Typeface Review

Reina

Reviewed by Ricardo Cordoba on January 25, 2012

Maximiliano Sproviero’s Reina starts with Bodoni and Didot and adds aspects of Spencerian script and the work of Herb Lubalin. The results are stunning – magnificent and graceful.

Sproviero has demonstrated his love of calligraphy in earlier work, such as Breathe (2010) and Parfait Script (2009–2010), but Reina is his most ambitious project yet, boasting 12 separate fonts. That is, three optical weights (12, 36, and 72) and an Engraved weight, plus two sets of Words (common words found in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, each enclosed in a calligraphic cartouche), a set of ornamental Capitals, and a set of Flourishes. It’s clearly a labor of love, which Sproviero completed at the ripe old age of 24.

OpenType technology, of course, has allowed script and calligraphic typefaces to come back in a big way. The Pro versions of Reina – with their alternate glyphs, contrasting thick and thin strokes, swashes and flourishes – make this typeface soar.

Personally, I am especially smitten with Reina’s Engraved set, which is beautiful and refined. Combine it with the Words and Flourishes components and you have a complete headline kit. I recommend checking out Reina’s PDF specimen to get a mouth-watering glimpse of Reina’s possibilities.

Ricardo Cordoba is a graphic designer based in New York City. His interests include book covers and typeface design. He contributed to Quipsologies from 2010 through 2017. During 2017, he worked as a freelance copyeditor and fact checker for AIGA’s Eye on Design. He is a frequent contributor to Typographica.

5 Comments

  1. Marian Bantjes says:

    Whoa. Fantastic!

  2. Thanks Marian! I love your work!

  3. Absolutely beautiful! This made me laugh out loud the moment I saw it, simply because of its sheer magnificence!

  4. Jackie says:

    I purchased Breathe Pro from MyFonts, and thought that was one of the best I had ever seen, but this really is an exquisite work of art! You are very talented!

  5. Kathryn says:

    WOW. Just looking at it makes me feel so calm and enchanted. Excellent work!

Post a Comment

Comments at Typographica are moderated and copyedited, just like newspaper “Letters to the Editor”. Abusive or off-topic comments are not published. We appreciate compliments, but don’t publish them unless they add to the dialog. Thank you!