Fashion Issue Typography
Description
SZ Grotesque is an experimental revival of one the oldest heavy sans on record, Zeitungs-Grotesque, which was published in 1874 by the Danzig-based Francke type foundry.
Like many other typefaces of its time, Zeitungs-Grotesque was copied & replicated across Europe under many different names (Elephant, Royal Grotesk, Turandot, Fette Steinschrift, Kompakte), including “Etrusco” by Nebiolo in Italy, which is how I came across it in a 1920 Specimen in my library.
The team at Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazine were sketching some layouts with various widths of a grotesque, so what I started as numerals, evolved into a limited uppercase character set with six widths (two masters XCondensed + Wide) for other sections in the magazine and typesetting the cover.
