Josué Oquendo and Augusto Rodríguez join Pedroglifos Catalogue
Modestia and Letrismo become the first signed fonts
One of the greatest satisfactions of type design is seeing your fonts go out into the world and be used by peers in projects you would never have dreamed of. The other is sharing that opportunity with peers themselves, especially in Puerto Rico, where type design is a highly underdeveloped and underrepresented practice. That’s why, to me, it’s not just about making fonts, but about putting my beloved island on the map of international typography. Of course, this journey cannot and should not be traveled alone. Distributing fonts from peers has always been on the roadmap, and I can finally say I have signed two designers with very distinct projects.
Letrismo
I met Augusto Rodríguez Mateo in my classroom, in the very first semester of the Type Design course I teach at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón. From the very first days, he was a very disciplined student, who also shared the most important trait in type design (according to me): curiosity to learn more. In my class, I teach in a personalized way, so I let students choose the kind of typeface they want to develop. He chose a road many Puerto Rican graphic designers have explored in the past, but did it in a way nobody else had ever done. A typeface inspired by Lorenzo Homar’s lettering work is not new. But to actually sit down and make over a hundred ligatures to achieve it? Now that’s dedication, and a genuine homage.
Every time I arrived in the classroom, Augusto was already there, drawing ligatures. They were not required for the final grade, but oh boy, they were required for his own excitement. The result, Letrismo, is a typeface that truly evokes the spirit of Lorenzo’s work. And I gotta say, people love it! It’s already been used in many cultural projects, like Martes de Galería and the renovation of El Antiguo Matadero at La Perla in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Modestia
Josué (Nuno) Oquendo Natal is a seasoned graphic designer with plenty of experience in branding, editorial, illustration and film poster design. He has also exhibited work as a visual artist in recognized spaces like Santurce es Ley, Los Muros Hablan and the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico. I knew about his work long before meeting him in person at a designer meetup. One thing that stands out is his use of typography across his body of work. One thing I did not know at the time was that some of those typefaces were designed by him! Nuno has an entire roster of fonts yet to be finished. Most of them have just the characters each project needed.
Modestia was originally a typeface Nuno had designed for a poetry project by Ángel Antonio Ruiz Laboy. The file had most of the alphabet: a narrow and casual style that seems to come from a book ready to tell a story full of warmth and delight. After seeing it, I knew we had to work together to transform it into a complete family. So we sat down, sketched the missing letters, and in a few months got the work done. In the process we both realized that, although we thought Modestia was a display face, it turned out to be highly legible and a great candidate for body text at generous sizes. Its warmth is gentle on the eye, and its personality captivates readers with strokes full of flavor.
