While it is obvious that this is an ornamental style font, it is more than that: it is a Celtic Knotwork design tool! Irish, Scottish, Welsh, even Norse and Viking cultures have used knotwork designs for millenia. These ancient traditional interwoven designs are experiencing a revival as Celtic culture gains exposure in the modern world. Intricate Celtic knots are featured everywhere from jewelry to tattoos. While many enjoy them simply for their beauty and fascinating twists, they can also be used to add an air of myth, magic and mystery to any project. The interlaced lines make them perfect for wedding invitations, borders, dividers and rules, web graphics, and logos. I began using Celtic knotwork designs in my own work as part of my knifemaking and jewelry making hobbies. I read all of the books I could find about Celtic knots and at first I drew them by hand with pencil and paper. Then as I realized how nice it would be to have "undos" I switched over to using Corel Draw. Draw proved to be a natural for this type of artwork with tools like contour and the trim function. But even with these great tools, it was still tedious to create these designs. I noticed that I was able to reuse a lot of parts in repetitive sections. I developed a small library of reusable bits and chunks of Celtic designs. I found them so useful and fun to work with that I began thinking about ways to market my Celtic design kit. I thought about CDR and EPS formats, but then I thought of creating this toolset as a True Type Font. That way anyone with ANY program that uses fonts could easily create Celtic knotwork designs. Word processors, embroidery programs, engraving programs, jewelry design programs, CAD/CAM programs...almost every program can use fonts. I was also interested in CNC work and thought that this font would work well for applications such as laser etching, vinyl signs, and machining. With that in mind, I designed each character of the font with extremes of accuracy. If one character from the font is used at one inch tall, every control point will be placed to an accuracy of better than 0.0001 inch. I wanted every piece to meet exactly with the next, with no possibility for misalignment. The different styles are all very carefully created to fit accurately with each other. So the Filled Style fits exactly into the Outline Style, and the Inverse Style fits precisely around the Outline Style so as to make up the background behind the knotwork. Combining the styles allows you to have complete creative control. By assembling the nearly 200 pieces it is quite easy to produce very complex designs. It is actually a bit like playing with a puzzle and many people really enjoy putting the pieces together to make designs. In fact, I have had many customers tell me of how they love playing with this font and making knots into the wee hours of morning. If you like puzzles then you will absolutely love this font! And creating the patterns is just the beginning of the fun! If you apply your favorite Photoshop tricks on them you can make anything from dazzling chrome knotwork to carved stone. Photoshop plug-ins like SuperBladePro are great for converting knotwork text into corroded bronze or rusted iron. Use your knotwork to add texture to a virtual landscape, or add them as surface embelishments on architecture and furniture. You can also make round knotwork by using this font with "WordArt" (WordArt is included with every copy of Microsoft Word. See http://clanbadge.com/round_knots.htm for a tutorial on how to make round knotwork). For Crafters there are limitless uses for this font. It has been used for embroidery, jewelry, leatherwork, stencils, stained glass, quilting, painting, pyrography, woodcarving and lots more. We have even sold copies to monks for use in decorating handmade books!

Schism is a modulated sans-serif, originally developed from our Alias Didot typeface, as a serif-less version of the same design. It was expanded to three sub-families, with the thin stroke getting progressively heavier from Schism One to Schism Three. The different versions explore how this change in contrast between thick and thin strokes changes the character of the letterforms. The shape is maintained, but the emphasis shifts from rounded to angular, elegant to incised. Schism One has high contrast, and the same weight of thin stroke from Light to Black. Letter endings are at horizontal or vertical, giving a pinched, constricted shape for characters such as a, c, e and s. The h, m, n and u have a sharp connection between curve and vertical, and are high shouldered, giving a slightly square shape. The r and y have a thick stress at their horizontal endings, which makes them impactful and striking at bolder weights. Though derived from an elegant, classic form, Schism feels austere rather than flowery. It doesn’t have the flourishes of other modulated sans typefaces, its aesthetic more a kind of graphic-tinged utility. While in Schism Two and Three the thin stroke gets progressively heavier, the connections between vertical and curves — in a, b, n etc — remain cut to an incised point throughout. The effect is that Schism looks chiselled and textural across all weights. Forms maintain a clear, defined shape even in Bold and Black, and don’t have the bloated, wide and heavy appearance heavy weights can have. The change in the thickness of the thin stroke in different versions of the same weight of a typeface is called grading. This is often used when the types are to used in problematic print surfaces such as newsprint, or at small sizes — where thin strokes might bleed, and counters fill in and lose clarity, or detail might be lost or be too thin to register. The different gradings are incremental and can be quite subtle. In Schism it is extreme, and used as a design device, giving three connected but separate styles, from Sans-Didot to almost-Grotesk. The name Schism suggests the differences in shape and style in Schism One, Two and Three. Three styles with distinct differences, from the same start point.

