A Vernacular Typeface
from Natal-RN, Brazil
from Natal-RN, Brazil
Can something authentic and original be found in the field of hand lettering in a distant, town-sized capital city from one of the smallest federative states of Brazil?
That was the challenge I put myself into on my undergraduate final paper.
Personal Objectives:
- Get to know and show the hand lettering scenario;
- Exercise my type design skills by crafting a typeface with a vernacular lettering style.
Requirements:
A truly vernacular style: ideally an original design from Natal-RN, where the research was set; although I decided beforehand that an originally vernacular style, unrelated to traditional foundry designs would do.
Visual research
I’ve found many different styles, both vernacular and copied from foundry typefaces or logos, things you would easily find in old books, or ads, or nowadays digital fonts.
These are a few photos I took around the neighbourhoods of Alecrim, Ribeira and Cidade Satélite.
Photos by Ígor Jales Costa Souza, 2016.
Photos by Ígor Jales Costa Souza, 2016.
The choice
No letter form was as original as this rare particular one:
Photos by Ígor Jales Costa Souza, 2016.
The making
Digitization and
Conversion flowchart
Deriving forms
Adjusting kerning and assembling diacritics
Final result
Petiscos (Portuguese for snacks or finger food)
is a contemporary script typeface
is a contemporary script typeface
with vestiges from medieval Blackletter script.
It comes from the streets of Natal, but its quirky cursive stroke style may be spotted throughout all Latin America.
