W magazine, December 2018, “Celebrate”
The December 2018 issue of W magazine is a celebration of two typefaces with roots in France. Cian Browne, Jeff Burch and team pair Lettres Ombrées Ornées with Proto Slab Condensed.
The former is a set of heavy ornamented and shaded capitals that goes back to a design from c. 1820 by the Paris-based foundry of Joseph Gillé. Here it’s featured in a customized version, with some parts colored and some parts clipped, with occasional mirrored and upside-down glyphs.
The latter is a dense slab serif released by Production Type in March 2019. Proto Slab Condensed makes an early appearance in this issue, and is used in two of its five weights: The Extra Light can be seen on the cover, in section openers, and pull quotes. Set in all caps, its low-contrast letterforms yield a picket fence pattern. The Regular serves for headlines in the feature about influential Mexican women. Lettres Ombrées Ornées and Proto Slab Condensed are complemented by W Magazine’s usual typographic line-up incl. Whitman, Graphik Condensed, and Platform.
Customized Lettres Ombrées Ornées and Proto Slab Condensed Extra Light in all caps.
Proto Slab Condensed Regular (headline), Whitman (text).
