In the early 1960s, Jan Tschichold was commissioned by the Stempel type foundry to create a typeface compatible with Linotype, Monotype, and manual typesetting.

He developed an Antiqua typeface named after the punchcutter Jakob Sabon (1535-1590), which follows Claude Garamond’s Renaissance Antiqua and is designed for various printing processes and high speeds. It was intended to be as elegant as the original, but with a larger x-height and have overall slightly slimmer appearance. Sabon also included a bold weight, which also fit the needs of the time. (ss)