Happy Trails is a font that is based on the lettering (all upper case) used on most Trailways buses from 1936 through the very early 1960s. It also has a newly created set of lower case letters which never existed before. The font was tweaked and digitized by Bob Alonso & John Bomparte. Happy Trails has not only the flavor of the early Trailways buses but also a folksy, Western feel to it, and it’s even a bit silly or goofy, a fun font that has a variety of uses.

New Alphabet was created as a four weight family in close collaboration with Wim Crouwel. His response in the late 1960s to the first device for electronic typesetting was a radical experiment designed to follow the underlying dot-matrix system. With his strong interest in grids, Crouwel worked within the constraints of existing electronic technology, to produce characters that worked with the mechanical means that conveyed them. His original New Alphabet experiments have now been further developed by The Foundry into a typeface family that also includes the dot version.

A rubber stamp printing set from the 1930s (or possibly earlier) was the model for Winery JNL. Containing a pleasant serif font, it also provided a few little touches unusual for such toy sets of the time. The horizontal crossbar of the H has a diamond embellishment, as does the horizontal stroke of the number 3. Additionally, the lower right tail of the G curves away from the letter and the Q has a spiral tail. Re-drawn from scans of the original stamp impressions, this typeface is available in both regular and oblique versions.

In the days of hand lettering, a common philosophy was "the problem creates the solution". Often times the layout artist would have to adapt the lettering style to fit the amount of copy on a line. A perfect example is during the early 1900s, when popular sheet music of the time almost seemed to be competing for how many words could be used within a song's a title. One such piece of sheet music offered up the tall, condensed and variable-width lettering found within Narrow Minded JNL.

The first cuts of Trade Gothic were designed by Jackson Burke in 1948. He continued to work on further weights and styles until 1960 while he was director of type development for Mergenthaler-Linotype in the USA. Trade Gothic does not display as much unifying family structure as other popular sans serif font families, but this dissonance adds a bit of earthy naturalism to its appeal. Trade Gothic is often seen in advertising and multimedia in combination with roman text fonts, and the condensed versions are popular in the newspaper industry for headlines.

A heavy blackletter; Rudolf Koch’s first type from 1909. On an old page full of type specimen from the 1930s, the type is described as ”Schwabacher (used by the Deutsche Reichsbahn [German Imperial Railway]).“ As a matter of fact, it is the first print of the Offenbach script master Rudolf Koch, who came out with this typeface in 1909. At that time, it was given the name ”Neudeutsch“ (New German). Later, it became very popular under the name Koch-Schrift, and was at times the official typeface of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (German Imperial Railway).

For Monumental Gothic, we delved into the archives and found some old rubbings and photos of monumental brasses from British tombs of the 12th and 13th centuries. The sources included famous monuments like the tomb of Richard II and less well known inscriptions with similar style lettering. The rubbings were made by Dave Nalle in the 1970s (when they still let you have access to the the brasses). Monumental Gothic includes some alternate characters, plus upper and lower case characters, numbers and a selection of very interesting decorative emblems to complement the text.

Tiemann Antiqua was designed by Walter Tiemann in 1923 and appeared with the Klingspor font foundry. It is one of the modern book typefaces created in the first half of the 20th century, but differed from most in its Modern Face forms. It displays the same strong stroke contrast and flat serifs but its proportions have more in common with those of neorenaissance fonts. Tiemann Antiqua is an elegant, legible font suitable for books and longer texts, but also found in headlines, newspapers and magazines due to its classic yet unusual appearance.

Cooper Black The Cooper Black font should be used in display sizes only. Cooper Blacks serifs are rounded and the counters are small. Cooper Black was designed by Oswald B. Cooper for Barnhart Brothers & Spindler in 1921 for advertising and posters. The capital O and Q of the Cooper Black font are tilted back; in the lowercase, the dot on the I and j become elliptical. The extra bold Cooper Black font has a remarkable personality and reproduces well in sizes over 18 point in titles, subheadings and generally short sentences.

