At the beginning of the nineteenth century, new type styles were created for bold display and advertising typography. In Europe, they were called Egyptians, aptly reflecting the period’s fashionable fascination with all things Egyptian. Over a relatively short period of development, slab-serif typefaces underwent a turbulent evolution: from poster types cut into large wooden blocks, maximally condensed, heavy, often with reverse contrast or decorative features as known from circus posters, through the strictly geometric forms popular in the first half of the twentieth century, to cultivated shapes with humanist proportions and smooth transitions into flat serifs, approaching conventional book typefaces and thus suitable for magazine typography as well.
At the notional end of this development stands Tabac Slab, created through the combination of various opposing influences, resulting in a universal linear serif typeface. The combination of assertive slab serifs with the subtlety of calligraphic details in the character construction or in the terminals of certain strokes creates an original concept in which influences from both editorial and advertising design intermingle. The serifs support readability in long texts, while the subtle drawing details fully emerge in sizes above twenty-four typographic points.

Tabac Slab works excellently in combination with any other typeface from the superfamily, thus expanding the almost infinite universe of the Tabac type system.