Does it have to be derivative? If it sets well alongside the original then that should be enough to use the name.

Does it have to be derivative?

I thought that was the idea behind superfamilies ...

Emigre version of Baskerville was something new and fresh, while respectful of the original. I have not had a chance to see their sans revival, but we'll see. Emigre quality just seems to be pretty high.

It will work beautifully with Mrs.Eaves I'm excited to play with it!

OK, just to make my point clearer.

This is Mrs Eaves, a post-modern Baskerville:

This is Mr Eaves, its matching sans serif:

And this is the newly released Mr Eaves Modern XL, a lazy clash between Frutiger and Futura:

Am I really the only one to think this is misleading marketing?

I thought [being derivative] was the idea behind superfamilies ...

It depends. See, for example, the use of Lucida as brand name:
http://new.myfonts.com/search/lucida/

That's what puzzled me about Benguiat Frisky ;-)

Andreas

It's a companion face.

If you're under the impression that Mr Eaves shouldn't remind you of Mrs Eaves, I think you need to reevaluate what it is you think marketing is... It's not misleading at all.. it's about as directly leading as it can be... The faces look to have a similar color and features and it's not as if they're made by different foundries...

They're living in the same world. Just let them live happily, separatist klaxon.

:)

You're not the only. I also think it is improperly named.

I find this kind of thing odd. My question would be: how is this last addition part of the same family? It looks like the cap height and overall colour have been usefully matched with those of Mr and Mrs Eaves, but to me that makes it a companion face rather than a member of the same family.

I'm no expert in font marketing but perhaps Modern XL would stand a better chance as a typeface in its own right: connecting it this way might actually limit its potential market. We'll see.

Well, what’s missing from the comparison above are the intermediate members that make the connection — Mr Eaves Modern (a geometric variation of the Mr Eaves sans), Mrs Eaves XL (the large x-ht version), and Mr Eaves XL (the large x-ht version of the Gillesque sans version):

 
Derivatives can indeed wander far from the original. Think of it as Evolution. Milking past success? Most definitely.

Shoot. I read this too quickly. I have to revise my last statement.
I'm in love with Mr. Eaves. The modern XL is weird in the mix.