Lucian Bernhard designed this typeface for American Type Founders in 1929. Bernhard Fashion sports tall ascenders, stylish embellishments, and much taller than normal capitals that drop below the baseline. This extra light typeface radiates elegance and lightness. SoftMaker’s Bernhard Fashion Pro typeface comes with a huge character set that covers not only Western European languages, but also includes Central European, Baltic, Croatian, Slovene, Romanian, and Turkish characters. Case-sensitive punctuation signs for all-caps titles are included as well as many fractions, an extensive set of ligatures, and separate sets of tabular and proportional digits.

Terrified AOE was inspired by vintage horror movie poster titling from the 1960's. It is a Capitals and smallcaps typeface, that really feels like a mix of three typefaces in one. While the Capitals and Smallcaps typesetting works to the effect of the original inspirations, each case also works well amongst itself independently, and having very different vibes. I've always been a huge fan of horror movies, and some of the lettering from vintage horror movie posters are so cool and alive, I only wish there were more of them recreated as display fonts.

astroluxtype’s Spacepod is a headline display font set. The font contains uppercase and lowercase letterforms with a minimum glyph set. The style suggests weird sci fi from the 1970’s or the far future... you decide? Is this the font for your sci fi western book cover title with a nod to The Matrix in the story or a poster for the movie remake of Westworld? Wherever your ship takes you in the universe Spacepod should be the letterforms on the side of your craft that states, “No rides for damn dirty apes!”

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.

Sistina, designed by Hermann Zapf in 1950 was first named Aurelia Titling. It is a heavy supplement to the Michelangelo Titling based on studies of inscriptions in Rome. First release in hotmetal at D. Stempel AG, Frankfurt in 1951. Sistina was originally an all caps font. The digital version from Linotype contains small caps. Hermann Zapf together with Akira Kobayashi, type director from Linotype had made a new revised version of Sistina now named as Palatino Imperial" in the Palatino nova type family, a Platinum Collection product from Linotype."

Rundfunk Grotesk was produced together with Rundfunk Antiqua by the Linotype Design Studio in 1933-1935. The combination was originally intended for small point sizes and shorter texts. Unfortunately, this typeface was never completed and consists only of Antiqua roman and Grotesk bold. This unusual combination was chosen because small newspaper ads often use a semi bold for the headlines and a regular antique for the text. Rundfunk Grotesk is intended to be used exclusively in headlines and reflects in its unique character the spirit of the 1930s.

Letterpress type, crafted by H. Th. Wijdeveld, founding editor and chief designer of the legendary Dutch art and architecture magazine Wendingen, provided the inspiration for this typeface. The original design graced a 1925 issue examining the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, and Wijdeveld created his typeface by assembling bits of standard brass rules. This version features several of the meanders typical of Wijdeveld’s graphic design in the dagger, double dagger, ASCII tilde and ASCII circumflex positions. Both versions of the font include 1252 Latin, 1250 CE (with localization for Romanian and Moldovan).

Round, firm, and bursting at the seams with good humor, ITC Mister Chuckles is based on the premise that barrel shapes have pleasant associations. Think: beer-barrel polkas, a barrel of fun, or a barrel of laughs, and you'll get the idea. Designer Nick Curtis has combined sans serif sturdiness, a hint of 1930s deco and a handful of giggles in this remarkably versatile all-cap face. If the typographic occasion calls for mirth and merriment, invite Mister Chuckles to the party. You'll have more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

Designed by Les Usherwood. Chelsea is a ‘modern’ Old Style serif font family designed by Les Usherwood (Typsettra) in the early 1980’s. Steve Jackaman (ITF) digitally engineered the family exclusively for ITF’s Red Rooster Collection in 1993. Usherwood drew influence from Frederic Goudy’s 1911 creation ‘Kennerley Old Style’ when designing Chelsea; Chelsea, however, tends to be wider with a taller x-height. Chelsea has the clean and upscale feel that is present in all Usherwood creations, and its legible design lends itself to projects of any size.

