Gerardo Picado, better known as Mr. Masking, has devoted his life to hand-paint signs in the city. "Don Gerardo" takes the bus every morning from his house heading to downtown San Jose. On his way there, he's always looking out the window to see if there are new stores -no matter which kind- to apply his technique and to help them communicate who they are and what they do. Restaurants, beauty shops, convenience stores, bars, karaokes, parking lots, and even people have been, and still are, the places on which Gerardo Picado works on.
In 2009, Alfredo (Pupila's partner) realized that, contrary to what most hand-painted signs showed, in Mr. Masking's work there was a typeface. A font that, although not really aware of it, he has created and that he was using on every single sign he was working on. Mr. Masking was the owner of a very powerful visual language. And this language itself was taking on the city; yet the city didn't know who Mr. Masking was, all everyone knew was his "artist name". Alfredo's discovery then became an obsession and a few years later, with the help of Karina Salguero-Moya and Jose Tenorio, the artist behind all this work is found. A few months later his work is exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design.
During the fifth edition of the International Design Festival of Costa Rica, Mr. Masking's book is launched. This publication seeks to tell his story, document his work, and also be a tribute to the person we considered to be the first typographer of Costa Rica.