Pure and not-so-simple Maybe it’s the air of purity, openness and transparency that they transmit, but geometric typefaces are more popular than ever among leading brands. Based on near-perfect circles, triangles and squares, geometric letterforms look uncomplicated, even though making them readable is anything but – something the designers of the first wave of geometric fonts discovered nearly a century ago. Many of the world’s most recognisable brands in technology, retail, travel, food, manufacturing and other industries continue to be drawn to the straightforward, honest character that geometric fonts convey. Fontsmith set out in 2015 to develop a typeface in the same tradition, but optimised for the demands of modern brands – online and offline usage, readability and accessibility. And, of course, with the all-important Fontsmith x-factor built in. FS Lucas is the bold and deceptively simple result. Handle with care The letterforms of FS Lucas are round and generous, along the lines of Trajan Column lettering stripped of its serifs. But beware their thorns. Their designer, Stuart de Rozario, who also crafted the award-winning FS Millbank, wanted a contrast between spiky and soft, giving sharp apexes to the more angular letterforms, such as A, M, N, v, w and z. Among his inspirations were the colourful, geometric compositions of Frank Stella, the 1920s art deco poster designs of AM Cassandre, and the triangular cosmic element symbol, which led him to tackle the capital A first, instead of the usual H. The proportions and angles of the triangular form would set the template for many of the other characters. It was this form, and the light-scattering effects of triangular prisms, that lit the path to a name for the typeface: Lucas is derived from lux, the Latin word for light. Recommended reading Early geometric typefaces were accused of putting mathematical integrity before readability. FS Lucas achieves the trick of appearing geometric, while taking the edge off elements that make reading difficult. Perfectly circlular shapes don’t read well. The way around that is to slightly thicken the vertical strokes, and pull out the curves at the corners to compensate; the O and o of FS Lucas are optical illusions. Pointed apexes aren’t as sharp as they look; the flattened tips are an essential design feature. And distinctive details such as the open terminals of the c, e, f, g, j, r and s, and the x-height bar on the i and j, aid legibility, especially on-screen. These and many other features, the product of sketching the letterforms in the first instance by hand rather than mapping them out mechanically by computer, give FS Lucas the built-in humanity and character that make it a better, easier read all-round. Marks of distinction Unlike some of its more buttoned-up geometric bedfellows, FS Lucas can’t contain its natural personality and quirks: the flick of the foot of the l, for example, and the flattish tail on the g and j. The unusual bar on the J improves character recognition, and the G is circular, without a straight stem. There’s a touch of Fontsmith about the t, too, with the curve across the left cross section in the lighter weights, and the ampersand is one of a kind. There’s a lot to like about Lucas. With its 9 weights, perfect proportions and soft but spiky take on the classic geometric font, it’s a typeface that could light up any brand.

Pure and not-so-simple Maybe it’s the air of purity, openness and transparency that they transmit, but geometric typefaces are more popular than ever among leading brands. Based on near-perfect circles, triangles and squares, geometric letterforms look uncomplicated, even though making them readable is anything but – something the designers of the first wave of geometric fonts discovered nearly a century ago. Many of the world’s most recognisable brands in technology, retail, travel, food, manufacturing and other industries continue to be drawn to the straightforward, honest character that geometric fonts convey. Fontsmith set out in 2015 to develop a typeface in the same tradition, but optimised for the demands of modern brands – online and offline usage, readability and accessibility. And, of course, with the all-important Fontsmith x-factor built in. FS Lucas is the bold and deceptively simple result. Handle with care The letterforms of FS Lucas are round and generous, along the lines of Trajan Column lettering stripped of its serifs. But beware their thorns. Their designer, Stuart de Rozario, who also crafted the award-winning FS Millbank, wanted a contrast between spiky and soft, giving sharp apexes to the more angular letterforms, such as A, M, N, v, w and z. Among his inspirations were the colourful, geometric compositions of Frank Stella, the 1920s art deco poster designs of AM Cassandre, and the triangular cosmic element symbol, which led him to tackle the capital A first, instead of the usual H. The proportions and angles of the triangular form would set the template for many of the other characters. It was this form, and the light-scattering effects of triangular prisms, that lit the path to a name for the typeface: Lucas is derived from lux, the Latin word for light. Recommended reading Early geometric typefaces were accused of putting mathematical integrity before readability. FS Lucas achieves the trick of appearing geometric, while taking the edge off elements that make reading difficult. Perfectly circlular shapes don’t read well. The way around that is to slightly thicken the vertical strokes, and pull out the curves at the corners to compensate; the O and o of FS Lucas are optical illusions. Pointed apexes aren’t as sharp as they look; the flattened tips are an essential design feature. And distinctive details such as the open terminals of the c, e, f, g, j, r and s, and the x-height bar on the i and j, aid legibility, especially on-screen. These and many other features, the product of sketching the letterforms in the first instance by hand rather than mapping them out mechanically by computer, give FS Lucas the built-in humanity and character that make it a better, easier read all-round. Marks of distinction Unlike some of its more buttoned-up geometric bedfellows, FS Lucas can’t contain its natural personality and quirks: the flick of the foot of the l, for example, and the flattish tail on the g and j. The unusual bar on the J improves character recognition, and the G is circular, without a straight stem. There’s a touch of Fontsmith about the t, too, with the curve across the left cross section in the lighter weights, and the ampersand is one of a kind. There’s a lot to like about Lucas. With its 9 weights, perfect proportions and soft but spiky take on the classic geometric font, it’s a typeface that could light up any brand.

