A friend of mine says that sports are the ultimate popular drug. One of his favorite things to say is, “The sun’s always shining on a game somewhere.” It’s hard to argue with that. But that perspective is now the privilege of a society where technology is so high and mighty that it all but shapes such perspectives. These days I can, if I so choose, subscribe to nothing but sports on over a hundred TV channels and a thousand browser bookmarks. But it wasn't always like that. When I was growing up, long before the super-commercialization of the sport, I and other kids spent more than every spare minute of our time memorizing the names and positions of players, collecting team shirts and paraphernalia, making up game scenarios, and just being our generation’s entirely devoted fans. Argentina is one of the nations most obsessed with sports, especially "fútbol" (or soccer to North Americans). The running American joke was that we're all born with a football. When the national team is playing a game, stores actually close their doors, and Buenos Aires looks like a ghost town. Even on the local level, River Plate, my favorite team where I grew up, didn't normally have to worry about empty seats in its home stadium, even though attendance is charged at a high premium. There are things our senses absorb when we are children, yet we don't notice them until much later on in life. A sport’s collage of aesthetics is one of those things. When I was a kid I loved the teams and players that I loved, but I never really stopped to think what solidified them in my memory and made them instantly recognizable to me. Now, thirty-some years later, and after having had the fortune to experience many cultures other than my own, I can safely deduce that a sport’s aesthetic depends on the local or national culture as much as it depends on the sport itself. And the way all that gets molded in a single team’s identity becomes so intricate it is difficult to see where each part comes from to shape the whole. Although “futbol” is still in my blood as an Argentinean, I'm old enough to afford a little cynicism about how extremely corporate most popular sports are. Of course, nothing can now take away the joy I got from football in my childhood and early teens. But over the past few years I've been trying to perceive the sport itself in a global context, even alongside other popular sports in different areas of the world. Being a type designer, I naturally focus in my comparisons on the alphabets used in designing different sports experiences. And from that I've come to a few conclusions about my own taste in sports aesthetic, some of which surprised me. I think I like the baseball and basketball aesthetic better than football, hockey, volleyball, tennis, golf, cricket, rugby, and other sports. This of course is a biased opinion. I'm a lettering guy, and hand lettering is seen much more in baseball and basketball. But there’s a bit more to it than that. Even though all sports can be reduced to a bare-bones series of purposes and goals to reach, the rules and arrangements of baseball and basketball, in spite of their obvious tempo differences, are more suited for overall artistic motion than other sports. So when an application of swashed handlettering is used as part of a team’s identity in baseball or basketball, it becomes a natural fit. The swashes can almost be visual representation of a basketball curving in the air on its way to the hoop, or a baseball on its way out of the park. This expression is invariably backed by and connected to bold, sleak lettering, representing the driving force and precision (arms, bat) behind the artistic motion. It’s a simple and natural connective analysis to a designer, but the normal naked eye still marvels inexplicably at the beauty of such logos and wordmarks. That analytical simplicity was the divining rod behind Fan Script. My own ambitious brief was to build a readable yet very artistic sports script that can be a perfect fit for baseball or basketball identities, but which can also be implemented for other sports. The result turned out to be quite beautiful to my eyes, and I hope you find it satisfactory in your own work. Sports scripts like this one are rooted in showcard lettering models from the late 19th and early 20th century, like Detroit’s lettering teacher C. Strong’s — the same models that continue to influence book designers and sign painters for more than a century now. So as you can see, American turn-of-the-century calligraphy and its long-term influences still remain a subject of fascination to me. This fascination has been the engine of most of my work, and it shows clearly in Fan Script. Fan Script is a lively heavy brush face suitable for sports identities. It includes a variety of swashes of different shapes, both connective and non-connective, and contains a