For decades, spot illustrations - whether by hot type, photoengraving, clip art or (in later years) digital means provided decorative and often lighthearted breaks in reading printed copy. This collection of twenty-six cartoon images has been meticulously re-drawn in digital format from 1920s-1930s era source material. By adding a simple caption underneath a design, your ad copy can be enhanced with these wonderful period pieces.

Inspired by fonts used in financial and law arenas. Bold style reminiscent of 1920s deco era. Great font for play cash or Monopoly-themed party invitations. Vibes of Wall Street movers and shakers. Includes letters from Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Cyrillic Alphabets - with some common diacritics. Also includes small caps and English feature words like "the", "of", "with", "and", etc. for marquee style accents.

Mayak is a geometric sans serif inspired by the Soviet constructivist fonts of the 1920s-1930s. It contains traditional upper and lower case characters as well as small caps and a great number of stylistic alternates. The font comes in 12 styles: 4 weights in 3 widths. Mayak was designed by Yana Nosenko with contributions from Dmitry Kirsanov and released by ParaType in 2017.

Wittenbach is based on lettering by Rudolf Koch which really embodies the essence of classic gothic-style poster lettering of the 1920s. It brings together the traditional style of gothic lettering and a strong, more modern sensibility characteristic of Koch's work and his era. It is very vertical and stylized, but also extraordinarily attractive without the harshness of many of the designs of that period.

“The Film Daily” issue for August 30, 1927 ran an ad for Tiffany Pictures in which all of the main text was hand lettered in a sans serif style displaying the beginnings of the Art Deco movement. With their rounded terminals, the characters were designed using a round nib lettering pen. Redrawn digitally as Silent Cinema JNL, it is now available in both regular and oblique versions.

This rough, raw typeface is based on the lettering in Ben Shahn's iconic poster protesting the execution of Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicolo Sacco in 1927. All possible uppercase and lowercase forms have been kerned, and activating Contextual Alternates in OpenType-aware applications will alternate those forms for a more random appearance. Both versions contain the complete Latin 1252, Central European 1250 and Turkish 1254 character sets.

This big family summarizes and develops the tradition of boldface squared-off 45° shear sanserifs. Known from the middle of 19th century and actively used in different times (1920s, 1970s) is still usable now, thanks to its brutal expression, monumentality and possibility to fully maximize the flatness without loss of readability. This font is especially good for filling letters with photos or to create geometrical “constructivist” compositions.

Originally presented as an alphabet suitable for movie title cards, this font is based on a 1920 work by showcard artist E. C. Matthews, and named after the eponymous 1940s radio show about a local saloon and its never-present owner. Both versions of this font contain the Unicode 1252 (Latin) and Unicode 1250 (Central European) character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.

This delightfully playful font is based on a single-stroke pen font from the 1922 tome Heberling’s Basic Lettering, and elements of composition, color harmony, gilding, embossing-processes, etc. by Walter A. Heberling. Swoopy, loopy, but never poopy, this font delivers on the fun. This font contains the complete Latin language character set (Unicode 1252) plus support for Central European (Unicode 1250) languages as well.

A 1920 Dutch poster for Public Placement Services by Johan Dijsktra provided the inspiration for this crisp geometric typeface. Instead of the normal underscore (_), this font features a set of parallel lines flush to the tops of the caps and small caps, which offers some intriguing design possibilities. Both versions of this font include the complete Unicode 1252 Latin and Unicode 1250 Central European character sets.

