Zénith is a typeface intended for editorial design. Thanks to the possibilities offered by Variable Fonts format, Graphic designers can modulate both weight and optical size, transforming Zénith from a typeface designed for small sizes of body text into a particularly elegant and contrasted display typeface.
Here Matthieu Cortat delivers his personal interpretation of Zeno, a typeface cut by Charles Malin in 1936 for the German-Italian publisher Giovanni Mardersteig, that he discovered in the Sanctum Evangelium, printed in 1963 by the Officina Bodoni. He adds a Cyrillic character set absent from the original model.
The relatively sizable width an taut curves of Zénith give it a generous and jittery appearance that permeates the different styles. The axis is heavily slanted, giving the C a characteristic silhouette. With its wide serifs, it already has the makings of a “classic”. The heaviest weights appear intentionally stocky while never veering into caricature. The italics are calm and balanced and only slightly slanted, and they discreetly allow a particular word to stand out, or on the contrary, an entire paragraph to be read with ease.
The rhythm is stable, ample and regular in the Text styles, but its true character asserts itself in the Display styles. The contrast between wide and narrow letters grows as the thin strokes become even thinner and the x-height is reduced.
Zénith Text could be compared to a swimmer before a race: well built, flexible, warmed up but calm, breathing deeply and regularly. Zénith Display would be closer to a marathon runner, skin tightly stretched over lean and jittery muscles.
A typeface clearly designed for reading that also gradually reveals a stark personality as its optical size is increased.