Borges is the result of Alejandro Lo Celso’s admiration as reader for the fantastic oeuvre of Jorge Luis Borges. His writing technique, that of a throrough, tireless goldsmith, at endlessly seeking the perfect word, suggested a clean, economical letterform, of certain elegance. This awarded typeface has become a classic from PampaType. And 20 years after its first release, in 2022, the family has been revamped and expanded to include many more features and specials. Read about the ideas behind the design of Borges and its details here.
Borges. A multi-style typeface comfortable for reading
Alejandro designed the text versions firstly, and later he felt the need of extending the concept to display fonts. In its anatomy Borges is a classic type that combines dignity and grace from the French Renaissance with a contemporary flavor, not far from Dutch types from the digital era. All this gives Borges a versatility in use as well as comfort in reading.
J. L. Borges. Fantastic story teller
Jorge Luis Borges wrote a notably original oeuvre, which gave water to all literary genres: narrative, poetry, essay, and within the most diverse subjects. There is a Borges resident of the pampas and a lunfardo connoisseur (the argot of Buenos Aires), while there is a mystic Borges, a Nordic mythologies lover, and a surrealist Borges who created 'The Aleph' and pararell universes. There is an Argentinean Borges and a universal Borges; there are two Borges, a youngman and an older both seated at the extremes of the same bench, unwinding a time that is past for the one and future for the other. J.L.Borges honoured human imagination, and gave us an exquisite literary work, rich in ideas and poetic expression.
Qualities
The Borges type family is an attempt at reflecting that state of diversity, controversy, singularity: a type that may express precision, moderation, character, and economy; qualities with which Borges conceived his words; a type that could capture some of the fantastic which was a significant part of his creative world. Borges letterforms are slightly narrow, with a pretty large x-height, and short ascenders and descenders, all of which favours its use within newspapers and other space-saving situations. However Borges gives the text-line a subtle horizontal stress, its forms are round & open which make it more comfortable in reading. Finally, its flowing cursives provide a harmonic contrast with the romans.
Borges, a versatile family
Borges includes six complete weights of roman, real cursives and their corresponding smallcaps, offering a good stylistic palette for demanding text settings. Borges Título is the titling companion, slightly more compressed and slender, while Borges Título Hueca is an elegant open face suitable for black tie occasions. Finally there is Borges Poema, a spirited, modern chancery aimed at more delicate moments.
Borges 3.0
In 2022, 20 years after its first release, Borges has been revamped and expanded to a Latin extensive glyph set. The text family now includes 6 harmonized weights from ExtraLight to Black, cursive smallcaps were added as well as new OpenType features and several new kern pairs. Borges 3.0 is a much more complete typeface for comfortable reading. See it in detail at the Borges family page.