Custom Typeface Family for the New York Times Magazine

Seven-weight slab serif rooted in a major magazine redesign

Ny. Slab is a slab serif family spanning seven weights (Thin to Black), designed as part of the broader Ny. type system originally created for the 2015 redesign of The New York Times Magazine. The Ny. family draws inspiration from Stephenson Blake's Mazarin — a Garamond-like metal typeface also known as Astree at Deberny & Peignot — with the magazine's Gothic Blackletter logotype informing sharpness and contrast in display cuts. Text weights were redrawn with adjusted proportions and contrast to support legibility at small sizes. The name references both New York, where the fonts debuted, and the Danish word for 'new,' reflecting designer Henrik Kubel's origins.

Set in Ny. Slab

Insights

Ny. Slab extends a custom system originally commissioned for The New York Times Magazine in 2015.
Inspiration traced to Stephenson Blake's Mazarin, a Garamond-like metal typeface also known as Astree at Deberny & Peignot — one typeface, two names.
Display and headline cuts reflect the sharpness and contrast of the magazine's Gothic Blackletter logotype.
Text weights were independently redrawn — proportions, contrast, and design details crafted anew — to aid legibility at smaller sizes.