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Rumba type specimen
Typeface Review

Rumba

Reviewed by Jan Middendorp on July 11, 2007

Rumba and PTL Skopex (below) 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

Also available from FontShop.

Jan Middendorp is a type writer and page maker. He is author of several books about graphic design and typography including his latest, Shaping Text. He is also co-publisher of MyFonts.de.

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Typographica is a review of typefaces and type books, with occasional commentary on fonts and typographic design. Edited by Stephen Coles, also of Fonts In Use and The Mid-Century Modernist.

Founded in 2002 by Joshua Lurie-Terrell. Relaunched in 2009 by Coles and Chris Hamamoto.

Set in Adelle Sans by TypeTogether, Turnip by David Jonathan Ross, and JAF Bernini Sans by Tim Ahrens.

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