With a swinging handcut look and fanciful letterforms, Granz is inspired by the iconic Oscar Peterson’s Porgy & Bess album cover by David Stone Martin – the prolific american illustrator who created more than 400 album covers, mostly for the jazz greats of the 1940s and beyond. Granz font is loaded with interlocking pairs, swashes, contextual and stylistic alternates, making it highly flexible, just perfect to jazz up your designs.Great for book covers, titling, headlines, t-shirts and many other applications, this is a font that loves to be seen. Use it big!

Reklame Script is a brush typefamily consisting of four weights. It was designed by Hannes von Döhren in 2010. This family is influenced by the handlettering of printed advertisements of the 1940s and 1950s. You can combine the four weights to gain a better emphasis – perfect for headlines, posters, and other display uses. Reklame Script is equipped for professional typography. The OpenType fonts have an extended character set to support Central and Eastern European as well as Western European languages. The fonts also contain double-letter ligatures to prevent repetition.

The Wild Bunch, also known as the Doolin–Dalton Gang, was a gang of outlaws that terrorized Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma Territory during the 1890s. They robbed banks, killed lawmen and held up trains. Of course its members were hunted down and 'wanted' posters, with that typical 'Wild West' font, appeared all over. Wild Bunch is a 'wanted poster' type font. It is an all caps font, but upper and lower case differ slightly. A set of alternate, non-eroded, glyphs for the lower case (including alternate numbers) completes this font.

Roman-style stencil fonts have been around for much longer than most people realize - from the interlocking brass stencils of the 1880s to the laser-cut plastic stencils of today. A 1 inch Roman lettering guide [die-cut from oil board with spacing holes for correct alignment] made by the now-defunct Zipatone Corporation in the 1970s was a clone of an existing design of another company; but with variations in certain character shapes. This then became the working model for Classroom Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Originally Mamontov has been inspired by poster (usually wooden) types of the end of 19th—the beginning of 20th centuries. The type family was named after Savva Ivanovich Mamontov (1841-1918), Russian industrialist and patron of the arts. Massive asymmetric serifs, stocky proportions, type weight... are traces of harsh imperial reality. And soft forms of ovals, exaggerated compensators, humanistic curves of serifs and horizontal strokes betray the sensitivity and artistry of Savva Ivanovich. Mamontov has 25 styles, ranging from Light to Black and from Condensed to Wide, with more than 1000 characters per font.

I was commissioned by the Emporium (now Macys) to digitize Radiant Bold Extra Condensed (originally designed by Robert Middleton in 1940) for use in their Sunday supplement to the San Francisco Examiner. For several years, I stubbornly refused to add the lowercase letters to the font, because I thought it looked best just used with caps, but finally relented, added the lowercase letters and at the same time created two more weights as well: Light and Medium. Used very large and carefully, these faces can be quite elegant.

Decalcomania JNL is based on examples of gold and black water-applied initial decals made by the Transfer Monogram Company of Chicago circa the 1940s. It is presumed the patterns for the letters were hand cut, possibly explaining the variations in line widths and character shapes. These eccentricities were left intact and followed through to the other characters in order to represent a more "authentic" digital version of these vintage decals. Decalcomania JNL is available in both the regular (outline) version, and a solid black version, as well as obliques of both styles.

This family is inspired by the small hands used in the 1700’s 1800’s to write messages carried by carrier pigeons, also named “homers”, before the use of photography and microfilms in the same way. So, it is a “small eye” or "small x-height" font. It is enriched with numerous alternates and ligatures, as to look like a various real and written manual. The standard characters set is completed with accented or specific characters for Western (Including Celtic) and Central Europe, Baltic, Eastern Europe and Turkish.

Rough Riders Redux along with our Rough Riders font, got its start from a small sample of letters used in the logo for the Beach Creek Railroad Co. dating back to the early 1860’s. I studied the design for one year before drawing the letters. Rough Riders and the Redux version are simply the most Wildest Western looking fonts you'll find. The Rough Riders fill font is not meant to be used as a stand alone black typeface, the fill font is designed to be layered behind the regular Rough Riders font.

On the Town JNL is a reworking of Parks Department JNL, giving it a classic "solid black Art Deco treatment". The wide monoline font of the original design was inspired by hand lettering on a WPA (Works Progress Administration) poster. Art Deco typography and the streamlined style it embraced often conjures up images of New York City in the 1930s and 1940s, thus On the Town JNL is named for the classic MGM musical starry Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munchen that was filmed on location in "the city that never sleeps".

An online reproduction of a trade ad circa the 1950s for comedian-actor Paul Gilbert featured his name in the hand-drawn lettering that serves as the basis for Stand Up JNL. While the style of the typeface is derivative of the Latin Spur faces used popularly since the 1800s, the playful – almost awkward angles create a casual design that evokes good times. It should be noted that the extremes of such angles might appear ill-spaced unless kerning is turned on within the application where the typeface will be used.

