Mosquito Formal, by Éric de Berranger, is the dressed-up sibling of his earlier design, Mosquito. The original Mosquito lends a lighthearted feel to headlines and other display copy, while Mosquito Formal is suitable for text copy and large type that requires a quieter, subtler demeanor.
“The idea was to assuage the drawing of Mosquito,” says de Berranger, “to calm it and eliminate its idiosyncrasies, while preserving character structure and general appearance.”
Mosquito Formal has an appealing simplicity, but its distinctive character shapes and lightly stressed strokes set it apart from more conventional sans serif faces. A relatively large x-height and open counters add to the design’s legibility.
The capitals are straightforward, with a hint of Peignot, while the lowercase has a softer, more inviting demeanor. “I drew Mosquito with the hope that it would be pleasant to look at and to read,” says de Berranger.
Mosquito Formal is available in three weights with complementary italic designs, a suite of small caps, and old style figures. What’s more, the Mosquito Formal family is now available as a collection of OpenType Pro fonts.
OpenType’s capabilities include the automatic insertion of old style figures, ligatures, and small caps. The new Mosquito Formal Pro fonts also offer an extended character set, which supports most Central European and many Eastern European languages.