Égyptienne is a Swiss serif

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are thousands o ...

belonging to the classification

slab serif In typography, a slab serif (also called ''mechanistic'', ''square serif'', ''antique'' 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 ''Egyptian,'' where the serifs are unbracketed and similar in weight to the horizontal strokes of the

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

. Egyptienne was designed in 1956 by

Adrian Frutiger Adrian Johann Frutiger ( ; 24 May 1928 – 10 September 2015) was a Swiss typeface designer who influenced the direction of type design in the second half of the 20th century. His career spanned the hot metal, phototypesetting and digita ...

for the Fonderie Deberny et Peignot and was the first new text face created for the process of phototypesetting. The x-height is high, and some lowercase characters, especially a and e bear comparison with other Frutiger typefaces, especially Meridien and

Serifa Serifa is a slab serif typeface family created by Adrian Frutiger in 1967. The typeface is based on the Univers family. Usage It was most prominently featured in the logo of Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. ...

. Egyptienne shows historical influence of the Clarendon faces. Égyptienne commonly appears on

Chocolate letter Chocolate letters are a form of candy associated with the Dutch holiday of Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas). Celebrants of the Sinterklaas celebration are traditionally given their initials made out of chocolate, either on Sinterklaas Eve, which is ...

References

* Friedl, Frederich, Nicholas Ott and Bernard Stein. ''Typography: An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Through History.'' Black Dog & Leventhal: 1998. . * Macmillan, Neil. ''An A–Z of Type Designers.'' Yale University Press: 2006. .

External links

*{{Commons category-inline Linotype typefaces Slab serif typefaces Typefaces and fonts introduced in 1956 Letterpress typefaces Photocomposition typefaces Digital typefaces Typefaces designed by Adrian Frutiger