Gloriola by Tomas Brousil

Designed by Tomáš Brousil
Published by Suitcase
Available from FontShop
and MyFonts
Winner TDC2 2008

Typefaces of 2007 index »

Czech designer Tomáš Brousil catered to all the popular trends with his 2007 releases: BistroScript as the contempo-retro brush script, Purista as the spare/square sans, and even a typeface to jump on the Fat Font Fad. Brousil’s obvious embrace of “what’s hot” could be called pure opportunism … if the stuff wasn’t so skillfully executed.

The ultimate case-in-point is Gloriola, a sans serif that hits a sweet spot between the cool sterility of Luc(as) de Groot’s monolinears and the lively warmth of recent faces from young Latin designers and Xavier Dupré. It succeeds in being a typeface of the now, without resorting to trendy gimmicks or ornamentation.

With a broad range of weights, a complete Western character set, and a sack of ligatures and alternates, Gloriola has the depth required for complex identity systems and publication design. This shrewd response to the fashions of today is going to be useful for many years to come.

— Stephen Coles is editor of Typographica, type director at FontShop in San Francisco, and hoarder of mid-century modern eye candy. He is currently seeking the perfect cat and a personal assistant to take dictation and keep his papers in order. The same applicant may fill both positions.