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.

Orgovan is based on calligraphic script models lettered with a flat brush, which have been a mainstay in the sign makers' and display artists' handbooks since the beginning of the 1960s. Careful adjustments to the construction of the character shapes made the glyphs more open. This ensures that the face is well legible in small sizes, making it suitable for more demanding typographic applications. The Punk and Rounded variations of the base model offer an even broader range of possible applications, while the Fat Cap, Flower Power and Hairy cuts are contemporary decorative alternatives.

Rasteroids is a typographic flashback to computing of the mid 1980s, when 9-pin dot-matrix printers were the state of the art, and most home computer displays were TVs hooked up to RF modulators. Rasteroids not only captures the dot-matrix printer look, but recreates the rasterized appearance of text on those lower-resolution monitors. Unlike that dot matrix type of yore, Rasteroids does have some variation in character width, and is legible in small blocks of copy. Still, it is best used sparingly, or as a special effect.

No: Jethro Bodine didn't design this typeface although, to look at it, you might be tempted to think so. Rather, the pattern was a product of the fertile imagination of famed lettering artist Alf Becker. The lowercase letters are the same as the uppercase, but angled differently so, if you want a randomized appearance, you can activate Contextual Alternates and the font will do the shift-key double-clutching needed. Both versions include the complete Unicode Latin 1252, Central European 1250 and Turkish 1254 character sets, with localization for Moldovan and Romanian.

AggressIan is the release of the first font I ever drew. It was done by hand with triangle and parallel rule back in the mid-1980s. I originally called it Aggressor, but I never liked it. My local type designer friend, Ian Roberts, really likes this type of drawing and told me I had to release it. So I named it after him. The small caps should work well if you need a bolder version. It has oldstyle and lining figures, plus the small cap figures. I hope you like it.

Here's another gem from perennial Speedball penmaster Ross F. George, originally called Split Caps. George's original design has been enhanced with the addition of lowercase characters, borrowed from another of his alphabets, and adapted to the style of the caps. This font derives its name from one of the catchphrases of the estimable Stooge-in-Chief, whose signature hairdo can be found in place of the Section mark. Both versions of the font include complete Latin 1252, Central European 1250 and Turkish 1524 character sets, with localization for Moldovan, Romanian and Turkish.

Redig is a bold condensed display typeface with an assertive and athletic aesthetic. Inspired by newspaper headline typefaces from early 1900s it has chamfered corners with rounded edges that smooths out some harshness and generous x-height to its lower case characters. Redig will shine when used big. And I mean BIG. This is certainly a case when “bigger is better” really is the truth. Redig comes with an oblique style and ligatures and works best in headlines, logos, branding, social media or any display type use. Use it big.

Sello is a hand-drawn, geometric sans-serif with a touch of retro style. It's a unicase typeface inspired by hand-engraved, mid-1960s Spanish postage stamps, hence the name "Sello" – Spanish for "stamp". This font comes in three different weights – light, regular, and bold – with a regular and oblique version of each for a total of 6 styles. Vowels have a special third alternate glyph. Sello also contains the necessary diacritics and special characters to support several different languages. Looks great at the slightly larger point sizes, when used in header or display purposes.

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.

What’s the good word? This elegant, stylish typeface, based on an early twentieth-century Barnhart Brothers & Spindler release, named simply "Engravers Upright Script". Based on French ronde letterforms, this version is bolder—which makes it suitable for text settings, even at smaller sizes—and has more pronounced stroke contrast—which makes it suitable for headlines. Versatile, handsome and charming, this typeface is an invaluable addition to any type repertoire. Both versions of the font contain the complete Unicode 1252 (Latin) and Unicode 1250 (Central European) character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.

Introducing Baisteach, our latest all-caps vintage serif. Inspired from early 1900's typography that often used in sign paintings, packaging labels, and advertisements. This typeface is made of sharp serifs, clean edges and strong form, give you a simple yet impactful feels. Suits best for headline, logo/logotype, and many more. If you're a fan of classic typography, make sure you add this font to your design toolbox. Last but not least, don't forget to activate its OpenType Feature to get the wider selection of letter combinations.

The first Antique Olive fonts were produced by the French type foundry Olive, in 1962-1966 and designed by poster designer Roger Excoffon (1910-1983). All Excoffons fonts are flamboyant, elegant and highly stylistic. They include the Banco, Mistral, and Calypso fonts. Antique Olive was launched to rival Helvetica and Univers, but the shapes it took were totally refreshing. Antique Olive is probably the most striking Sans Serif since Futura and Gill, and more refined than either. It is perfect for posters and display material as it works well in larger sizes.

