Gabriola is a deceptively simple-looking handwriting typeface in one style with many decorative variations. It can add elegance and grace to titles, headlines, and subheads, as well as short passages of text where a controlled exuberance might be appropriate. Gabriola appears small, so it is best used at large sizes. Its flourishes can take up more vertical or horizontal space than expected, so it’s best to give Gabriola plenty of room on the page.
Type designer John Hudson was inspired by an idea from music: that the same melody can be played in multiple modes, each with its own expressive characteristics. Gabriola’s eight OpenType stylistic sets and “contextual alternates” (different forms for the same letter depending on what’s around it) give it great flexibility for expressive styling of any text.
Gabriola has only one weight and, since it is already a cursive typeface, no italic style.