whole range of letter alternates. Users of this font will find a lot of casual freedom in playing with different combinations - a freedom backed by a solid technological undercurrent, where OpenType features provide immediate and logical solutions to problems common to this kind of script. One final thing bears mentioning: After the font design and production were completed, it was surprisingly delightful for me to notice, in the testing stage, that my background as a packaging designer seems to have left a mark on the way the font works overall. The modern improvements I applied to the letter forms have managed to induce a somewhat retro packaging appearance to the totality of the typeface. So I expect Fan Script will be just as useful in packaging as it would be in sports identity, logotype and merchandizing. Ale Paul

Introducing Goldwyre, an extraordinary typeface meticulously crafted to captivate and inspire. With its seamless blend of elements from medieval to modern times, Goldwyre stands out as a truly unique font that embodies the essence of timelessness and elegance. Drawing inspiration from the intricate beauty of Gothic Blackletter and enriched with bold calligraphic strokes, this typeface exudes a mesmerizing charm that effortlessly bridges the gap between the past and the present. What sets Goldwyre apart from other typefaces is its ability to seamlessly combine medieval and modern aesthetics. By skillfully integrating the ornate and elaborate forms of Gothic Blackletter with contemporary design elements, Goldwyre offers a truly captivating typographic experience. This fusion of styles creates a font that is both classic and contemporary, making it an exceptional choice for projects that require a touch of sophistication and versatility. In addition to its captivating design, Goldwyre is available in two weights: regular and bold. The regular weight showcases the delicate intricacies of the typeface, while the bold weight accentuates its bold calligraphic strokes, adding a sense of strength and impact to any design. This versatility allows designers to explore a range of creative possibilities, whether it's designing eye-catching posters, compelling marketing materials, engaging titles, stylish T-shirt designs, or attention-grabbing headlines. Goldwyre is also a highly functional typeface, offering extensive multilingual support to cater to diverse audiences. It features a wide range of characters and diacritical marks, ensuring that it can effectively communicate in various languages and scripts. This broad language coverage expands the possibilities for global projects, making Goldwyre an excellent choice for international brands, publications, and design agencies. When conceptualizing Goldwyre, our design team aimed to create a typeface that harmoniously blends the grandeur of medieval typography with the sleekness of modern design. We wanted to pay homage to the rich history of typography while infusing it with a contemporary twist, resulting in a font that seamlessly integrates into both traditional and modern contexts. The deliberate fusion of styles and the meticulous attention to detail in Goldwyre's creation reflect our passion for typography and our commitment to delivering exceptional design solutions. Goldwyre was born out of a desire to provide designers and creatives with a captivating and stylish typographic solution that effortlessly merges the beauty of the past with the demands of the present. We believe that design is a powerful tool for self-expression, and with Goldwyre, we sought to empower designers to create visually striking and evocative designs that leave a lasting impression. Its timeless appeal and versatile nature make it the perfect choice for those who seek to elevate their projects and make a bold statement. Pairing Goldwyre with related families or other typefaces can further enhance its visual impact. It complements well with minimalist sans-serif fonts, such as Futura or Helvetica, providing a striking contrast between the intricate forms of Goldwyre and the clean lines of the sans-serif typefaces. This combination creates a harmonious balance, allowing designers to play with different aesthetics and create visually dynamic compositions. In conclusion, Goldwyre is more than just a typeface; it's a captivating journey through time. With its seamless blend of medieval and modern elements, extensive multilingual support, and versatile weights, Goldwyre empowers designers to create visually stunning designs across a wide range of applications. Whether you're designing posters, marketing materials, titles, T-shirt designs, or headlines, Goldwyre is the ultimate choice for those seeking to infuse their projects with a touch of timeless elegance and captivating beauty. Experience the magic of Goldwyre and unlock the true potential of your designs.

