La Loteria Typeface
“Loteria Mexicana” is game kit with soul. It targets a matured, English-speaking audience who are culturally curious about the traditional Mexican game of chance. Similar to bingo, “Loteria Mexicana” is a matching game where imagery is placed on labeled cards and announced by a caller (“cantor”). Cards are matched by players who mark a “tabla” grid space whose imagery, name, or number coincides with the card announced. Each “tabla” presents a different assortment of vibrant Mexican folk imagery. The game features a playful, hand-crafted typeface inspired by Mexican Tuscan letters. The font’s recommended uses are exclusively for titles and short texts and the letters are given a rough “street sign” texture to make them feel more authentic, imperfect, and aged. They are placed in a visually saturated grid fashion, suggestive of Mexican paleta cart graphics or street advertising. The colors used throughout the game kit are heavily saturated and give a sense of mid-century nostalgia. The intent of this game kit is to become a collector’s item and to introduce Americans to a cherished Mexican pastime.
A tuscan typeface I designed for La Loteria
