Typographers often experience this moment: you see a “text” typeface that appears too quirky to ever be usable for setting body copy. But, upon seeing the specimen in print, you are pleasantly surprised with the face’s stability and workmanship.
Esta is one of these. It possesses the characteristics of recent serif faces — like Fabiol, Delicato, and Relato — with a Mediterranean-Catalan twist. If Esta’s warm and curvy teardrops don’t win you over, its versatility will. Esta is economical and humble when set small, but its strokes and counterspaces can also dance beautifully — in a postmodernist sort of way, believe it or not — when set large. While Esta may not sit comfortably in a Leo Tolstoy novel, it can add life to many kinds of texts. — Bram Pityo