Classic Grotesque by Rod McDonald: a traditional font with a modern face. The growing popularity of grotesque typefaces meant that many new sans serif analogues were published in the early 20th century. Setting machines were not compatible with each other but all foundries wanted to offer up-to-date fonts, and as a result numerous different typeface families appeared that seem almost identical at first glance and yet go their separate ways with regard to details. One of the first fonts created with automatic typesetting in mind was Monotype Grotesque®. Although this typeface that was designed and published by Frank Hinman Pierpont in 1926 has since been digitalised, it has never achieved the status of other grotesque fonts of this period. But Monotype Grotesque was always one of designer Rod McDonald’s favourites, and he was overjoyed when he finally got the go-ahead from Monotype in 2008 to update this “hidden treasure”. The design process lasted four years, with regular interruptions due to the need to complete projects for other clients. In retrospect, McDonald admits that he had no idea at the beginning of just how challenging and complex a task it would be to create Classic Grotesque™. It took him considerable time before he found the right approach. In his initial drafts, he tried to develop Monotype Grotesque only to find that the result was almost identical with Arial®, a typeface that is also derived in many respects from Monotype Grotesque. It was only when he went back a stage, and incorporated elements of Bauer Font’s Venus™ and Ideal Grotesk by the Julius Klinkhardt foundry into the design process, that he found the way forward. Both these typefaces had served as the original inspiration for Monotype Grotesque. The name says it all: Classic Grotesque has all the attributes of the early grotesque fonts of the 20th century: The slightly artificial nature gives the characters a formal appearance. There are very few and only minor variations in line width. The tittles of the ‘i’ and ‘j’, the umlaut diacritic and other diacritic marks are rectangular. Interestingly, it is among the uppercase letters that certain variations from the standard pattern can be found, and it is these that enliven the typeface. Hence the horizontal bars of the “E”, “F” and “L” have bevelled terminals. The chamfered terminal of the bow of the “J” has a particular flamboyance, while the slightly curved descender of the “Q” provides for additional dynamism. The character alternatives available through the OpenType option provide the designer with a wealth of opportunities. These include a closed “a”, a double-counter “g” and an “e” in which the transverse bar deviates slightly from the horizontal. The seven different weights also extend the scope of uses of Classic Grotesque. These range from the delicate Light to the super thick Extrabold. There are genuine italic versions of each weight; these are not only slightly narrower than their counterparts, but also have variant shapes. The “a” is closed, the “f” has a semi-descender while the “e” is rounded. Its neutral appearance and excellent features mean that Classic Grotesque is suitable for use in nearly all imaginable applications. Even during the design phase, McDonald used his new font to set books and in promotional projects. However, he would be pleased to learn of possible applications that he himself has not yet considered. Classic Grotesque, which has its own individual character despite its neutral and restrained appearance, is the ideal partner for your print and web project.

Over the past couple of years I received quite a number of unusual and surprising requests to modify my type designs to suit projects of personal nature, but none top the ones that asked me to typeset and modify tattoos using Burgues Script or Adios. At first the whole idea was amusing to me, kind of like an inside joke. I had worked in corporate branding for a few years before becoming a type designer, and suddenly I was being asked to get involved in personal branding, as literally “personal” and “branding” as the expression can get. After a few such requests I began pondering the whole thing from a professional perspective. It was typography, after all, no matter how unusual the method or medium. A very personal kind of typography, too. The messages being typeset were commemorating friends, family, births, deaths, loves, principles, and things that influenced people in a deep and direct way, so much so that they chose to etch that influence on their bodies and wear it forever. And when you decide to wear something forever, style is of the essence. After digging into the tattooing scene, I have a whole new respect for tattoo artists. Wielding that machine is not easy, and driving pigment into people’s skin is an enormous responsibility. Not to mention that they're some of the very few who still use a crafty, hands-on process that is all but obsolete in other ornamentation methods. Some artists go the extra mile and take the time to develop their own lettering for tattooing purposes, and some are inventive enough to create letters based on the tattoo’s concept. But they are not the norm. Generally speaking, most tattoo artists use generic type designs to typeset words. Even the popular blackletter designs have