Confeitaria Petúlia, Porto
Contributed by Greg Stephens
on Sep 4th, 2022. Artwork published in
.
Photo: Greg Stephens. License: All Rights Reserved.
Sign for the Confeitaria Petúlia, Rua de Júlio Dinis 775, 4050–326 Porto, Portugal, featuring three-dimensional letters derived from Jackson (1971).
Petúlia opened in May 1972. Photographed August 30, 2022.
Photo: Greg Stephens. License: All Rights Reserved.
7 Comments on “Confeitaria Petúlia, Porto”
Thanks for sharing this find, Greg!
Here’s the illuminated sign of Confeitaria Petúlia at night, captured by Insideview360 in June 2016:
For those who love seeing this unapologetic bold and wide typeface in use (like me), make sure to also visit the dedicated and ever-growing collection by Anthony Lima, on Instagram and on jacksonmnr.com.
Hi Florian. Love the illuminated view. Will have to head back over there some evening.
I have a few more examples of Jackson on signs here in Porto. Will post those when I get a chance.
Actually a nice font. Unfortunately, the apertures, the counters and bowls are very poorly executed. A shame considering today’s possibilities!
Kurt, I’m assuming you are referring to the digital version sold by International Typefounders as Jackson MN, right? (I’m asking because this post is about an application from the 1970s). Agreed: originating in 1991, this font is one of the hastily and poorly made digitizations from the early phase of mass-market digital fonts. There is another attempt by Southern Software from 1993 which is equally horrible. Shown below is the E from these two fonts. They don’t do Jacquet’s orginal design any justice, with their wobbly outlines and inconsistencies.
There is also Cabeza Grossa, a “re-introduction” by AKOFAType from 2008. Unfortunately the designer fails to acknowledge the original source, but at least his version is better drawn. It’s not 100% faithful to Jackson, though.
Yes, you are absolutely right. In my opinion, anyone who digitizes like this and wants to make money with it belongs in court!
And as you can see, every locksmith and lighting designer works better than those who have it easy: these type designers. I call over 80% of them lazy, incompetent and extremely sloppy anyway.
So why would I belong in court after seeing this font in Ghana, West Africa painted on a restaurant wall and sketching it to then digitize it / clean it up/ kern and space and develop new characters that are not included in the original Jackson MN by Jacquet?
Thanks for chiming in here, Kwesi.
There’s a misunderstanding. Kurt wasn’t referring to your Cabeza Grossa, but rather to the shoddy digitizations made in the 1990s, for which I showed two exemplary glyphs above. (Also, I think he was being sarcastic when he wrote that its creators belonged in court.)
I, for one, think it’s great that your interpretation exists! Exactly for the reason that it’s better drawn, as I pointed out.
The only quibble I have with Cabeza Grossa is that the description text makes no mention of Jackson. Maybe you didn’t know about the original’s name and its creator, Bernard Jacquet, when you first embarked on your interpretation – but now you do. Consider adding a line or two about the origins of your design. Not only is it nice to acknowledge one’s sources. I also think it makes for an interesting story: from dry transfer sheets manufactured in France, to painted billboards in West Africa, to a digital reintroduction created in Atlanta.
Hey Florian,
It’s cool and I understand the sarcasm…the 90's were full of “scan-it-now” foundries…Ironically I was almost about to get a job with the infamous Swfte but they got sued and went belly up when I lived in Delaware…Some of the guys from House Industries worked there and I thought it would be a great place to start…
I’ll take your idea into consideration and you are right it makes for a very interesting story!
Have a great day!