Versatile New Typeface's Outstanding Legibility

Monotype Imaging has introduced the Soho typeface family, a slab serif design created by Sebastian Lester of the company's UK subsidiary.

Monotype Imaging has introduced the Soho typeface family, a slab serif design created by Sebastian Lester of the company's UK subsidiary.

As one of the largest typeface families released by Monotype Imaging, the Soho family is available in the Opentype Pro format and consists of 40 fonts in various weights and widths.

Robin Nicholas, head of type design at Monotype Imaging, said: "This uniquely versatile typeface family offers flexibility for all applications and provides outstanding legibility for on-screen use as well as in print.

As an industrial strength, contemporary design, the Soho family is a rich addition to the Monotype library of typefaces." The Soho typeface is rooted in designer Lester's observation of what was missing from font offerings, added the company.

Lester said: "It's amazing in an age of so many typefaces that gaps and niches still exist in the marketplace.

Slab serifs have been very popular recently with this sub-genre of the serif taking a firm hold in the realms of publishing and corporate identity.

Yet there have been few multi-width slab serifs with fundamentally modern aesthetics to choose from." A slab serif typeface is a subset of the modern serif, characterised primarily by thick and blocky serifs, in Lester's opinion.

He explained: "There is something inherently strong, solid and reliable-looking about a good slab serif.

It's not surprising slab serifs have enjoyed this renaissance.

Being closely related to sans serifs, they tend to look more modern than other varieties of serif as well and they're very robust on screen.

Given that slab serifs are often used in headlines, it makes sense to have a variety of widths and weights so that even the most demanding of designers can find the correct weight and width for their needs." Soho fonts are available in the cross-platform compatible Opentype format,as Allan Haley, director of words and letters at Monotype Imaging, said: "Features such as 'stylistic sets' can be useful, where a wide variety of alternative characters can be applied easily.

This gives one font the ability to reflect different appearances, from conservative to cutting edge." And Sebastian Lester added: "As a type designer, I'm pre-occupied with finding ways in which I can address modern problems like good legibility in modern media and create fonts that work precisely and efficiently in the most technically demanding of corporate and publishing environments.

I hope I have achieved this with Soho.".

Back to top