typography

Poetisa is a bold, decorative typeface for poets and designers alike.

Poetisa is a decorative typeface I designed. Inspired by the Mexican avant-garde art movement of the 20s and 30s, Stridentism. Poetisa uses bold, angular counterforms and art deco aesthetics to create a typeface meant to catch one’s eye on a poster or to be used sparingly with small blocks of text, such as a poem. The word “poetisa” refers to the Spanish word for “poet” after the founder of the Stridentism art movement, a poet named Manuel Maples Arce. Arce is known for his poem “Urbe (Super-poema bolchevique en 5 cantos)” of which the typeface takes inspiration. While the word “poetisa” is considered a feminine word in Spanish, by using the feminine form, the typeface’s name gives reference to the female poets and type designers who are often less known than men working in the same fields.

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