The Garamond family tree has many branches. There are probably more different typefaces bearing the name Garamond than the name of any other type designer. Not only did the punchcutter Claude Garamond set a standard for elegance and excellence in type founding in 16th-century Paris, but a successor, Jean Jannon, some eighty years later, cut typefaces inspired by Garamond that later came to bear Garamond’s name. Revivals of both designs have been popular and various over the course of the last 100 years. When ATF Garamond was designed in 1917, it was one of the first revivals of a truly classic typeface. Based on Jannon’s types, which had been preserved in the French Imprimerie Nationale as the “caractères de l’Université,” ATF Garamond brought distinctive elegance and liveliness to text type for books and display type for advertising. It was both the inspiration and the model for many of the later “Garamond” revivals, notably Linotype’s very popular Garamond No. 3. ATF Garamond was released ca. 1918, first in Roman and Italic, drawn by Morris Fuller Benton, the head of the American Type Founders design department. In 1922, Thomas M. Cleland designed a set of swash italics and ornaments for the typeface. The Bold and Bold Italic were released in 1920 and 1923, respectively. The new digital ATF Garamond expands upon this legacy, while bringing back some of the robustness of metal type and letterpress printing that is sometimes lost in digital adaptations. The graceful, almost lacy form of some of the letters is complemented by a solid, sturdy outline that holds up in text even at small sizes. The 18 fonts comprise three optical sizes (Subhead, Text, Micro) and three weights, including a new Medium weight that did not exist in metal. ATF Garamond also includes unusual alternates and swash characters from the original metal typeface. The character of ATF Garamond is lively, reflecting the spirit of the French Renaissance as interpreted in the 1920s. Its Roman has more verve than later old-style faces like Caslon, and its Italic is outright sprightly, yet remarkably readable.

Spillsbury was inspired by some examples of 1920s signwriting (principally seen on the side of some vintage vans-good thing they were in a photograph and not on the move!). Spillsbury draws inspiration from these sources to provide a unique combination of legibility and flair, which echoes the charm of advertising and publicity material from the halcyon days of the 1920s. A basic range of four display faces os offered - Regular, Plain (not all that plain really!), Shaded and Shadowed. In a new departure for Greater Albion, three pairs of 'Duo' faces are also offered. These are designed to be used in pairs-and only sold on that basis for little more than the cost of a single face-to provide for two-coloured typographic design, enabling the recreation of those evokative two coloured blocked lettering styles that were used to such good effect in the past. Take a trip back to more colourful times today with Spillsbury!

Melina Plain and Melina Fancy are characterized by graceful lines, strong contrast and nostalgic overtones. These typefaces are patterned after two members of a type family named Greco, released by Fundición Tipográfica Richard Gans of Madrid, Spain, in the 1920s. Melina Plain is a refined version of Greco Bold, and Melina Fancy is based on Greco Adornado, with the notable addition of a lowercase, which was not a part of the original design. Melina is based on two typefaces (ca. 1920) from the Fundición Tipográfica Richard Gans in Madrid, Spain. Nick Curtis first found Greco Adornado in a type specimen at the Library of Congress. It was a cap only design. He made a cut of the original (Melina Fancy) and created his own lowercase, and many other characters to support contemporary character sets. Later he came across Greco Bold, which had a lowercase, but he chose not to use it and instead, adapted his Melina Fancy to create Melina Plain.

The 1907 Barnhart Brothers & Spindler type specimen catalog called this unique typeface simply "Umbra". Since that name is already taken, it now has another. Due to the highly ornate nature of this face, the font has a limited character set (all accented characters, but no math operators or fractions). The Opentype version of this font supports Unicode 1250 (Central European) languages, as well as Unicode 1252 (Latin) languages.

An unusual handlettered alphabet from the 1922 chapbook Modern Show Card Writing, by Joseph Bertram Jowitt, provided the pattern for this whimsical face. Its letterforms, as well as its name, conjure up visions of faraway places, and is sure to add a unique charm to your next project. This font contains the complete Latin language character set (Unicode 1252) plus support for Central European (Unicode 1250) languages as well.

Temporal is one in a series of fonts designed for use in creating replica vintage newspapers. It is inspired by the nameplates of major metropolitan newspapers from the 1920s. Its rough character is apparent at headline sizes, and it remains nicely legible at small sizes. In addition to a complete international character set, it contains east and west coast variations for some letters, along with extra ligatures traditional for blackletter typesetting.

Novelty songs and their often crazy or extra-long titles were all the rage at the beginning of the 20th century. A piece of sheet music for the 1920 song "When Chu-Ching-San weds Paddy McCann" had the title hand lettered in an unusually bold form of Asian-inspired lettering. This has been recreated digitally as the type font named for the song - Chu Ching San JNL.

