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Hey! See Reina Neue in action here!
INTRODUCTION
When I designed the first Reina¹ circa 2010, I was at the dawn of my career as a type designer. The S{o}TA, short for the Society of Typographic Aficionados, described it as complex display typeface incorporating hairline flourishes to a nicely heavy romantic letterform². And it was like that; that’s what I was pursuing at that time since I was very passionate about ornaments and accolades of Calligraphy. Why? I felt that Typography, in general, needed more of them. These subtle flourishes could breathe life into letters. Maybe, I thought it was the only way I could propose something new into the field of type. However, after some years, I came across a very interesting quote: –Beautiful things don’t ask for attention– Wow! What did this mean? How could something be attractive if it’s not actually showing it. Could this be applied to my work? Sure.
I think every type-designer goes through this process (aka crisis) regarding his or her career. At the beginning we love everything. We are kind of blind, we only see the big picture of a project. And that’s not because we are lazy. We actually can’t see the small mistakes nor the subtleties that make something simpler beautiful. We are not able. But, the small subtleties… They are actually everything: With experience, one puts more attention into the details and learns that every single decision in type has to be first meticulously planned.
Here I am now, introducing a new Reina, because I felt there was a lot of it that could be improved, also the novelty of Variable Fonts caught my attention and I had to take that to my type library.
THE FONT
A thing of beauty is a joy forever
Now, a decade later, I’m presenting Reina Neue. This font is not just an update of its predecessor: –A thing of beauty is a joy forever– is the first line of the poem ‘Endymion’ by John Keats, and despite the meaning of “beauty” may vary from person to person, and even from time to time (as read in the last paragraph), with Reina I always wanted to bring joy to the eye. In 2010, and now, in 2020.
I believe the font is today much better in every aspect. It was entirely re-designed: Its shapes and morphology in general are much more clean and pure. The range of uses for it is now wider: While the old Reina consisted in just one weight, Reina Neue was converted into a big family of many weights, even with italics, smallcaps and layered styles.
The idea behind the font, this kind of enveloping atmosphere made out of flourishes, is still here in the new Reina. This time easier to get amazing results due to the big amount of available alternates per glyph and also more loyal from a systemic point of view. However, and as read in the introduction -Beautiful things don’t ask for attention-, if none of the flourishes are activated the font will look very attractive anyway.
Reina Neue is ready to be used in book covers, magazines, wedding cards, dazzling posters, storefronts, clothing, perfumes, wine labels and logos of all kind.
Like it happened with the previous Reina, I hope this new font satisfies every design project around the world if used, and can be a joy forever.
SOME INSTRUCTIONS
Before choosing the right style for your project, hear my advice:
-Reina Neue Display was meant to be used at big sizes. If you plan to print the font smaller than 72pt, I suggest using Reina Neue, not Display. Otherwise, if the font will be BIG or used on a digital platform, Reina Neue Display should be your choice.
For even smaller sizes, use Reina Neue Small. This style was tested and printed in 12pt with nice results.
(Note for variable fonts: Print them in outlines)
-Reina Italic is not a slanted version of the roman, and this means some flourishes are different between each other. The Italic version has other kind of swirls. More conservative, in general.
-All the styles of Reina Capitals have Small Capitals inside.
-Reina Capitals Shine should be used/paired ONLY with Reina Capitals Black. The engraved feeling can be achieved if Reina Capitals Black and Reina Capitals Shine are used as layers, with the same word.
Variable fonts instructions:
-For more playful versions, choose Reina Neue VF, Reina Neue Italic VF or Reina Neue Capitals VF: With them you can adjust between 3 axes: Weight (will change the weight of the font) – Optic Size (will thicken/lighten the thin strokes and open/close the tracking) – Accolades (will modify the weight of the active flourishes).
SOME VIDEOS OF REINE NEUE VF
https://youtu.be/8cImmT5bpQM
https://youtu.be/YC9GkJDL1a8
NOTES
1. The original Reina, from a decade ago: https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/argentina-lian-types/reina/
2. In 2011, Reina received an honourable mention by S{o}TA.
“Great skill is shown in the detailing, and an excellent feel for the correct flow of curves and displacement of stroke weight.”
https://www.typesociety.org/catalyst/2011/
Reina was featured in the “Most Popular Fonts of the year” in MyFonts in 2011
https://www.myfonts.com/newsletters/sp/201201.html
In 2012, the font was also selected in Tipos Latinos, the most prestigious competition of type in Latinoamerica.
https://www.tiposlatinos.com/bienales/quinta-bienal-tl2012/resultados
Also, chose as a “Favorite font of the year” in Typographica.