Mister Pablo

Graphic designer Nicholas Gross is dreaming of the perfect Mexican blackletter. Mister Pablo, his first FontStruct creation, comes pretty darn close.

To really respect and understand Mister Pablo, take a look at his family tree. In a nutshell: Spanish explorers come to the Americas, bringing along a writing style known as Gothic Script (aka blackletter) which--centuries later--pops ups in shop signage and various forms of street art. We're pretty sure 12th Century monks weren't thinking of tattoos, car detailing, or Lucha Libre posters, but the same elegance they brought to their letters lives on in modern Mister Pablo.

Built using the latest version of Rob Meek's FontStruct, this download steps into the ring with 209 characters, allowing you to compose in several languages. Think big to take advantage of the crisp lines and clean details, such as the stylized knife nicks that adorn each capital. Also, many lowercase letters—the u and the v especially—lose their identity under 72 points.

A nice touch: Mister Pablo gets down to business with dollar, yen, and euro signs, along with trademark, copyright, and registration marks. One could even type out the dream wrestling name Señorita Viuda Negra punctuated by the dagger symbol (a sharp-looking footnote mark thrown into the mix by the designer).

Note: To use this font, unzip the folder and install the .ttf file in the folder C:\Windows\Fonts. Note that the font won't appear in your applications until you close and re-open them.

--Kate Godfrey