Schism is a modulated sans-serif, originally developed from our Alias Didot typeface, as a serif-less version of the same design. It was expanded to three sub-families, with the thin stroke getting progressively heavier from Schism One to Schism Three. The different versions explore how this change in contrast between thick and thin strokes changes the character of the letterforms. The shape is maintained, but the emphasis shifts from rounded to angular, elegant to incised. Schism One has high contrast, and the same weight of thin stroke from Light to Black. Letter endings are at horizontal or vertical, giving a pinched, constricted shape for characters such as a, c, e and s. The h, m, n and u have a sharp connection between curve and vertical, and are high shouldered, giving a slightly square shape. The r and y have a thick stress at their horizontal endings, which makes them impactful and striking at bolder weights. Though derived from an elegant, classic form, Schism feels austere rather than flowery. It doesn’t have the flourishes of other modulated sans typefaces, its aesthetic more a kind of graphic-tinged utility. While in Schism Two and Three the thin stroke gets progressively heavier, the connections between vertical and curves — in a, b, n etc — remain cut to an incised point throughout. The effect is that Schism looks chiselled and textural across all weights. Forms maintain a clear, defined shape even in Bold and Black, and don’t have the bloated, wide and heavy appearance heavy weights can have. The change in the thickness of the thin stroke in different versions of the same weight of a typeface is called grading. This is often used when the types are to used in problematic print surfaces such as newsprint, or at small sizes — where thin strokes might bleed, and counters fill in and lose clarity, or detail might be lost or be too thin to register. The different gradings are incremental and can be quite subtle. In Schism it is extreme, and used as a design device, giving three connected but separate styles, from Sans-Didot to almost-Grotesk. The name Schism suggests the differences in shape and style in Schism One, Two and Three. Three styles with distinct differences, from the same start point.

Schism is a modulated sans-serif, originally developed from our Alias Didot typeface, as a serif-less version of the same design. It was expanded to three sub-families, with the thin stroke getting progressively heavier from Schism One to Schism Three. The different versions explore how this change in contrast between thick and thin strokes changes the character of the letterforms. The shape is maintained, but the emphasis shifts from rounded to angular, elegant to incised. Schism One has high contrast, and the same weight of thin stroke from Light to Black. Letter endings are at horizontal or vertical, giving a pinched, constricted shape for characters such as a, c, e and s. The h, m, n and u have a sharp connection between curve and vertical, and are high shouldered, giving a slightly square shape. The r and y have a thick stress at their horizontal endings, which makes them impactful and striking at bolder weights. Though derived from an elegant, classic form, Schism feels austere rather than flowery. It doesn’t have the flourishes of other modulated sans typefaces, its aesthetic more a kind of graphic-tinged utility. While in Schism Two and Three the thin stroke gets progressively heavier, the connections between vertical and curves — in a, b, n etc — remain cut to an incised point throughout. The effect is that Schism looks chiselled and textural across all weights. Forms maintain a clear, defined shape even in Bold and Black, and don’t have the bloated, wide and heavy appearance heavy weights can have. The change in the thickness of the thin stroke in different versions of the same weight of a typeface is called grading. This is often used when the types are to used in problematic print surfaces such as newsprint, or at small sizes — where thin strokes might bleed, and counters fill in and lose clarity, or detail might be lost or be too thin to register. The different gradings are incremental and can be quite subtle. In Schism it is extreme, and used as a design device, giving three connected but separate styles, from Sans-Didot to almost-Grotesk. The name Schism suggests the differences in shape and style in Schism One, Two and Three. Three styles with distinct differences, from the same start point.

