Commemorative plaque in honor of Covid-19 victims, Madrid
This plaque in honor of Covid-19 victims dedicated by the Madrid City Council in conjunction with an eternal flame has become extremely controversial in Spain. The typeface chosen by the Council, Hobo, is seen by many citizens and members of the design community as disrespectful and an infamous example of bad taste. As Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia points out:
At the end of last week, José Luis Martínez-Almeida and Begoña Villacís, mayor and vice-mayor of Madrid, respectively, inaugurated a Covid-19 memorial in downtown Madrid. To that purpose a ceremony was held, which included the unveiling of a commemorative plaque and an eternal flame. However, the flame soon extinguished, and municipal workers were called the following day to replace the gas bottles in the installation.
Since then, the monument has become the target of mockery and criticism in social media. Many users have pointed out the typeface chosen for the plaque is not adequate for the occasion. For that reason, many designers have commented on the choice of Hobo Std for the memorial.
A sad message that is being announced with the HOBO here. Even sadder than the URW version of the Hobo D Bold, whose SZ ligature is the ultimate design disaster. The attempt to sell in this way can confidently be described as a rip-off.
In addition, the x-height of the minuscule z is too low and the inner shapes (bowl) of the A is catastrophically executed. The edges of its anchor points disturb the rounded character. What’s also missing are specially drawn guillemets and chevrons to match the bold font.
The omissions remind me of the rounded shapes of the URW fonts called Futura Round and especially of the Nimbus Sans Round, whose shapes have nothing to do with curves anymore.
Probably the unsuccessful attempt to create the rounded shapes with a computer program, as Erik once told me about his Officina Sans through ITC. He was very unhappy with the result.