The font Speech Bubbles offers a convenient way to integrate text and image. While the font can be used to design comics, it also gives the typographer a tool to make text speak – to give words conversational dynamics and to emphasize visually the sound of the message. The font includes a total of seventy outlines and seventy bubble backgrounds selected from a survey of historic forms. What follows is a discussion of my process researching and developing the font, as well as a few user suggestions. My work on the Speech Bubbles font began with historic research. My first resource was a close friend who is a successful German comic artist. I had previously worked with him to transform his lettering art into an OpenType font. This allowed his publishing house to easily translate cartoons from German to other languages without the need to use another font, like Helvetica rounded. My friend showed me the most exciting, outstanding and graphically appealing speech bubbles from his library. I looked at early strips from Schulz (Peanuts), Bill Waterson (Calvin & Hobes), Hergé (TinTin), Franquin, as well as Walt Disney. The most inspiring was the early Krazy Kat and Ignatz (around 1915) from George Herriman. I also studied 1980’s classics Dave Gibbon’s Watchmen, Frank Miller’s Ronin and Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s V for Vandetta. Contemporary work was also a part of my research—like Liniers from Macanudo and work of Ralf König. With this overview in mind I began to work from scratch. I tried to distill the typical essence of each author’s or era’s speech bubbles style into my font. In the end I limited my work down to the seventy strongest images. An important aspect of the design process was examining each artist’s speech bubble outlines. In some cases they are carefully inked, as in most of the 80’s work. In others, such as with Herriman, they are fast drawn with a rough impetus. The form can be dynamic and round (Schultz) with a variable stroke width, or straight inked with no form contrast (Hergé). Since most outlines also carry the character of the tool that they are made with, I chose to separate the outline from the speech bubble fill-in or background. 
This technical decision offers interesting creative possibilities. For example, the font user can apply a slight offset from fill-in to outline, as it is typical to early comic strips, in which there are often print misalignments. Also, rather than work in the classic white background with black outline, one can work with colors. Many tonal outcomes are possible by contrasting the fill-in and outline color. The Speech Bubbles font offers a dynamic and quick way to flavor information while conveying a message. How is something said? Loudly? With a tint of shyness? Does a rather small message take up a lot of space? The font’s extensive survey of historic comic designs in an assembly that is useful for both pure comic purposes or more complex typographic projects. Use Speech Bubbles to give your message the right impact in your poster, ad or composition.

Introducing Meritocracy, a full-featured handwritten font with tons of alternate characters and OpenType features. My goal with this font was to make you a typeface that will look as much like hand lettering as possible. Using the built-in OpenType pseudo-random contextual alternates and over 300 individually drawn ligatures, you can infuse your typography with personality and variety.** OpenType Features Meritocracy comes with more than 900 glyphs! Specific OpenType features include contextual alternates, stylistic alternates, a second stylistic set for variety, multiple alternate glyphs for many letters (accessed through the glyphs panel), multilingual support (including multiple currency symbols), standard numbers, and seven ampersand styles. It also includes 325+ standard and discretionary ligatures, all of them individually hand-drawn to be different from all other glyphs in the font. These ligatures allow you to give a super-realistic hand-lettered look to your typography. You can write the same word in so many different ways if you combine the default set, stylistic set 01, and standard and discretionary ligatures in different ways. SPECIAL OPENTYPE FEATURE: If you are using OpenType-capable software like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, or CorelDraw and you have contextual alternates turned on, you can see the letters randomize themselves as you type, mixing from the default character set and stylistic set 01. (You can always turn on contextual alternates after you have already typed your passage and it will randomize all at once, or you can choose to turn off contextual alternates and substitute specific glyphs yourself - I find that if I'm typing a word or two, I prefer to control the individual glyphs myself; if I'm typing a paragraph, I like to use the built-in randomness of the contextual alternates feature). Note that this pseudo-randomization (aka contextual alternate feature) is ON by default in Apple's Pages app and OFF by default in Microsoft Word, but it can be turned on. The OpenType features can be very easily accessed by using OpenType-savvy programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign. (To access most of these awesome features in Microsoft Word, you'll need to get comfortable with the advanced tab of Word's font menu. If you have questions about this, ask me!) Files included: Meritocracy-Regular.otf Please note: there is only one file for this font. That's the magic of OpenType - all of the alternates, ligatures, etc. are built right into the .otf file! Mail support : julie@upupcreative.com --- Find inspiration (and sneak peeks at my next font-in-progress) on - Instagram: http://instagram.com/julieatupupcreative - Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/upupcreative - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/upupcreative - My website: http://upupcreative.com --- **PLEASE ENJOY! I can't wait to see what you make with Meritocracy! Feel free to use the #upupcreative and #meritocracyfont tags to show me what you've been up to!**