The Postea font family is Veronika Burian and José Scaglione’s take on German geometric typefaces, reshaped with the right attributes for setting paragraphs and headings, and perfect for branding and text use. Some typefaces are a rough tool, like a pumice rock: abrasive to the senses, unforgiving, and unhelpful for most reading situations. Postea is an obsidian: smooth and classy, with attractive nuances in any light. The classic curves and purposeful details keep its individuality intact while allowing it to fit an incredible range of geometric font needs. Because of these qualities, Postea makes normal reading in paragraphs a cinch and your branding memorable. Compared to midcentury attributes of restraint and a sparse appearance, Postea’s deliberate play between character widths injects life and distinctiveness into its personality. The default ‘t, f’ have lyrical doses akin to a robust evening drink and are rounded out with a serpentine ‘s’ and rotund ‘o, g, b’. Another nice surprise awaits: spacing for the Hairline weight is tighter for optimal use in large headings and titles, while the regular weights have the expected, slightly looser spacing for text. Setting the test word ‘bogarts’ brings all this together nicely, invoking a balance between a constructed and human feel while brushing away the dust from a century of derivatives. Postea is opinionated and its modern stylistic sets allow it to be accommodating with softer, specially-designed alternative characters. SS01 replaces ‘b, f, M, m, t’, while SS02 changes only the lowercase ‘a’ to the round style, and SS03 swaps out the angled ‘y’ for a straight version. The fourth and sixth stylistic sets are packed with wallpaper-worthy geometric patterns, ornaments, arrows, and symbols aplenty. Postea’s 14 styles (seven upright and italic) and two variable fonts are accompanied by an all-new family of icons in three weights, which we developed a new, easy way to activate. Simply bookend the desired icon name with colons (:arrowUp: :chargingStation: :aid: :firstAid:), making sure to capitalise each word after the first word, then highlight and activate SS05. Icons include wayfinding, social interface, sanitary precautions like face masks, thermometers, and hand washing, and much more. Postea is resilient in the number of ways the family can be used, and its recognisable characters make it a prime selection for branding, signage, corporate typefaces, and magazines. Beginning with midcentury virtues, Postea is the rational response for text — a lyrical take on geometric sans serifs.

SCR fonts are screen optimized (also called 'pixel fonts'). Unlike standard fonts (and like the few well-hinted fonts like Verdana or Arial), they give a crisp look on screen at very small sizes, thus increasing legibility. The perfect applications for those fonts are web pages and software user interfaces (computer, cellular phones, console games and any other system that uses a screen interface). Unlike most pixel fonts, SCR fonts contain kerning information. Kerning is the adjustment of space between certain pairs of characters (like 'AV') to make text look more fluid, thus increasing legibility and appeal. To benefit from this feature, auto-kerning must be activated in the application. In Photoshop, kerning must be set to 'Metrics'. Although SCR fonts are optimized for screen, they can be used for print (in Illustrator or Indesign for example) for a decorative 'computer text' effect. In this case, there is no constraint: they can be used as any other font. For screen use (in Photoshop, Fireworks, Flash... ), they have to keep aligned with the screen pixel grid not to look blurred or distorted. To achieve this, here are the guidelines to follow: RESOLUTION If the application permits it (Photoshop, Fireworks), document resolution must be set to 72 pixels per inch. SIZE The font size must be set to 10 (or multiples of 10) points. POSITIONING & ALIGNMENT The reference points of text fields and text blocks (upper left corner for left aligned text, upper right for right aligned text) must be positioned at integer values of pixels. In Photoshop, text can be precisely moved with [Edit Free Transform]. In Flash, movie clips containing text fields must also be positioned at integer values on the stage. Text must be aligned to the left or right only. Center alignment can be simulated with left alignment by adding spaces at the begin of each line. To dispense with the positioning and alignment constraints, text anti-aliasing can be turned off if the application permits it (Photoshop, Flash MX 2004). OTHER SETTINGS Leading (line spacing), tracking (letter spacing), manual kerning and baseline shift must be set either to integer values of points or to multiples of 100 units (depending on the application). Vertical and horizontal scaling must be set to 100%. Faux bold or Faux italic must not be used. The document must neither be resized on export, nor allow resizing (Flash Movies).

