Magnenat revival typeface
Jorge Santos Duarte, Juan Holguín and Anita Nunes
The brief for Project 2 was to revive the typeface created by the Colombian artist Sergio Magnenat and used on the posters of the Bolivarian Games (1938).
The revival took a variable format, intended for editorial use, performing well in text from 8 pt. It is a geometric sans serif, influenced by the Art Deco style of the 1920s and classified according to the Vox-ATypI system. The influences show in the straight cuts, condensed proportions and Black weight, paying tribute to Colombia’s typographic history.
Magnenat was a pioneer of editorial projects in Bogotá in the 1930s. He edited 10 issues of the children’s magazine “RIN RIN”, which became a pedagogical and graphic landmark in the country.
The process began with digitizing the characters and comparing them with contemporary typefaces such as Futura, Flegrei, Dolmen, Messe-Grotesk and Elegant-Grotesk. The analysis revealed a lack of consistency in the original design, so the most consistent characters were selected for the initial sketches.
Three axes were defined: Regular for text, Bold for emphasis and subheadings, and Black for headlines. The sketches sought to stabilize the Regular from the Black weight used in capitals. Interpolation produced the Bold. More weight, more contrast.
Some characters were only adjusted in balance and proportions. Others started from references such as Futura and Elegant-Grotesk. Some required deeper changes to suit their intended use in text.
Imprint / Technical Rider:
Year: 2025
Dimensions: 120 × 180 × 20 mm; 80 pages
Materials: Munken Lynx 115 g/m², A3, color (cover and text block); 3D-printing filament (letterpress mock-ups).
Production and finishing: Norcópia – Casulo d’Imagens, Lda., Anita Nunes, Jorge Santos Duarte and Juan Holguín; binding: sewn softcover; woodcut (letterpress mock-ups).
Resources and credits: Typeface: Magnenat (Regular, Medium, Semibold, Bold, Extra Bold, Black); software: FontLab 8, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Blender, PrusaSlicer; hardware: Prusa MK4S printer.
Curricular Unit:
Type Design (1st year)
Supervising Professor:
Pedro Amado
Keywords: Revival, Typeface, Sergio Trujillo Magnenat, Columbia