A mid-1950s hand lettered ad for Stenso Lettering Guides provided the inspiration for Stencil Company JNL, now available in both regular and oblique versions. The Stenso Lettering Company of Baltimore, Maryland pioneered easy-to-use and inexpensive lettering devices with guide holes for accurate spacing. Originally designed by a school teacher (Ruth Libauer Hormats) around 1940, the company was family run until it was sold in 1962 to Ottenheimer Publishers. They in turn sold the line to the Dennison Manufacturing Company, and it was discontinued in the 1980s after Dennison merged with Avery.

The design of this display face is based on the hot metal typeface Acropolis, issued by the German type foundry Ludwig Wagner in Leipzig in 1940. To further increase its usefulness a Cyrillic was added to it: URW Akropolis, redrawn and digitally remastered by Coen Hofmann for the URW Font Forum, is a true display design that should not be set below 48 point if you want to preserve it's fine details like the open triangular sections, e.g. in L, G, S, T etc. and gain the full typographic splendidness of this beautiful typeface.

Because of the large influx of Irish immigrants during the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was not unusual for songwriters of the day to craft songs around Irish themes, offering a nostalgic link to their homeland. One such 1917 piece entitled "You Brought Ireland Right Over to Me" had the title hand lettered on the sheet music cover in a sans serif design reflecting the popular Art Nouveau movement of the day. This design is now available digitally as Retro Nouveau JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.

Although the Art Deco movement is generally attributed to the 1930s and 1940s, a number of design influences were showing up during the late 1920s in what is referred to as the Art Nouveau period. The Dutch illustrator Anton Kurvers’ hand lettering on the front cover of the (1927) magazine “Het Vlaamsche Volstooneel” clearly shows the clean lines and Avant Garde geometrics that foreshadow Art Deco. This attractive pre-Deco lettering has been recreated digitally as Dutch Deco JNL, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Metalet Modern JNL was based on the letters found within the Metalet Movie Titling Set manufactured by the Modern Display Advertising Company of Hollywood, California circa the 1940s. Each stamped metal letter would be affixed to the background surface via the use of miniature magnets. Once in place, titles for home movies or slides could be photographed, the letters then returned to their storage area in their box. The character shapes show unusual stroke movement, which means the original models used for these letters were most likely hand-drawn.

Rough Riders, along with our Rough Riders Redux font, got its start from a small sample of letters used in the logo for the Beach Creek Railroad Co. dating back to the early 1860’s. I studied the design for one year before drawing the letters. Rough Riders and the Redux version are simply the most Wildest Western looking fonts you'll find. The Rough Riders fill font is not meant to be used as a stand alone black typeface, the fill font is designed to be layered behind the regular Rough Riders font.

We have created this family from the numerous derivatives in use for newspapers since the middle of the 1800s to the 1970s, inspired by the well known Clarendon. Mainly, the patterns are those used to print Le Petit Journal, a popular French Newspaper of the era (published from 1863 to 1937). The present version contains Normal, Italic, Bold and Bold Italic styles, in two sub families: 1906 French News for texts and titlings with upper and lower case, and 1906 French News Caps (Caps, small caps, small numerals, for texts and titlings).

Sir Richard Henry Bonnycastle (1791–1847) was an English officer and military engineer who served in the War of 1812 and ultimately settled in Canada. I stumbled upon copies of some of his charts and maps, became infatuated with the hand-lettered titles—and the result is the eponymous Bonnycastle. The font has a bold weight and an italic style but is intended as an eye-catching standalone, evocative of its period in history. Use as a titling face on branding materials, event posters, book covers, presentation graphics, historical illustrations, and the like.

The calligraphy font Banner was designed by Martin Wait in 1986 and mixes the character of the 1940s with that of the 1980s in its forms. The round and somewhat reserved lower case letters make a balanced basis for the generous capitals. Black outer contours surround a white inner area and are heavier on the right side of the figures, making the characters look as though they have shadows. Banner should be used in point sizes of 18 and larger and is meant for lighthearted short texts or headlines.

Koala was originally designed in 1999 by Eric de Berranger with an individual, independent character. A distinguishing characteristic of this sans serif font is its marked stroke contrast, typical of Modern Face fonts. The open, airy forms are reminiscent of ancient Roman capitals. The lower case letters display traits similar to those often seen on posters and in advertisements of the 1930s and 1940s. The lively Koala is particularly good for shorter texts and headlines in larger point sizes and combines well with fonts with little stroke contrast.

