Parnaso brings up to date the first generation of revivals that occurred by the end of the 19th century when typefoundries started to showcase their own rejuvenated versions of the so-called Old Style Roman types. This was a reaction against the work of Firmin Didot & Bodoni and their Modern type model, that completely dominated the typographic scene at the time and that was considered unreadable or boring by some printers. These new typefaces were often presented as Antiqua, Ancienne Romain or Elzévirs (a frenchified form of the Dutch ‘Elsevier’).

To design Parnaso, I started by looking at the “Série XVIIe Siècle «Elzévier»” showed in the Fonderie Gustave Mayeur’s 1894 and 1912 editions of the Spécimen-album of the Fonderie Gve Mayeur, Allainguillaume&cie, succrs. The Roman and the Italic styles are both directly based on that particular face but with some tweaks of my own, like a completely different set of numerals. Other typefaces that I studied while working on Parnaso include some presented in the Catalogo Fundição Tipográfica Gini, Manuel Guedes Lda. (Lisboa, 1938).

Rather than staying faithful to the standard type family structure, with a regular progression of weights and widths, Parnaso comes in a set of eight assorted styles of various weights and widths that can be combined together or used independently. Hence, the design of the bolder and narrower styles is mostly a result of my own imagination than a straightforward interpretation of any other typeface. With its proportions, high contrast and numerous styles, Parnaso has been conceived to fulfil the needs of contemporary magazine and advertising design. Its capital letters, with their sturdy proportions, retains a certain spirit and geometry of the Didot model but with shorter and wedge-shaped serifs. The lowercase letters are more condensed and closely fitted, offering a very unique style and a distinctive type color. The italic is vivid and generous with a great amount of angle variation and that ‘je ne sais quoi’ inherited from classical French baroque italics. Unlike the original Mayeur’s typeface Parnaso comes with lining figures as default but a set of old styles figures is also included. Both exist in proportional and tabular widths. All fonts come with some alternates, arrows and ornaments. The Italic style also features an extra set of titling swash capitals.

Designed by Mário Feliciano, 2015 — 2019