make the decision, I will.”
Berlow is currently working on an expansion of the ITC Franklin Gothic™ type family for Monotype Imaging. The popular sans will be upgraded with special display versions and a set of text-specific fonts, including agate versions for extremely small point sizes.
The Typeface
The eight-part Belizio series updates the first Font Bureau typeface. David Berlow’s family is based on Aldo Novarese’s Egizio, designed in 1955 for Nebiolo. It was first prompted by the popularity of HaasClarendon designed by Hoffmann and Eidenbenz, an impeccably Swiss revival of the traditional English letterform. Aldo Novarese was among the first to investigate a true italic designed in the Clarendon style. Belizio has a very subtle contrast of stroke, it is very machine-like, mono-form, and rectangular.
David Berlow has designed dozens of other fonts including:
Agency 1990 Belizio 1987 Belucian 1994 Berlin Sans 1994 FF Berlinsans 1992 Bureau Grotesque 1997 Californian 1994 Cheltenham FB 1989 Eagle 1989 Eldorado 1997 Empire FB 1989 ITC Franklin Gothic Compressed 1995 Condensed 1995 Gíza 1994 Meyer Two 1994 Numskill 1990 Bureau Ornaments 1990 Phaistos 1990 Rhode 1997 Romeo 1991 Throhand 1995 Titling Gothic 2005 Truth 2005 Village 1994