A heavy graffiti-inspired font! Don't drop it, 'cos it's weight might crush the floor!

Op-art never looked so good. Taking a cue from the popularity in the 1970s of deco Prismas and their related contemporary interpretations, this geometric font updates the trend. Overlap text in different colours or black and white for eye-teasing moiré combinations. An image above illustrates the use of Dazzle Underprint, a uniform-width version of the font that is placed under Dazzle and used to create two-colour effects simply and easily. Dazzle Underprint is not intended for solo use, only as an underprint — please see Dazzle Unicase for a range of undecorated weights.

One of the most enduring type styles of the Art Deco era is Huxley Vertical. Its clean lines and stylish appeal have transcended changing times and tastes. Many typefaces have been inspired by the original, including the model used to create this font. The design was found in the book "Lettering and Alphabets", first published in 1946 by J. Albert Cavanagh. By re-drawing it from scratch, the missing numerals, punctuation, special characters and accents were added. Hagemann JNL and its oblique version are named in honor of one of Jeff Levine's friends within the type design community -- Michael Hagemann of Font Mesa.

Future Bugler Upright is a non-slanted version of Future Bugler, a font based on the second logo created by Harry Warren in early 1975 for his sixth grade class newsletter, The Broadwater Bugler, at Broadwater Academy in Exmore, Virginia, on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. This font can convey several perspectives or moods. It can suggest a space-age vision of the future, or an art-deco perspective of the future as in the movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. It also communicates the idea of high performance, or extreme sports, without the grunge. Digitized by John Bomparte.

A Lost Art Deco Style Reborn and Multiplied Rhumba began as a digitization of a film typeface from LetterGraphics in the early 70's known as "Barrio Lined". Originally only a single typeface, represented by our Rhumba Lined style, it was fun and offered more diversity to expand out the styles of this gem. Playing off the stylings of fonts like Prisma, Rhumba fills in gaps between the various lines of the original to offer 3 alternate looks. The Rhumba family contains 382 characters per font. A comprehensive character map preview is at the end of the poster graphics collection.

Gilmore Sans Extra Bold Extra Condensed Titling is a sans serif typeface that was inspired from early designs by the renowned English typographer Eric Gill. It was designed in 1992 by A. Pat Hickson (P&P Hickson) and Steve Jackaman (ITF) exclusively for the Red Rooster Collection. It has a clean, fresh, sturdy feel that is exceptionally powerful at display size. The typeface lends itself well to a variety of projects, including everything from packaging to signage to high-profile advertising campaigns.

Zuume Soft is a high-impact, condensed sans serif family with a soft touch. A sister to Zuume, this version features round corners for a friendlier appearance. The lighter weights give a sharp, technical feel while the bold, blacker weights can be tightly spaced and stacked for a strong visual punch. The notched and extended ink traps add both function and aesthetic interest. The strong and sturdy design makes it ideal for eye-catching headlines, branding, packaging, sports, logos, and more.

Damasquine works well for headlines and titles mostly, could be a sharp Art Deco reinterpreted typeface with a touch of archaic lettering inspiration.

Social Gathering JNL is modeled from the Art Deco hand-lettered title of a vintage piece of sheet music entitled "Three of Us".

