NEW YORK—According to New York-based typographic design firm Hoefler & Frere-Jones, slab serif fonts such as Clarendon and Antique were originally intended to be “novelties amidst the world’s conventional book types.” The novelty factor, however, limits the number of ways the fonts can be used; Clarendon, for example, is “a liability in lighter weights” because the rounded brackets that connect its serifs and stems overpower the letters themselves.

To address these “shortcomings,” including the fact that neither Antique nor Clarendon has italics, H&FJ has created Sentinel, a slab serif font family for text and display that is now available in 12 weights with italics throughout.

“Modulating the weight of strokes as they approach one another helps give every letter a sharply defined edge, making characters crisp at large sizes and clear at small ones,” notes H&FJ on its website. “And Sentinel’s thinner horizontal strokes allow more space into the interiors of letters, helping make text settings appear larger than they actually are.”

Carleen Borsella designed the font. Contact: www.typography.com