Gabriela: An Interview
Coming in at #8 bestselling new fonts of 2019, Latinotype Mexico knocked it out of the park with Gabriela, a didone typeface well-suited to classy branding and editorial designs.
What inspired you to design this typeface? Were you designing for a specific use case or customer? Or were you more focused on a particular artistic vision? Or some combination of both?
The idea of creating Gabriela stemmed from the desire to continue the Gabriela Stencil project by giving it a wider range in use, in tone of voice and taking it from something exclusive to something warmer. To allow for broader usage in short texts, titles and logos, we explored the idea of new ligatures, which grew as the project was developed.
Walk us through the process of designing this typeface. Was there anything different about it, compared to your usual process? Did it come along more easily than others, or were there unique challenges?
Each new project implies new challenges — in this case I started from the Medium weight to have more control with the intermediate weights, then continued with the Heavy and the Thin. Previous experience helped me solve faster, but it took more time as Gabriela has new masters, more alternates and more ligatures. My challenge is to make better quality fonts focused on their purpose, without losing sight of the real needs of the users because after all, I’m a graphic designer too and I also face challenges as a type user.
Looking ahead, are there new projects you’re excited about? Anything you haven’t tried yet but are eager to explore?
Mexico is starting to appear on the typographic world map. My goal is to continue contributing and adapting to the emerging new needs across the globe and embracing new technologies. I’m excited to apply my expertise in “corporate identity” to develop more complex projects that contribute to brand recognition in a more comprehensive and functional way. I’m currently developing a couple of interesting projects that excite me. I hope to publish and talk about them in due time.