become quite generic over the past few decades. I still cringe when I see something like Bank Script embedded into people’s skin, turning them into breathing, walking shareholder invitations or government bonds. There’s been quite a few attempts at making fonts out of whatever original tattoo designer typefaces can be found out there - wavy pseudo-comical letters, or rough thick brush scripts, but as far as I could tell a stylish skin script was never attempted in the digital age. And that’s why I decided to design Piel Script. Piel is Spanish for skin. In a way, Piel Script is a removed cousin of Burgues Script. Although the initial sketches were infused with some 1930s showcard lettering ideas (particularly those of B. Boley, whose amazing work was shown in Sign of the Times magazine), most of the important decisions about letter shapes and connectivity were reached by observing whatever strengths and weaknesses can be seen in tattoos using Burgues. Tattoos using Adios also provided some minor input. In retrospect, I suppose Affair exercised some influence as well, albeit in a minor way. I guess what I'm trying to say is there is as much of me in Piel Script as there is in any of the other major scripts I designed, even though the driving vision for it is entirely different from anything else I have ever done. I hope you like Piel Script. If you decide it to use it on your skin, I'll be very flattered. If you decide to use it on your skateboard or book cover, I'll be just as happy. Scripts can't get any more personal than this. Piel Script received the Letter2 award, where they selected the best 53 typefaces of the last decade, organised by ATypI.

Introducing "Te Hafs tharwat Emara" - An Exquisite Arabic Font for the Holy Quran Unveil the beauty and elegance of Arabic calligraphy with "Te Hafs tharwat Emara," a meticulously crafted font designed specifically for typing the Holy Quran. This magnificent typeface pays homage to the rich cultural heritage of Arabic script while embracing modern design elements, resulting in a captivating blend of tradition and innovation. With its unique and enchanting aesthetic, "Te Hafs tharwat Emara" captures the essence of Islamic art and typography, making it an ideal choice for any project related to the Holy Quran. Whether you're designing Quranic verses, Islamic manuscripts, or educational materials, this font will elevate your work to new heights and leave a lasting impression on your audience. The essence of "Te Hafs tharwat Emara" lies in its harmonious balance of form and function. Every letter has been meticulously crafted to ensure legibility and clarity, even at smaller sizes. The thoughtful spacing and meticulous attention to detail make this font a delight to read, enhancing the overall reading experience of the Holy Quran. One of the standout features of "Te Hafs tharwat Emara" is its ornate and intricate calligraphic strokes. Each character is a masterpiece in itself, reflecting the skill and expertise of traditional Arabic calligraphers. The fluidity of the strokes and the subtle curves create a sense of rhythm and grace, evoking a sense of reverence and spirituality. The versatility of "Te Hafs tharwat Emara" allows it to adapt effortlessly to various design contexts. Whether you're working on printed materials, digital platforms, or even signage, this font will maintain its beauty and legibility, ensuring your message is conveyed with utmost clarity and impact. To further enhance its usability, "Te Hafs tharwat Emara" includes a comprehensive set of Arabic ligatures, diacritical marks, and punctuation, enabling you to accurately represent the intricacies of the Arabic language. These thoughtful additions ensure that your typography remains authentic and faithful to the traditions of Arabic script. When it comes to font selection, readability is of utmost importance. "Te Hafs tharwat Emara" has been meticulously optimized for digital and print environments, ensuring exceptional legibility in both mediums. Each character has been carefully tested and refined to guarantee optimal reading comfort, making this font an excellent choice for long passages of text. Moreover, "Te Hafs tharwat Emara" supports a wide range of OpenType features, granting you creative control over your typography. From alternate character forms to contextual alternates, swashes, and ligatures, this font offers a plethora of options to customize and elevate your design. With such flexibility at your fingertips, your creativity knows no bounds. Beyond its technical prowess, "Te Hafs tharwat Emara" is a font with a story. It symbolizes a rich cultural heritage, embodying the devotion and reverence associated with the Holy Quran. Its elegant curves and intricate details evoke a sense of spirituality, making it a perfect choice for projects aimed at preserving and celebrating Islamic traditions. In conclusion, "Te Hafs tharwat Emara" is more than just a font; it is a celebration of Arabic calligraphy, Islamic art, and the beauty of the Holy Quran. With its exquisite design, unparalleled legibility, and versatile application, this font is an invaluable asset for any project related to Islamic typography. Embrace the artistry of "Te Hafs tharwat Emara" and elevate your designs to new heights of beauty and elegance.