A heavy, cartoonish and fun font based on a hand lettered 1960s advertisement. The hand-lettered original gave me the idea to expand this into an OpenType font with multiple interlocking ligatures. There are over 260 alternate ligatures found the in the "Discretionary Ligatures" OpenType Feature, which will lend the font a hand drawn look. The ligature glyphs can also be accessed via the glyph palette. Great for any design that requires a fun and light-hearted mood. Contains language support for both Latin-based and most Eastern European languages.

Aldus was designed by Hermann Zapf and appeared with the font foundry D. Stempel AG in Frankfurt am Main in 1954. Zapf named this font after the famous Venetian printer Aldus Manutius, whose work is among the most important of the Renaissance period as well as Zapf’s inspiration for Aldus. Linotype Aldus was introduced by Linotype Library as a text font lighter than Palatino. Zapf’s goal with his Palatino and Aldus was to create a new form of Old Face typeface. This font gives text the feeling of elegance which was typical of the Renaissance.

Kon Tiki Aloha is a font that celebrates the design style of mid 20th Century Hawaiian kitsch. This font was inspired by the ad poster of a popular 1960s Hawaiian themed attraction, and contains 120 alternate interlocking ligatures to give it a Polynesian feel. The ligatures can be found under the Discretionary Ligatures OT feature or added from the glyph palette. Jukebox fonts are available in OpenType .otf format and all fonts contain basic OpenType features as well as support for Latin-based and most Eastern European languages.

The inspiration for AlbertBetenbuch came from a typeface drawn by Albert Dürer and an interpretation of that face in Arthur Baker’s Historic Calligraphic Alphabets (Dover, 1980). It is not a recreation of either. The characteristic common to AlbertBetenbuch and the faces inspiring it is the decorative zig-zag with the upper-case letters. In late 2018 the inside of the shadowed style was separated out. It looks very much like the plain face but its spacing matches the shadowed version. It can be layered with the shadowed version to easily create two-colored letters.

In the 1960s it was a popular trend to personalize one’s possessions with your initials. From wallets and handbags to eyeglasses; from luggage to even cars, initial personalization was the fad of the time. The British division of Gulf Oil offered for sale a set of gold metallic stick-on initials for 25 pence, complete with two Gulf logos so the company could get some extra advertising mileage out of the promotion. These extra-wide, bold initials served as the idea model for Personalization JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The inspiration for Deco Eccentrique JNL was initially hand drawn contoured lettering from a mid-1920s piece of sheet music; the style of the letters showing influences of the upcoming Art Deco movement. This was made into a digital font entitled Poster Contoured JNL. Once all of the excess parts of the previous design were stripped away to only the inner letters, the pre-Art Deco influences remained along with characters of varying stroke widths and shapes. This non-conformist type face is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The 1930 Geneva Motor Show (Salon International De l'Automobile Et Du Cycle) showcased a lot of new cars, but one item in particular took my interest: the amazing art deco poster announcing the show. Lokomotiv font was based on this poster. It is a very deco-ish font, futuristic, angular, with bold squares, rounds and triangles. As I had to work with just a handful of glyphs, and needed to fill an entire font, I made up the missing ones myself. Lokomotiv, by the way, is German for Locomotive.

San Marco is a part of the 1990 program Type before Gutenberg, which included the work of twelve contemporary font designers and represented styles from across the ages. Linotype offers a package including all these fonts on its web page, www.fonts.de. San Marco was designed by Karlgeorg Hoefer and brings to mind the style of the Italian Gothic found on the cathedrals of Milan and Florence as well as on the facade of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. Its highly stylized characters make San Marco a good choice for extravagant typography.

This typeface is a new and improved (really!) version of one of my most popular freeware fonts, Team Spirit, which has made appearances in the Tank McNamara comic strip and on Blue Collar TV. Add the “nose” at the front with an open parenthesis -(- and add the tail with a close parenthesis -). To continue the bar beneath between words, use the _underscore in place of a space. No math operators and limited punctuation, but complete accented characters for the Unicode 1252 (Latin) and Unicode 1250 (Central European) character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.

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.

Designed for the newspaper technology of the 1980s, Clarion uses many of the findings made in the preparation of Monotype Nimrod, from which it is derived. The Clarion font family differs from Nimrod in its detailing, which is more akin to that of the Ionics, a style which influenced most designers of contemporary newspaper faces. The large x-height and sturdy construction of the characters make Clarion well suited for use on laser printers as well as being an excellent choice for setting newspapers, journals, newsletters and circulars.

