According to its designer Rui Abreu, an inscription in a 19th century painting was the main source of inspiration for this display face. One might sense that inspiration in the alternate ‘A’ and ‘H’ with their decorative crossbar. But this epigraphic influence was shrewdly combined with a touch of energetic English calligraphy, reaching a perfect balance between exuberance, charm, and artisanal quality. The italic weight is even more flourishing and lively, especially in the set of ligatures. It is also quite legible at medium text sizes – maybe it would be interesting to develop a text version?

Laura Meseguer lives in Barcelona from where she designs logos, posters, books and custom typefaces. She is a graduate of the Type and Media masters program at KABK in The Hague where she created Rumba, one of the Typographica selections for 2006.