Rumba

Rumba and PTL Skopex are so different that I find it impossible to choose one over the other. Both were designed by a female graphic designer who has been around for a while — one in Barcelona, one in Berlin — without getting a lot of international exposure.

Rumba was originally Laura Meseguer’s graduation project at the one-year Type + Media course of the Royal Academy in The Hague, and I’ve seen it grow and develop over the months and years. Knowing Laura’s previous work at Type-Ø-Tones as well as her designs for print, I found it fascinating to see how she managed to reconcile the Hague insights (some call it a doctrine) with her own Latin sensibilities and idiosyncrasies. The way the three-piece family is structured is pretty uncommon, too, and useful in its own weird way. All three members basically have the same weight and style, but have been designed to work best at different sizes and in slightly different contexts. Each version is a well-wrought mixture of usability and showmanship. Script faces are published at a dazzling rate nowadays; but Rumba is one of the most personal and most intelligent ones I’ve seen in a while. — Jan Middendorp

Jan Middendorp is a type writer and page maker. He is author of several books about graphic design and typography including Shaping Text, Hand to Type, Lettered, Creative Characters and (with Erik Spiekermann) Made with FontFont. In 2018 he self-published a reprint of his successful and sought-after 2004 book Dutch Type, which is now available again at the original price.