Lasting Impression JNL was rendered from scans of a 1930s rubber stamp printing set. At small sizes it has the look of hand-stamped lettering. At larger sizes, the user will see jagged and angular lines giving the font a kind of retro-grunge look. This typeface was the model for the more cleanly-drawn Casual Friday JNL, also by Jeff Levine. There is a limited character set, and both the spacing and kerning have been intentionally omitted so that the results will more closely resemble the uneven letter spacing of rubber stamps on paper.

Journal Sans Old School is a new, modernized digital version of the widely popular Journal Sans. The new typeface preserves the character of the geometric sans from the famous “Science and Life” magazine of the 1960s. The weight of the basic styles corresponds to the Journal Sans regular and bold from the Soviet linotype catalogs. Also, the original vertical proportions and character forms match the original. Cyrillic Alternates, Greek language support expand the range of font’s usage. Journal Sans Old School was designed by Natalia Vasilyeva and released by Paratype in 2019.

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.

Academy was designed circa 1910 at the Berthold type foundry (St.-Petersburg). It was based on Sorbonne (H. Berthold, Berlin, 1905), which represented the American Type Founders rework Cheltenham of 1896 (designers Bertram G. Goodhue, Morris F. Benton) and Russian typefaces of the mid-18th century. A low-contrast text typeface with historical flavor. The modern digital version was designed at Poligrafmash type design bureau in 1989 by Lyubov Kuznetsova. Corrections and additions were done later in ParaType in early 2000th. Reworked version with Bold Italic style was released in 2009.

Europa Grotesque is a condensed sans serif font family that was originally designed by Sam Ardell (TP) in the 1950’s for the Techni-Process Collection. Steve Jackaman (ITF) acquired the rights to the TP Collection in 1991 and produced Europa Grotesque in its digital form in 1994. Europa Grotesque has impressive impact at display and subhead sizes, and its geometric forms sustain that distinctiveness in both all-caps and lowercase. The family is flexible and freeform enough to support both a laid-back feel while still feeling tight and controlled.

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.

The Federal Art Project division of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) employed numerous artists, musicians, actors and other creative sorts in a effort to help many survive the Great Depression of the 1930s. One of the posters created by this project was for a "Card Party and Barter Benefit" with proceeds going toward the Nassau Art Teachers Benefit Fund - taking place at the Coca-Cola plant in Rockville Centre, New York. East Village JNL was derived from this poster, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Scritta Nuova was born to transpose my personal handwriting and evolved today into a smart typeface that maintains the original feel with improved legibility and visual balance. The steady rhythm and roundness of Scritta Nuova give the impression of a smooth, girlish and gentle writing. It also evokes retro calligraphic styles taught in Italian schools around the 1950s, which might have influenced in one way or another my original handwriting. Note that the capital letters can be nicely set next to each other without overlapping, unlike script typefaces with swashy capitals created as initials.

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).

Edda Pro is another art nouveau revival by German type designer Ralph M. Unger. Edda Pro is based on Edda, designed in 1900 by Heinrich Heinz Heune for Schelter & Giesecke, Leipzig, Germany. Unger redesigned the beautiful forms, completed and expanded this outline caps-only typeface for the profonts library. Also, he added a nice collection of very useful frames and ornaments in EPS format supplied with the OTF version of Edda Pro.Edda Pro can be used for anything in advertising, signmaking, posters, restaurants, hairdressing, paint, wallpaper and so on.

Brody’s fonts borrow elements from both Art Deco and non-Western styles. His designs received international recognition for their innovative, computer-oriented style, reaching almost cult status. Four original Brody fonts are available from Linotype Library GmbH: Insignia, Industria-Solid, Industria Inline and Arcadia. For your convenience, we have gathered all four into one package. Insignia has the basic forms of constructed grotesque fonts and was influenced by the New Typography of the Bauhaus during the 1930s. Its image reflects the Zeitgeist of that age, suggesting technology and progress.

Tucked inside the November 5, 1927 issue of a German signpainters' trade paper was a single sheet headed Der Schilder und Schriftenmaler, which featured an alphabet called "Neue Fraktur". An exuberant (if somewhat unconventional) combination of Art Deco sensibilities and blackletter forms, the font retains its freshness, even today. Included in this version are Deco bishops fingers at the bar and broken bar positions, and a styling, horn-blowing herald at ASCII circumflex and tilde positions. Both versions of the font include 1252 Latin and 1250 CE (with localization for Romanian and Moldovan) character sets.