Mundo Sans, by Carl Crossgrove for the Monotype Studio, is distinctive, approachable – and ready to tackle jobs both big and small. Its open counters and large x-height, which give the design a straight-forward no-nonsense mien, are softened by inviting calligraphic undertones. With 10 weights and a complementary suite of cursive italics, there is little outside the range of the Mundo Sans family. The light weights are elegant in packaging and brochure design, the medium are easy readers in digital blogs and print periodicals and the bold command attention in banners and headlines. Mundo Sans is at home in a wide range of sizes, and comfortable in everything from wayfinding to mobile apps. Mundo Sans takes on complicated branding projects with efficient grace. The family enables companies and products to express their brand seamlessly in websites, advertising, corporate messaging, packaging – virtually everywhere visible engagement is possible. A large international character set, that includes support for most Central European and many Eastern European languages, ensures ease of localization. Mundo Sans was originally released with seven weights. The family was updated with three new roman weights and their italics in 2019 that extend and diversify its range of use: a fine hairline weight, a book weight, slightly lighter than regular, and a demi that is subtly lighter than the medium. The design is also is a good mixer. It easily pairs with everything from refined Didones to stalwart slab serif designs. And if you need a more harmonious palette, look no further than Mundo Sans’ relative, Mundo Serif. The two designs harmonize with each other perfectly in weight, typographic color and proportion. Mundo Sans’ italics are true cursive designs, with fluid strokes and obvious calligraphic overtones. The flick of the down-stroke in the ‘a,’ the descending stroke of the ‘f’ and baseline curve of the ‘z’ add grace to the design and distinguish it from more mechanistic styles. Mundo Sans is a design with deep roots. It was originally drawn to pair with classic Renaissance book typefaces like Bembo® and ITC Galliard®. With a hint of diagonal stroke contrast and gentle flaring of strokes, Mundo Sans complements these designs with warmth and grace. Crossgrove says that Mundo isn’t meant to be showy or distinctive. It is intended to follow the tradition of sans serif designs that have a wide range of uses, enabling comfortable reading and clear expression. Crossgrove has designed a variety of typefaces ranging from the futuristic and organic Biome™ to the text designs of Monotype’s elegant Walbaum™ revival. His work for Monotype also often takes Crossgrove into the realm of custom fronts for branding and non-Latin scripts.

Bodoni Ferrara™ Fashionable, Luxury Heritage: The Original Bodoni Ferrara Sculpted from hi-res photos and scans of Bodoni's original Ferrara Font—his 1818 Manuale Tipografico and 1768 specimens. It has never before been available. This cut of Bodoni specially selected by Dave Lawrence from rare book specimens. Part of the California Type Foundry Origin Series. 3 Display Fonts in One!! And 6+ style mixes. Bodoni's 1st Draft - Transitional Serif Bodoni was often inspired by French type designs. His first draft of Ferrara was inspired by Pierre Simon Fournier. But Bodoni added his own Italian sensibilities. Bododni’s first, transitional style can pair with humanist sans, and transitional fonts. Bodoni's Rework - Modern Serif Later, Bodoni reworked Ferrara to match the later neo-classic style or modern serif of Firmin Didot¹. Bodoni’s modern style can pair with geometric sans, grotesque sans, neo-grotesque sans, gothic sans, copperplate script, . Informal On™ - Informal Mode by CAL Type Foundry This can pair with “infant” fonts. Geometric sans, and other sans or serifs with one-storied a’s. + Bodoni’s Tivoli a for another option! Works great with Fournier¹ fonts and grotesques, since the terminals will match. Font Pairing Guide This font includes a 78 page Ferrara Pairing Guide. This book shows you 131 pairings with text fonts. 47 pairings with subheader fonts! We want to help you get more out of your font collection. Design Features • Subtle forward angle (0.5-1.5°) makes Ferrara more lively and engaging than most Bodoni or Didot fonts. • Round curves make this font feel letter-pressed. • Bodoni's original tall x-height and slightly condensed proportions: great for headlines, where space is at a premium. • Better uppercase. Uppercase punctuation for design apps. • Proportional oldstyle and lining figures, both modern style and transitional numbers. Every pair of numbers is kerned for display sizes: no unsightly gaps! • Multiple special symbols for whenever you need a design to pop, including 3 of Bodoni’s amazing ampersands. Language Features Latin standard for western European and other languages. +Advanced support for: German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French. Special, uppercase umlauts for titles! Compare to metal Bauer¹ Bodoni! Special context kerning for French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French, to allow better better words like L'Angelique & “¿Nosotros?”. This kerning gets rid of unsightly gaps between “¿ and other combinations. Can’t Find the Pairing Guide? Can't find the pairing guide? Google “California Type Foundry” and grab the pairing guide. Get another free pro font while you’re there! Ferrara: many sizes, styles, moods and situations. It's a classic, fashionable font for display, headlines, and titles. Grab Ferrara today! ----------- ¹Trademarks of their respective owners. Ferrara™ is a trademark of the California Type Foundry.

Rev your engines and get ready to add some muscle to your typography with Threefortysixbarrel, the ultimate typeface for those who live life in the fast lane. This high-octane typeface was peeled right off the air filter of a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda. With Threefortysixbarrel, you’ll be able to proclaim your message with confidence and authority. This no-nonsense alphabet is barely street legal, just like the muscle cars it takes inspiration from. And with three different styles to choose from, you can customize your typography to match your message perfectly. First up, we have Threefortysixbarrel. This is the serious, clean version of the font, with a powerful personality that commands attention. It’s perfect for when you need to make a statement that can’t be ignored. If you’re looking for a more vintage feel, Threefortysixbarrel Intake is the way to go. This style features a realistic rusty letterpress effect that will make your typography look like it’s been around since the golden age of muscle cars. It’s perfect for adding a touch of nostalgia to your designs. And finally, we have Threefortysixbarrel Exhaust. This style is raspy and faded, barely hanging on—just like a muscle car that’s been pushed to its limits. It’s the perfect choice when you want your typography to have a scruffy, worn-in feel. But that’s not all—the textured styles of Threefortysixbarrel also include custom pairs that will be substituted automatically in apps that can handle OpenType ligatures. This means that repeated character textures will be broken up, resulting in an even more realistic, scruffy effect. So what are you waiting for? Grab the pistol grip, slam the pedal down, and peel out with Threefortysixbarrel. This typeface is the ultimate choice for anyone who wants to add some serious muscle to their designs. 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.