Typophile

Good serif match for MVB Embarcadero?

Jeffrey0 votes

I intend to use MVB Embarcadero for a personal Atlas/Cartography-related project. It will be a kind of alternative mapping, but I want it to in style reference conventional atlases/maps, yet give it a new direction. Embarcadero is the base font but I would like to use a serif next to it, for contrast. I will probably use it both for labeling and some (short) text, so it should hold up well on a busier background. In common Atlases there often is a combination of Helvetica/Clarendon or Venus/Rhoemisch. I like this kind of modern/classical pairing but as I said I want to make my own new interpretation of it.

I've been looking at fonts like Century (too conventional), Walbaum (too thin), Charter (nice, but does it combine well?) and URW Latino (too little contrast)...

Any ideas?

Trevor Baum0 votes

What about Sentinel? It's kind of an updated, more versatile Clarendon that might work really nicely with Embarcadero.

Nick Shinn0 votes

Perhaps a robust Century-ish face that has a single-bowl "g"?

Jeffrey0 votes

Thanks for the suggestions Nick and Trevor, I appreciate it. Sentinel steys a bit too close to Clarendon, IMHO. It's a nice face, but not quite what I'm looking for.

Still looking... tried various options; not neccesarily because of a stilistic or historical link, but more to find a nice contrast. I tried Calluna, Droid Serif and Slimbach, which all have a decent x-height, and a certain calligraphic flair to them. I'm not too sure though if it works. I will try some more combos, also in the Century vain.

If you have some more pointers I would be very grateful!

Trevor Baum0 votes

Storm's Hercules could be beautiful and warm, an interesting face somewhere between a Century and a Didone. I don't know how it would pair with Embarcadero, but it might be worth a shot at least.

poms0 votes

What about Chronicle from Hoefler&Frere Jones. There a four grades for robustness and there are different widths available. The family seems to be relatively calm and descent, they call it a blended scotch.

Or, different meat, FF Meta Serif, the "g" might be too offensive, but i would give it a try.

Jeffrey0 votes

Thanks for your feedback, all. I'm going to give them a shot and see if I like it!

Trevor Baum0 votes

Or, you could head in the transitional style of serif, like a Baskerville - could be really beautiful here as well.

Along those lines, Mrs Eaves XL , and FontBureau has some excellent faces in this style:

Starling
Belizio
Escrow
Wessex
Farnham
Benton Modern
Whitman
Ibis

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