Kate Greenaway was a very famous British (1846-1901) author and illustrator of childrens books. Her books were an outstanding success in English publishing during the Victorian period. Recently I found these sweet Mignonettes in an old foundry specimen book. Mignonettes is derived from the French word "mignon" which stands for lovely, charming, sweet, delightful, pleasant and that does exactly describe these little drawings. I already published a Kate Greenaway's Alphabet a couple of years ago. So here is my second installment. Yours, Kate Greenaway fan Gert Wiescher

Portsmouth Second Fleet is the rag tag, wild bunch companion to Portsmouth. It is a strong, sturdy typeface with historical character. Its inspiration comes from the height and strength of the wooden tall ships that sailed into port in their day. With caps and small caps, this typeface is great for headlines or subheads for design projects that need a historical or retro feel, such as from the 1940s and earlier. Two different styles that can be layered allow for different colored drop shadows, outlines and fill for even more customization.

Kafenia is a geometric display typeface, consisting of capitals and small capitals only. Inspired by the combination of vintage and decorative aesthetics with squarish and compact look, Kafenia claims to be a classy and old stylish slab serif. With more than 1540 glyphs Kafenia is a great tool for your designing needs. Flexible, easily wrapped and reformed with plenty of open type features, Kafenia aims to provide versatility and lots of options for unique results in logos, posters, headlines and every design inspiration you dare bring to life.

The evocative and original Retrofit is based on typefaces of the 1940s and 50s, which extolled the virtues of American products in glossy magazines for the new suburban consumer. Oversized terminal bulbs and occasional slab serifs lend a rhythm and a bouncing baseline provides just the "zing" to spice up that bland typographic treatise. Retrofit's easy familiarity can be seen on children's books, games, food packaging, and other places where a kid friendly note is needed. Retrofit has been adapted by Quickutz for their punched letter cutting tool, and re-named "Maggie".

Poplar is an Adobe Originals typeface designed by Barbara Lind in 1990 for the Adobe Wood Type series. Poplar, a Gothic condensed, was designed from photographs taken by Rob Roy Kelly of the one surviving copy of an 1830 William Leavenworth type specimen book. Leavenworth possessed unusual artistic abilities, and his treatment of the letterform counters as narrow slits made it the only wood type of its kind displayed during the nineteenth century. Poplar is an excellent display face, its simplicity making it useful for a broad range of work.

The French publication “La Lettre Dans le Decor et La Publicite Modernes” (“The Letter in the Modern Décor and Advertising”) was a 24-page booklet showcasing the then-current trends of the time (circa late 1930s-early 1940s). On one page was found a squared, extra bold sans serif alphabet set with strong Art Nouveau influences, yet it was ahead of its time by taking on the look and feel of 1980s techno typography. They say “everything old is new again”, and Nouveau Techno JNL is now available digitally in both regular and oblique versions.

An interesting hand lettered example of Art Deco lettering (minus the letter ‘L’) was spotted on Pinterest and served as the inspiration for Deco Sketch JNL. Because there was no attribution as to the age or source of the alphabet, it can only be surmised that it was a scan from a 1930s or 1940s source. The original showed many of the irregularities of pen lettering, and had rounded terminals. The digital version has been redrawn more uniformly with flat terminals. Deco Sketch JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The reason for Nicolien van der Keur to design the Rougon font was the translation of twenty novels written by Emile Zola, a French writer, and translated by Martine Delfos. It follows the lives of the members of the two titular branches of a fictional family living during the Second French Empire (1852–1870) and is one of the most prominent works of the French naturalism literary movement. This series deserved a font with French roots and corresponded to the period in which Zola’s books were written and published, the period between 1870 and 1893, the end of the nineteenth century. Extensive research into French historical typefaces has led to a type specimen from the French type foundry Deberny et Cie in Paris around 1907. It turned out to be good and helpful source as it contained a sample of a typeface that reflected the content and style of the novels, but also represented the period in which the books were written in France. A large part of the novels are about the generations of Rougon, so it seemed a natural choice to give the font that name. It is available in one weight and contains stylized portraits of Emile Zola and the French Marianne. This font also contains various ornaments.

Cellien Font Duo is a combination of script and sans-serif fonts, offering a perfect blend of elegance and modernity. With over 140 ligatures, the script font features natural and flowing letterforms, while the sans-serif font adds a clean and polished aesthetic. These fonts are designed to harmoniously pair together and are suitable for various design projects such as logos, branding, posters, labels, product packaging, invitation designs, and more.

This script font was inspired by a lot of manuscripts, notes and drafts, written by the famous french novelist Émile Zola (1840-1902). Specially, letters and notes from the period he was writting "Germinal" one of his very famous novel (published in 1884-1885) depicting the french minor's life in the past middle of eighteens. It is an elegant pen written type, sometimes connected, sometimes disrupted, but always regular and legible, with many variants, ligatures and contextual alternate glyphs specialy numerous in the OTF version. It is used as variously as web-site titles, posters and fliers design or greeting cards, all various sorts of presentations, menus, certificates, letters. This font, in spite of its small size, supports very strong enlargements as well as small sizes ( the original size was about 22 to 30 pts ). When printed, it remain perfectly legible and elegant from 12/14 pts even if using an ordinary inkjet printer.

