Eudald News is a new set of four additions to Mário Feliciano’s previous interpretations of faces by the 18th Century Spanish punchcutter, Eudald Pradell. The fonts form a handsome quartet: diverse in scope, yet sufficiently tame for newspaper work. The series demonstrates a scholarly appreciation of contemporary readers’ tastes in Spain & Portugal. In this sense, Feliciano has done his homework well, collecting and dissecting Eudald Pradell’s output.
When creating italics, Pradell exercised a rather mature restraint for his day. Unlike other 18th-century Spanish punchcutters, Pradell paid less attention to flamboyance and individuality. By today’s standards, his italics appear to be “more compatible spouses” for his roman cuts.
Feliciano’s latest revivals further subdue Eudald Pradell’s italics, as can be seen in the redrawing of ‘v’, ‘w’, ‘x’, and ‘y’, for example. Similar attempts at domesticating Pradell’s italic characters were made by Feliciano for his Eudald Headline series, and will likely be made for his Eudald Fine series.
Supplying an adequate, but purposely limited, spectrum of appropriate newsface styles to newspaper designers was one of Feliciano’s aims. In the Eudald News series, we see dramatic differences from one style to the next. We also see that Feliciano understands the things that help give a newspaper typographical sophistication. By letting the particular virtues of each font play out within the harmonious foursome, he has covered a lot of classical Iberian territory in terms of both eye appeal and historical sensitivity. — John Downer