Introducing RETRO-86 - A modern take on old-school computer graphic fonts. RETRO-86 was inspired by the low-resolution computer graphics of the 1970s, 80s, and 90s seen in classic games and on computer screens and interfaces. RETRO-86 features a beautifully limited, blocky design and is perfect for projects relating to the tech industry, the gaming world, and nostalgic work from the late 20th century. RETRO-86 is also a hyper versatile typeface. It comes in 2 complementary styles (regular, and shadow) and features 8 weight options each!

Klagia is a font inspired by the advertising media back in 1970. The glory of printing and handpainted signs and visuals. Emphasizing the bold, loud, yet poppin' and modern retro vibes that will be stylish in any era. It makes Klagia a font that you need to have in your design arsenal. Contains a bunch of Ligatures and Stylistic Alternates to give a distinctive vibe in every message conveyed using Klagia font. Perfectly fit for logo, branding, advertising, poster, food and beverages, restaurant, book cover, album artwork, decoration, sign painting, and many more.

In 1899, Robert Wiebking (who worked for a number of foundries in his time) designed an all-caps typeface named Engravers Roman (see Engravers #2). American Type Founders, Inc. (ATF) released a heavier variant in 1902, Engravers Bold, designed by Morris Fuller Benton. Engravers Bold was also released by the Barnhart Brothes & Spinder foundry. Today, Linotype's Engravers brings turn-of-the-century elegance directly to your keyboard. Use the Engravers typeface on any formal piece -- from table cards, to menus, invitations, or advertising work. Engravers is similar to Copperplate Gothic, Sackers Gothic and Nicolas Cochin.

The first three weights of the family were designed at ParaType (ParaGraph) in 1997 by Dmitry Kirsanov . They were based on the artworks of Moscow graphic designer Andrey Kryukov (1923-1997). The original version was developed by Kryukov at the end of the sixties for Russian railways. The proportions and elements of construction were inspired by Eurostile (1962) by Aldo Novarese. It is intended for use in advertising and display typography. In 2009, Dmitry added the new styles, corrected the old ones, and enhanced them with extended character sets.

Frederic W. Goudy (1865-1947) created over 100 typefaces during his lifetime. Like most type designers, he is known principally to most people only through his eponymously titled faces such as Goudy Modern, Goudy Old Style etc. This set includes one of Goudy's rarest Arts & Crafts styled faces, a font known as Aries. The font was originally created by Goudy for a private press in Eden, New York in 1926. Also included in this set are two decorative fonts: one font of 52 decorative Ornaments & one font that contains 52 Ampersands.

The Techno sound of the 1990s, a personal computer, a font creation software and some inspiration had been the sources to the F2F (Face2Face) font series. Alessio Leonardi and his friends had the demand to create new unusual faces that should be used in the leading german techno magazine "Frontpage". Even typeset in 6 point to nearly unreadability it was a pleasure for the kids to read and decrypt the messages. About Al Retto: "Al" means "Alessio Leonardi" and Retto "straight", but if you read it as an italian world means "in the a**".

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.

Supaduper PB is a font inspired by some wonderfully funky hand-lettered greeting cards from the 1980's. The delightfully awkward and animated playfulness of this lettering style was maintained throughout the fleshing out from the original specimens - and I think you're going to have a lot of fun typing with this. Even if you haven't seen these old greeting cards, the lettering style has a familiar visual to it. Bring back a little nostalgia, add a little wonkiness, or just have fun typing with Supaduper PB today!

Biscayne is inspired by the old and classic Art Deco art and architecture found in some building ads from the 1930's in the Art Deco District of Miami. The name of the font family is one of the most emblematic and representative places in Miami City. Biscayne can be used mainly in titles, display and short texts. This typeface family supports East Europe languages. It also includes standard and discretionary ligatures, alternative style of uppercase, fractions, numerators and denominators, end and/or terminal forms and other OpenType features.

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".