The inspiration source for Chaoxiang Monogram is another hand-drawn treasure from a vintage embroidery publication which plays on the anglo-version of chinese letters with stabbing strokes and the charm of the orient. While the original intent of this monogram style is uncertain, the possibilities of its use are up to your imagination. This is one of many monogram designs from the early 1900’s which fall into a two letter format bound within a framing element. Download and view the MFC Chaoxiang Guidebook if you would like to learn a little more.

This is a family of "Gothic" types from the Monotype Design Studio. The faces named "Gothic No. 1 through 4" were produced by Compugraphic. Gothic No. 1 is a condensed, late 19th century American-style sans serif typeface. Gothic No. 2 and Gothic No. 3 are based on the Metro #2 series, designed by W.A. Dwiggins for Mergenthaler Linotype during the 1920s and 30s. Gothic No. 4 looks vaguely like Gothic number one, but is heavier and smaller on the body. Gothic Extra Light Extended is a very light and wide design.

The Xavier family of typefaces is based on the delightful deco typeface called Ashley Crawford, originally designed in 1930 by Ashley Havinden. After designing Xavier Black (Serif) and Xavier Sans Black, I added Bold Sans, Medium and Medium Sans and finally added lowercase to the medium weights. Although more manageable than Ashley Crawford, Xavier, due to its very playful nature (splayed A, M, etc.) needs to be used with care, especially in terms of spacing. Xavier is a playful typeface and I have been particularly pleased to see it used in children's books.

Sanitation JNL is a bold Art Deco sans design inspired by some stylized hand lettering on a 1930s-era WPA (Works Progress Administration) poster and is available in both regular and oblique versions. The topic of the poster was "Your home is not complete without a sanitary unit" and that was recommended by the State Department of Public Health. A "sanitary unit" is the formal name for what rural folks called an "outhouse", and it's presumed the target group were homeowners not hooked up to major sewer lines such as in those rural areas.

When designing a font, I often imagine how I think it should be used or where I'd be likely to see it out in the real world. With Barataria I envisioned it on decorative, antique-looking signs hanging outside shops in the French Quarter of New Orleans - hence the name. Barataria is based on samples of 1920s period poster lettering. It's a bold, heavy roman font with strong, rounded character forms. Barataria also has some unique alternative character forms, like the super-looped 'g' shown in the sample.

RMU Gilgengart is a revival of Hermann Zapf’s beautiful calligraphic blackletter font which was cut and first released by Stempel in 1952. This font comes with fine ligatures and swash letters. Before working with this font it is recommended to activate both OT features Standard and Discretionary Ligatures in order to get access to all ligatures. RMU Gilgengart contains the following swash letters: D, L, h, f, g, k, round s, and t, whereby you should use the small letters at the end of a word or slogan only.

The inspiration source for MFC Gilchrist Monogram is an extremely ornamented letterset from a vintage embroidery publication from the early 1900's. We’ve digitally recreated the ornamental glyphs from the original design, and created a matching set of smallcaps in order to offer more versatility with this monogram. We have also created two additional sets of alternate glyphs with different fills for more variations. Experiment with all of these in different combinations for unique designs. Download and view the MFC Gilchrist Monogram Guidebook if you would like to learn a little more.

Staehle Graphia Script was designed by Professor Walter Stähle in the 1960s. It is a very vertical font in the style of the printing on private correspondence in the 19th century. The elegant and sweeping capitals of Linotype Staehle Graphia Script are particularly well-suited to the beginning of passages or lines while the capitals of Linotype Staehle Graphia are better for longer texts. Both should be used with a relatively small line width. The lyricism and liveliness displayed by the font makes it the perfect choice for artistic texts such as poems.

Lodge Introducing our retro chunky serif font, a bold and nostalgic typeface that brings a classic and timeless design to your projects. With its thick, distinctive serifs and strong character set, this font is perfect for creating eye catching headlines, vintage posters, and stylish branding. Embrace the 1970s-inspired aesthetics with this unique typography that adds a touch of nostalgia to your designs. Whether you're working on print materials, display graphics, or editorial layouts, our retro chunky serif font will give your projects a bold and timeless appeal.

Linotype Lichtwerk, from German designer Bernd Pfannkuchen, is part of the Take Type Library, chosen from the entries of the Linotype-sponsored International Digital Type Design Contest 1999 for inclusion on the Take Type 3 CD. This display font contains very narrow forms with a high x-height. It is reminiscent of the constructivism of the 1920s and was designed with a small number of basic forms. The high, thin letters form words and an overall picture which almost flickers on the page. Linotype Lichtwerk with its technical look is suited exclusively for headlines.

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.

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.