I am working on an exhibit of Spanish masterpieces (Goya, Picasso, Velázquez, El Greco, and Dalí) for an art museum in the US. After looking at the works and discussing the themes of the show, I am looking for a roman with a lyrical abruptness, good stroke variation, and strong italic/calligraphic qualities.
My problem is that I keep finding myself drawn to the typeface Dolphin. I really love the way some letters are drawn (a, q, l, n, u, p…) and the large x-height. The font has a lot of technical issues though, like poor kerning, oddly-drawn characters (v, y, z…), horrible italics, and caps that are mismatched to the lowercase. I am also troubled by the typeface because I can’t find any information about it aside from the fact that it comes from a foundry of dubious integrity.
I have looked at a few fonts that come close to what I am looking for, but none are home runs. The types from Feliciano are very Spanish, but too restrained. Rayuela by Alejandro Lo Celso, and Nueva by Carol Twombly are the front-runners so far. Mexica, from Kimera, is close, but a bit too flamboyant.
If anyone has more information about Bay Animation or the origins of Dolphin, I’m very interested in hearing it. It might make the giant effort needed to make Dolphin work worth it.
Otherwise, I am open to suggestions for alternatives. Are there alternatives besides a custom font? I do have a preference for OpenType fonts, but it is not a restriction.
Thanks!
