Orlando J. Rodríguez Pitti

Sinfónica – A melodic typeface in 12 movements (styles!) – is inspired from Fryderyk Chopin’s masterpieces, specifically, Nocturne No. 2, Op. 9., and art from the 19th century. It is an elegant typeface, featuring soothing “curvaturas” that are able to create a smooth rhythm… just as Chopin does in each one of his melodies.

Sinfónica means symphonic, in Spanish. Symphonic: Music. of, for, pertaining to, or having the character of a symphony or symphony orchestra.

The goal for this project is creating a serif typeface, with some Didot-like characteristics, as it is the case for the horizontal contrast. The whole process was cracked-open when Antykwa Półtawskiego, by Polish designer Adam Półtawski, came into the references. Półtawski’s design opened the doors to a new way of tackling this task.

Having several scanned images of Didot, from several archives, led the way to a detailed process of studies. From the enlarged low-quality images, there was a lot of room for free, personal interpretation of how the letterforms could behave. That being said, the studies got to a point where each letter had at least five variants – it was a scale. The first traced letterform of each one, featured exaggerated blobs and curves… the next sketches were gradually leaning towards the “right way” of presenting the shapes, the one we all know and can be seen printed in books.

Far from being a mistake, it was really a great opportunity to think on how the letters will “dance” or behave. A nice way of playing with the curves (which somehow ended up feeling like an ink trap feature) and exploring where this curves could take part on this journey.

Regarding the system created for this typeface: The iconic curves are not present just in every letter. It is true that the original intention was to create a font which could be used for classical music sheets, so it was a text-oriented typeface. For that reason, Sinfónica presents the curvatures in key places, where, according to the pen strokes, it could feel natural and not forced.

To keep the letters as a family, other features are present, as the counterforms, the contrast or the squarish roundness of the “c” and the “o”, for example.

The key of the project was to look clean, functional.

On the other hand, it is a pleasure to announce that this font features the curved nature in the upper-case letters as well. In areas where two strokes meet each other, the curves can be seen, as in the “R” and the “B”.

Another trademark which can be found, is the subtle “boxy” or wide letters. Which creates a texture that can provide a sense of stability, smoothness and a lot of character.

Sinfónica is an example of the reward that comes from digging deep into, not just the source, but what could be beyond that. The project helps to realize that when you are willing to take the longer, more complicated path, it really opens the door of knowledge, experience and – more importantly – of creating something new.

‍