SCR fonts are screen optimized (also called 'pixel fonts'). Unlike standard fonts (and like the few well-hinted fonts like Verdana or Arial), they give a crisp look on screen at very small sizes, thus increasing legibility. The perfect applications for those fonts are web pages and software user interfaces (computer, cellular phones, console games and any other system that uses a screen interface). Unlike most pixel fonts, SCR fonts contain kerning information. Kerning is the adjustment of space between certain pairs of characters (like 'AV') to make text look more fluid, thus increasing legibility and appeal. To benefit from this feature, auto-kerning must be activated in the application. In Photoshop, kerning must be set to 'Metrics'. Although SCR fonts are optimized for screen, they can be used for print (in Illustrator or Indesign for example) for a decorative 'computer text' effect. In this case, there is no constraint: they can be used as any other font. For screen use (in Photoshop, Fireworks, Flash... ), they have to keep aligned with the screen pixel grid not to look blurred or distorted. To achieve this, here are the guidelines to follow: RESOLUTION If the application permits it (Photoshop, Fireworks), document resolution must be set to 72 pixels per inch. SIZE The font size must be set to 10 (or multiples of 10) points. POSITIONING & ALIGNMENT The reference points of text fields and text blocks (upper left corner for left aligned text, upper right for right aligned text) must be positioned at integer values of pixels. In Photoshop, text can be precisely moved with [Edit Free Transform]. In Flash, movie clips containing text fields must also be positioned at integer values on the stage. Text must be aligned to the left or right only. Center alignment can be simulated with left alignment by adding spaces at the begin of each line. To dispense with the positioning and alignment constraints, text anti-aliasing can be turned off if the application permits it (Photoshop, Flash MX 2004). OTHER SETTINGS Leading (line spacing), tracking (letter spacing), manual kerning and baseline shift must be set either to integer values of points or to multiples of 100 units (depending on the application). Vertical and horizontal scaling must be set to 100%. Faux bold or Faux italic must not be used. The document must neither be resized on export, nor allow resizing (Flash Movies).

Why do we need another typeface? This is a prickly question often asked of typeface designers. Depending on who you ask, the answer in simplified form is usually one of two: 1. As the basis of written communication, type design carries social responsibility, so we must continue to improve legibility. 2. Type design is a form of artistic expression. Without art, life is not worth living. The best work, of course, accomplishes both. Xavier Dupré, the designer of the Malaga typeface family, has at least one leg securely planted in the latter notion. He believes, like others, that within typeface design most legibility needs have been worked out and that today we are satisfying aesthetic desires. We design typefaces to differentiate our communications. Type design is primarily a formal exercise reflecting our personal quirks, technological obsessions, and cultural heritage. In case of Dupré’s work, issues of cultural heritage and personal quirks are of particular consequence. An incessant traveler, he visited the following countries during the development of the Malaga type family: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, France, Belgium, and finally, Spain, where his choice for the name Malaga originates (Malaga is a port city in southern Spain). Dupré’s home is where his laptop is. He travels with a 12- or 15 inch PowerBook, without a printer, and with sporadic access to his reference books and other historical documents. All he needs is a table and chair. He even learned to design without a mouse since hotel and cafe tables are often too small to also fit a mousepad. Dupré is the new global designer who can take disparate influences and fluidly process the information into a coherent whole. Malaga is a case in point. It is inspired by ideas ranging from blackletter to Latin fonts, and from the Quattrocento’s first Venetian antiquas to brush stroke types. This makes Malaga a richly animated font saturated with unorthodox detail. Its black and bold weights are particularly suited for headlines and short texts, while the subtle modulation and moderate contrast in the regular and medium weights makes it perfectly readable in extended text settings. While Malaga doesn’t claim to resolve any particular legibility issues, it is nonetheless perfectly readable and will impart any design with a healthy dose of visual character.

Report School is a geometric sans-serif typeface that was inspired by student handwriting practice worksheets. But don’t worry, it’s not just a copy of those worksheets. Report School is designed to be easily readable, with legible letterforms that make it perfect for use in educational materials. You might be wondering what makes Report School different from other school-oriented geometric sans-serif typefaces. Well, for starters, it’s designed with readability in mind. While other typefaces might prioritize pure geometry, Report School puts legibility first. That means that when you use Report School, your readers will have an easier time reading your text. And speaking of easier reading, Report School has some features that are designed to make things even more legible. For example, instead of using straight quotes for inches, feet, or degrees, you can use primes. And Report School has regular primes, double primes, and triple primes, so you can choose the right one for your needs. Plus, the numerals in Report School are tabular, which means they’re vertically aligned for easier math equation alignment. But that’s not all! If you’re using OpenType savvy applications like InDesign, Illustrator, or Photoshop, you can access even more features. For example, you can use the stylistic alternates feature to access the letters “I” and “J” with no serifs, as well as a straight lowercase “q”. And if you’re looking for something a little different, you can check out Report School’s rounded version, called Report, or a version with casual strokes, called Sweater School. If you’re looking for a typeface that’s easy to read, but still has some personality, look no further than Report School. It’s the perfect choice for any educational materials that need to be both legible and stylish. Most Latin-based European writing systems are supported, including the following languages. Afaan Oromo, Afar, Afrikaans, Albanian, Alsatian, Aromanian, Aymara, Bashkir (Latin), Basque, Belarusian (Latin), Bemba, Bikol, Bosnian, Breton, Cape Verdean, Creole, Catalan, Cebuano, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chichewa, Crimean Tatar (Latin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dawan, Dholuo, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Frisian, Friulian, Gagauz (Latin), Galician, Ganda, Genoese, German, Greenlandic, Guadeloupean Creole, Haitian Creole, Hawaiian, Hiligaynon, Hungarian, Icelandic, Ilocano, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Kaqchikel, Karakalpak (Latin), Kashubian, Kikongo, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kurdish (Latin), Latvian, Lithuanian, Lombard, Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, Maasai, Makhuwa, Malay, Maltese, Māori, Moldovan, Montenegrin, Ndebele, Neapolitan, Norwegian, Novial, Occitan, Ossetian (Latin), Papiamento, Piedmontese, Polish, Portuguese, Quechua, Rarotongan, Romanian, Romansh, Sami, Sango, Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian (Latin), Shona, Sicilian, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Sorbian, Sotho, Spanish, Swahili, Swazi, Swedish, Tagalog, Tahitian, Tetum, Tongan, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen (Latin), Tuvaluan, Uzbek (Latin), Venetian, Vepsian, Võro, Walloon, Waray-Waray, Wayuu, Welsh, Wolof, Xhosa, Yapese, Zapotec Zulu and Zuni.