Bonnington is a Roman display face full of the spirit of the 1920s, developing further the ideas in our Bonning family. Three weights are offered, including a shadowed black form, in a choice of regular and condensed widths. It's the ideal face for signage with a period feel, as well as posters and headings. Combine Bonnington and Bonning together using Bonnington for eye-catching headings and Bonning for other text.

A circa-1920s book on lettering entitled "Book of Alphabets" by Regan Publishing displayed an example of a Grotesk typeface (a popular style of sans serif of the time). This design was re-drawn digitally as Not So Grotesk JNL and is available in four varieties - regular, oblique, condensed and condensed oblique. Not So Grotesk JNL is the perfect companion font family to use alongside Simply Grotesk JNL.

ITC Dyadis font is the work of Austrian designer Yvonne Diedrich. It is named for the Greek word dyas", meaning duality and explores the duality of serif and sans serif letterforms, blending their styles and focusing on their connection with one another. The forms were inspired by the typefaces of the 1920s and 30s and combine the legibility and elegance of a serif font with the simplicity of sans serif."

A nostalgic font referencing the 1920s and 1930s during the Golden Age of Hollywood, art moderne and the rise of luxury items. Highly geometric with wild variations in glyph widths that demand attention. Smart Deco is a display font with clean simple lines, tall ascenders and expressive Capitals that descend below the baseline. The intention is to create a sleek elegance that symbolizes the sophistication of a bygone era.

Bambino Font Family is a typography project by Milos Mitrovic and affiliates. Bambino has an influence of 1920s Futura-like fonts and art deco look and feel. Combining its vintage character with clean geometric form and organic flow, Bambino is shaped to fit modern aesthetics. There are 12 fonts (six weights with italics) included in the family. Bambino weight range spreads from almost hairline lightness to extreme bold style.

Vonnes was designed by David Berlow working closely with Neville Brody on corporate redesign for Jim Von Ehre at Macromedia. Core weights are loosely based on Bauer’s Venus, 1907–1910. Berlow expanded the ideas behind the series to 56 fonts, the heart of the redesign. The Macromedia program was hailed as one of the most successful models of modern total design for innovative cutting edge companies; FB 2007

This sans-serif type family of two weights plus matching italics. Influenced by the geometric-style sans serif faces that were popular during the 1920s and 30s, the fonts are based on geometric forms that have been optically corrected for better legibility. Vitage has a functional look with a warm touch. It is manually hinted and optimized for screens, so it will be a good choice for Websites, eBooks or Apps.

Originally designed for American Type Founders, Goudy drew inspiration from the classical old style faces for Goudy Old Style. Round characters have a strong diagonal stress, ascenders are fairly long but descenders are very short. Goudy bold was introduced in 1920; this was designed by Morris Fuller Benton. This typeface has been particularly popular in America where it is extensively used in advertising, book jackets, for labels and packaging.

Locarno is the work of British designer Alan Meeks and is his adaptation of Rudolf Koch's original design for the Klingspor type foundry. The unique design of the roman weight features geneous capitals and a reserved lowercase. The italic capitals have an open, engraved decoration that combines perfectly with the lowercase with its tall, elegant ascenders. Locarno is a typeface with the sophisticated look of the 1920s and 30s.

Andrea Tartarelli discovered the letterforms that would inspire his Gronau family in a 1912 specimen that showcased the typeface Fette Reichs-Deutsch, designed by Wilhelm Gronau in 1902. Fette Reichs Deutsch has been digitised by Tartarelli as Gronau Fette. With Gronau Neue, Tartarelli tried to find a contemporary, gestural interpretation of blackletter shapes, adding a slightly calligraphic look and feel to the original hasty lines and energetic construction.

Picturesque Stencil JNL gets its name and design from the title of a circa-1920s children’s stencil activity book entitled “Dean’s Picturesque Stencil Book No. 10 - Series 75”; published by the F. Weber Company of Philadelphia and printed in England by Dean. The book’s stenciled title was hand lettered in a bold Roman design in the Art Nouveau style. Picturesque Stencil JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

A September 29, 1920 edition of The San Diego Union ran the headline “Cicotte Confesses Baseball Fraud; Eight White Sox Players Indicted”. The White Sox baseball scandal was the first to reveal illegal gambling on the game. However, the headline itself was set in a bold slab serif type style [likely ATF Foster] which served as the model for Good Reporting JNL; which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Leibix, inspired by a jolly trademark of the past, is a fun family of five typefaces which transcends different eras of the past. It has elements of the 1920s in its design, but is equally at home with projects having a 1970s theme of an up to the minute modern one. Use it for eye catching cartoon captions, in posters of anywhere else a casual impact is required.