Amigos is a classic handwritten script font for luxury / signature / branding / logotype / wedding invites / greeting cards / promotional graphics. Amigos is completely handmade with more than 140 hours of artistic craftsmanship bringing perfection and aesthetics at its level best. The font includes extended language support including Western European & Central European sets. Advanced Kerning & Essential Ligatures: We have performed advanced, in-depth kerning to make sure the font looks amazing on all possible letter combinations.

The basic letterforms of this typeface were found in a lettering book, Rotalución Decorativa, published in Barcelona in the 1940s. Add a lowercase and a few flourishes suggested by a hand-painted sign seen at a neighborhood tavern on Staten Island, and you have a seriously fun face. To add even more spice, the font also contains alternate characters in the Logical Not, ASCII circumflex and tilde positions. It also contains a few alternate characters in the ASCII circumflex and tilde positions to perk things up. Both versions of the font contain characters to support all major European languages.

Disalina is a typeface adjusted to your needs. You are looking for geometrical shapes, stylized ligatures or lettering reminiscent of Art Nouveau? Three stylistic sets that are included in every weight will make your project more creative. The Disalina family was inspired by the lettering and posters of late 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s. It merges beautiful vintage design and modern graphic thinking. The whole family consists of 7 weights – you will find different opentype features such as ligatures, stylistic sets, arrows, swashes and more. Disalina is a true friend – no more different fonts to mix & match different styles.

I grew up with the ‘Save The Whales’ slogan: I remember watching the news and seeing little Greenpeace dinghies taking on huge Japanese whalers, and activists clinging on for dear life. I haven’t heard that slogan for a while: maybe because whaling is soooo 1890’s, but also maybe because the world has other problems to address. Out of respect for the ‘Save The Whale’ activists, I named this fattish font Whale Song. Whale Song is a robust comic font. It was especially created for book covers, product packaging and posters and, of course, it comes with a whale of diacritics.

The inspiration for Jeeves came from Leslie Carbarga's wonderful book LETTERHEADS, One Hundred Years of Great Design, 1850-1950. It was based on a secondary type usage for the letterhead for Sutherland in New York. The rest of the letterhead had features that were more typical of the Art Deco period, but this script added a touch of timeless elegance. And since at the time I was reading every scrap of P.G. Wodehouse I could get my hands on, the name Jeeves seemed like a perfect fit. The font is loaded with a plethora of extra glyphs, ligature characters and OpenType features.

With over a year of design and development, Victorian Supremacy is ready to help you and your clients make a statement by adding elegance and unique flair to your next design project. Victorian Supremacy inspired by letterheads from the late 1800's and early 1900's. Set includes four major styles and layered version (gradient, outline & extrude). Victorian Supremacy offers an expansive set of options, making it the perfect choice for books, magazines, packaging, branding and signage. From period style and Victorian to modern and elegant, Victorian Supremacy is strong and stately, yet elegant and decorous.

A 1930s advertising poster for the Inman Brothers Flying Circus offered up an interesting hand lettered Art Deco design that’s a cross between both squared and rounded character shapes. Because of it's 'futuristic look', the resulting type style can also lend itself to 1970s and 1980s retro projects as well as those from the 1930s and 1940s. Now a digital font, Air Circus JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions. A “Flying Circus” is a troupe of ‘barnstormers’ (stunt pilots) who performed aerial tricks either individually or as a team along with selling airplane rides to the general public.

Latin music was all the rage in the United States from the 1930s through the 1950s and songs with a “South of the Border” or “Old Mexico” theme were plentiful. The 1940 sheet music for “Make Love with a Guitar” evoked the idea of serenading one’s lovely lady on horseback while strumming the guitar. ..at least if you went by the by the illustration under the song’s name. As the hand lettered title was rendered in an Art Deco design, it became the basis for Jazz Guitar JNL [which seemed a more befitting name], and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Rapier, designed by Martin Wait for ITC in 1989, is an impulsive, energetic script font with strong ties to the brush and advertisement typefaces of hte 1940s. The zestful capitals contrast with small, narrow lower case letters, lending the font its dynamism and liveliness. Desinger Wait reached the energetic, almost aggressive feel of Rapier with snappy base forms and especially with ascending strokes. For an optimal look it is advisable to set Rapier's forms near to one another, so that the ends of the strokes of one figure touch the beginning of the next. Rapier is best used for headlines and short texts.