Introducing "Te Hafs1 tharwat Emara1" - An Exquisite Arabic Font for the Holy Quran Unveil the beauty and elegance of Arabic calligraphy with "Te Hafs1 tharwat Emara1," a meticulously crafted font designed specifically for typing the Holy Quran. This magnificent typeface pays homage to the rich cultural heritage of Arabic script while embracing modern design elements, resulting in a captivating blend of tradition and innovation. With its unique and enchanting aesthetic, "Te Hafs1 tharwat Emara1" captures the essence of Islamic art and typography, making it an ideal choice for any project related to the Holy Quran. Whether you're designing Quranic verses, Islamic manuscripts, or educational materials, this font will elevate your work to new heights and leave a lasting impression on your audience. The essence of "Te Hafs1 tharwat Emara1" lies in its harmonious balance of form and function. Every letter has been meticulously crafted to ensure legibility and clarity, even at smaller sizes. The thoughtful spacing and meticulous attention to detail make this font a delight to read, enhancing the overall reading experience of the Holy Quran. One of the standout features of "Te Hafs1 tharwat Emara1" is its ornate and intricate calligraphic strokes. Each character is a masterpiece in itself, reflecting the skill and expertise of traditional Arabic calligraphers. The fluidity of the strokes and the subtle curves create a sense of rhythm and grace, evoking a sense of reverence and spirituality. The versatility of "Te Hafs1 tharwat Emara1" allows it to adapt effortlessly to various design contexts. Whether you're working on printed materials, digital platforms, or even signage, this font will maintain its beauty and legibility, ensuring your message is conveyed with utmost clarity and impact. To further enhance its usability, "Te Hafs1 tharwat Emara1" includes a comprehensive set of Arabic ligatures, diacritical marks, and punctuation, enabling you to accurately represent the intricacies of the Arabic language. These thoughtful additions ensure that your typography remains authentic and faithful to the traditions of Arabic script. When it comes to font selection, readability is of utmost importance. "Te Hafs1 tharwat Emara1" has been meticulously optimized for digital and print environments, ensuring exceptional legibility in both mediums. Each character has been carefully tested and refined to guarantee optimal reading comfort, making this font an excellent choice for long passages of text. Moreover, "Te Hafs1 tharwat Emara1" supports a wide range of OpenType features, granting you creative control over your typography. From alternate character forms to contextual alternates, swashes, and ligatures, this font offers a plethora of options to customize and elevate your design. With such flexibility at your fingertips, your creativity knows no bounds. Beyond its technical prowess, "Te Hafs1 tharwat Emara1" is a font with a story. It symbolizes a rich cultural heritage, embodying the devotion and reverence associated with the Holy Quran. Its elegant curves and intricate details evoke a sense of spirituality, making it a perfect choice for projects aimed at preserving and celebrating Islamic traditions. In conclusion, "Te Hafs1 tharwat Emara1" is more than just a font; it is a celebration of Arabic calligraphy, Islamic art, and the beauty of the Holy Quran. With its exquisite design, unparalleled legibility, and versatile application, this font is an invaluable asset for any project related to Islamic typography. Embrace the artistry of "Te Hafs1 tharwat Emara1" and elevate your designs to new heights of beauty and elegance.