A vintage metal sign saying "No Dogs Allowed" was the model for the ultra-bold Art Deco-influenced lettering comprising Informational Sign JNL.

Information displays have an aesthetic of their own. Functional design where transmission of information is key — and best in real time. The Realtime Rounded typeface is not meant to recreate the appearance of those applications, instead it takes inspiration from them. The result is a technical yet friendly design with details that serve function and visual impact alike. Its soft edges apply warmth to the otherwise rather technical appearance. As a monospaced typeface it lends itself to tabular designs, sturdy columns and tidy layouts. Nevertheless Realtime comes with a feature for setting continuous text — a proportional design employable through OpenType — it further comes in five weights, from light to black, and with a character set that covers over 200 latin languages. Please see the Realtime Rounded Type Specimen PDF in the gallery. Realtime Rounded is the soft companion to the standard Realtime Typeface which is available separately. Thanks for visiting!

Chamberí is designed to be Vogue España's bestpoke typeface. An ambitious typographic branding project made for one of the most iconic magazine headers of the world, it defines the Spanish edition’s personality through a blending of the functionality of XIX Century Modern Romans (also known as “Scotch" typefaces) and the gestural expressiveness of typographic Baroque. Chamberí is a peculiar combination of the rational and the delicate, the sturdy and the feminine. The family is organised in a broad spectrum of 56 variants in which the transition from the restrained text version to the flamboyant, elegant display is modulated by contrast. The family is organised in seven weights: from Extra Light to Black, plus four optical sizes : Text, Headline, Display and Superdisplay. All this with its own Italics, Small Caps and Old Style Figures, besides the due refinement to resolve any editorial and communicative requirement.

This decorative delight is based on a typeface discovered within the pages of "Schriftatlas: Alphabete von A bis Z," and originally named Pygmalion. The swash caps and plain caps in the lowercase positions allow for wide-ranging creativity in the composition of dramatic headlines. Both versions include the complete Latin 1252, Central European 1250 and Turkish 1254 character sets, as well as localization for Moldovan and Romanian.

Egory castle was inspired from the history of the medieval age. The idea was to make us interested to explore in the aspect of art and decorative letters forms. Lots of studies that we have learned from history in middle age and inspiration from many different sources make very valuable references for us to develop a new idea in the development of this typeface.

Meet Byra! A new approach to a decorative typeface. This typeface has asymmetrical terminals (round), which means than has serifs, but not in every side of the letterforms. The mix between both classic and modern elements, as terminals and the inverted contrast, gives the typeface a strong personality. Byra contains two weights, regular and bold, it’s a display typeface and great for headlines, branding and editorial proposes

Sovereign Display is a decorative all caps headline face in one style with small caps on the lower case positions. Thin horizontal crossrules underpinned by a heavier solid shadow give the typeface a prominent three dimensional appearance and an air of formal distinction. Ornate and iconic, Sovereign Display is perfect for certificates, manuscripts, titling or anything requiring a more sombre, elaborate or engraved slab serif style.

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.

There is not much I can tell about Isolde. It is a plain typeface, rather wide and with dominant serifs. Its italics are more slanted than usual. In fact only Caslon's italic can compete about that. Its width makes it more suitable for decorations than for larger amounts of text. The name comes from the medieval tale about Tristan and Isolde. Isolde was released in 1993.

Granville, is inspired by traditional British (and transatlantic) shop signage. It's an elaborate confection, drawing on Roman and Blackletter influences and is ideal to give any project an instant Victorian feel. Granville is offered in Regular, Condensed and Expanded widths as well as an oblique form and a yet more decorative 'Grand' form. These faces are especially suitable for posters, period advertising, Chapter headings and signage.

Inspired by the iconic Fenoglio-Lafleur Liberty building in the city of Turin, in an area with significant Stile Liberty buildings and New Gothic architecture. Lafleur is a decorative face with a remarkable art nouveau flair from 19th century. Perfect for creative contemporary uses in print and on screen. We recommend it for book covers, packaging, branding, editorial, web, advertising, apparel, purposes are endless.

This set of initial letters was inspired from French renaissance decorated letters. Unfortunately, we don't know where they were in use, or who was the punchcutter, our models were coming from a late XIXth century copy. Note: The letters I and J, U and V are not different. It is not a mistake, but it is the exact reflection of what was customary during the period.