Sebenta is a contemporary slab serif typeface available in nine weights with matching italics, inspired by an early twentieth-century monospaced typeface available from Fundição Tipográfica Gini (Manuel Guedes, Lda.), presented in a specimen from 1938.
The slab serifs, also known as Ionics or Clarendons, made their first appearance in 1845 by Thorowgood and Co., with a typeface attributed to Robert Besley, with punches engraved by Benjamin Fox. This popular style, known for having a bold and solid structure, low contrast, vertical stress, strong bracketed serifs, and a large x-height, was a consequence of the decreasing quality of printing, mainly dominated by the Modern style types with high contrast. As with most slab serifs, Clarendons are basically made from a modern type structure with decreasing contrast. Sebenta represents a fresh new approach to this style, and instead of using a modern typeface structure, Sebenta makes use of some elements belonging to the old style formal repertoire, seen in typefaces like Bookman. In particular, the angled terminals in the capitals’ series: [E, F, L, T, Z] and [C, G, S]; and in the lowercase series: [c, s, z]. Using soft ball terminals, Sebenta merges the industrial and modular vibe of most slab serifs with some gentle modulations, along with a contemporary approach to letter construction. The wide range of weights and extended character set makes Sebenta a perfect workhorse for any sort of graphic, printed or screen job.
Open Type features