Inspired by a piece of cigarette pack lettering designed by the renowned poster and type designer A.M. Cassandre (perhaps best known for his Peignot typeface), Geetype evokes a 1920s & 30s mood and is an unusual, eye-catching single weight display face. Think vintage hand lettered poster campaigns, Hollywood's golden era and a time when smoking was positively encouraged. Think Greta Garbo, another 'g' with strong, emotional screen presence.

Invites is a digital recreation of a 1920’s mechanical script that has never existed. I designed it for my wedding invitations last year and named it in honor of my (ex)wife. Who said it wasn’t her. And she was right. So now it’s called something different. I wanted a sweet, romantic name ... Iris? Taken. Lily? Taken. Iris Lily? Cumbersome. I wanted something short and inviting. Uh ... hmmm.

In the late 1920s Walter Tiemann cut this font for Klingspor Brothers in Offenbach am Main. It comes close to Luthersche Fraktur and, though quite slender, possesses a good gray value and readability. This blackletter font fits excellently into narrow columns. Kleist Fraktur contains a bunch of useful ligatures, and by typing 'N - o - period', marking this combination and activating OT feature Ordinals you get an oldstyle numbersign.

Orlock was developed by Michael Scarpitti from a sample of hand lettering on the poster of the classic silent film Nosferatu. It is a bit different from the types of fonts Mike has done for us previously. The style of the letters is characteristic of graphic design of the German Expressionist movement of the 1920s. The name of the character is borrowed from the Vampire villain of the film.

Canadian Serge Pichii was inspired by decorative lettering produced during the early 1920s by Jan Tschichold to create Ironwork. Similarly, his ITC Ancestor family was influenced by early work, but in this case, much earlier work: the characters carved by native British Columbian people on solid rock. He worked with anthropologists and linguists to produce a series of books dedicated to the history and culture of the people.

Designed at ParaType in 1996-2002 by Tagir Safayev. Inspired by works of Russian Constructivists of the 1920s and 30s: Alexander Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, Vladimir and George Stenberg, Gustav Klutsis and others. A geometrical, caps and small caps only, sans serif design. The glyphs are formed using straight lines only. Totally simplified, this face is perceived as a symbol of Russian Avant Garde. For use in advertising and display typography.

The basic letterforms for this typeface were found on a 1920s French poster for Les Arts de Feu by an unnamed artist. The stark geometric forms have been dressed up with an outline treatment, a drop-up shadow and a non-traditional small cap arrangement to make it even more striking, in a spooky kind of way. Both versions of the font include 1252 Latin, 1250 CE (with localization for Romanian and Moldovan).

The Tempo font family was designed by R. Hunter Middleton and released between 1930 and 1931. The instant success of Futura in 1927 led to many similar designs, and Tempo is the version produced by the Ludlow foundry for large headlines in newpapers. Like Futura, Tempo font is basically geometric, but shows some humanistic influence. Tempo is popular for newspaper and commercial printing, and the heavy condensed font is excellent for headlines.

Greenwich is a modern-looking humanized sans-serif typeface with open aperture, inspired by the works of English typographers in 1910s–1920s. It comes in 9 weights accompanied with matching mixed-style italics. Containing over 950 glyphs, Greenwich offers extensive language support including Cyrillic, multiple OpenType features and numerous alternate glyphs to choose from. It works great in long paragraph texts, but is expressive enough to be used in headlines and branding applications as well.

One in the series of fonts celebrating the Halcyon Days of Handlettering. Strongs Draughtsman is a monoline font that evokes the sensibilities of the early twentieth century. Based on a font called "architects' pen strokes" as delineated by Lawrence and Charles Strong in their The Art of Show Card Writing from 1922. Both versions of this font contain the Unicode 1252 (Latin) and Unicode 1250 (Central European) character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.