ITC Johnston is the result of the combined talents of Dave Farey and Richard Dawson, based on the work of Edward Johnston. In developing ITC Johnston, says London type designer Dave Farey, he did “lots of research on not only the face but the man.” Edward Johnston was something of an eccentric, “famous for sitting in a deck chair and carrying toast in his pockets.” (The deck chair was his preferred furniture in his own living room; the toast was so that he’d always have sustenance near at hand.) Johnston was also almost single-handedly responsible, early in this century, for the revival in Britain of the Renaissance calligraphic tradition of the chancery italic. His book Writing & Illuminating, & Lettering (with its peculiar extraneous comma in the title) is a classic on its subject, and his influence on his contemporaries was tremendous. He is perhaps best remembered, however, for the alphabet that he designed in 1916 for the London Underground Railway (now London Transport), which was based on his original “block letter” model. Johnston’s letters were constructed very carefully, based on his study of historical writing techniques at the British Museum. His capital letters took their form from the best classical Roman inscriptions. “He had serious rules for his sans serif style,” says Farey, “particularly the height-to-weight ratio of 1:7 for the construction of line weight, and therefore horizontals and verticals were to be the same thickness. Johnston’s O’s and C’s and G’s and even his S’s were constructions of perfect circles. This was a bit of a problem as far as text sizes were concerned, or in reality sizes smaller than half an inch. It also precluded any other weight but medium ‘ any weight lighter or heavier than his 1:7 relationship.” Johnston was famously slow at any project he undertook, says Farey. “He did eventually, under protest, create a bolder weight, in capitals only ‘ which took twenty years to complete.” Farey and his colleague Richard Dawson have based ITC Johnston on Edward Johnston’s original block letters, expanding them into a three-weight type family. Johnston himself never called his Underground lettering a typeface, according to Farey. It was an alphabet meant for signage and other display purposes, designed to be legible at a glance rather than readable in passages of text. Farey and Dawson’s adaptation retains the sparkling starkness of Johnston’s letters while combining comfortably into text. Johnston’s block letter bears an obvious resemblance to Gill Sans, the highly successful type family developed by Monotype in the 1920s. The young Eric Gill had studied under Johnston at the London College of Printing, worked on the Underground project with him, and followed many of the same principles in developing his own sans serif typeface. The Johnston letters gave a characteristic look to London’s transport system after the First World War, but it was Gill Sans that became the emblematic letter form of British graphic design for decades. (Johnston’s sans serif continued in use in the Underground until the early ‘80s, when a revised and modernized version, with a tighter fit and a larger x-height, was designed by the London design firm Banks and Miles.) Farey and Dawson, working from their studio in London’s Clerkenwell, wanted to create a type family that was neither a museum piece nor a bastardization, and that would “provide an alternative of the same school” to the omnipresent Gill Sans. “These alphabets,” says Farey, referring to the Johnston letters, “have never been developed as contemporary styles.” He and Dawson not only devised three weights of ITC Johnston but gave it a full set of small capitals in each weight ‘ something that neither the original Johnston face nor the Gill faces have ‘ as well as old-style figures and several alternate characters.