Egyptian Slate™ Font Field Guide

Best Practices

The Egyptian Slate family is a large suite of designs that is ideally suited to branding, headlines and short form text copy in print and on screen. Its simple shapes, large x-height, open apertures and robust serifs also make it a good choice for small screen environments.

FAMILY

Six weights of roman, each with an italic complement.

Font Facts

• McDonald had the first sketches for the Egyptian Slate typeface design in the works before the original sans serif branch of the family was released.
• Robert Bringhurst – author of the acclaimed Elements of Typographic Style – suggested that McDonald name the typeface “Egyptian Slate.

Roots

Based on the basic shapes and proportions of the sans serif Slate family, McDonald drew the roman designs and collaborated with Carl Crossgrove to create the italic counterparts. McDonald provided the foundational “control characters” and Crossgrove built on these to produce the finished designs.

Legibility

Its robust x-height, open counters, simple shapes and large apertures aid legibility. Slab serifs and monotone strokes also support legibility in challenging reading conditions.

Download a pdf version of the Egyptian Slate Font Field Guide and view Egyptian Slate.