Samples of vintage machine-punched stencils used for marking crates and cartons were spotted in an online auction. These served as the basis for Industrial Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Stencils have played a number of roles over the years, from decorative patterns to military markings; from labeling shipping containers to a student’s school project. One unusual application of a stencil alphabet was some metal letters spotted for sale at an online auction site. These antique letters were used for promoting the current show on a theater marquee just as plastic ones are used nowadays. Following the auction images as a guide, the Roman stencil font from those marquee letters is now preserved digitally as Talent Stencil JNL; which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

An antique barrel lid stencil spotted in an online auction for a company once located in Guttenberg, NJ provided the hand-cut sans serif lettering which inspired Old Brass Stencil JNL; available in both regular and oblique versions.

Signage JNL shows the heavy influence of the perennial favorite Futura Black with a couple of minor changes here and there. The design was inspired by a set of British brass stencils for sale in an online auction.

A vintage brass stencil for an individual or company named ‘Rodrigues’ was spotted in an online auction. The hand punched, condensed Roman lettering inspired the digital typeface Nameplate Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

A hand-lettered title on a children's stencil book for sale in an online auction served as the basis for Rustic Stencil JNL. Reminiscent of classic wood type, this stencil design adds a Western-influenced flair to any typographic project.

Some vintage Beacon metal door letters used for identifying addresses on home and business buildings was spotted in an online auction from England. Those few letters were the inspiration for Home Address JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Inspired by the images on some EBay auctions, Jeff Levine sketched out and revived this early 1900s serif design used on some French sign letters. Named for a friend in the graphics industry, this font captures the charm of the Art Nouveau period.

Hand-cut wooden letters belonging to a long-defunct salad bar's signage were offered for sale in an online auction. The casual look of the lettering, the hand crafted feel and the rounded ends made for the perfect inspiration for designing Salad Bar JNL.

Amongst a number of items for sale in an online auction was a font of metal type featuring a thin, condensed serif font with decidedly Art Deco styling. This was the inspiration for Department Store JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

What started as an image of a single vintage brass stencil of the letter 'P' spotted in an online auction has turned into Blacksmith JNL. From that single letter Jeff Levine has created a complete Western stencil font, retaining the hand-made look of the original stencil piece.

The idea for Gummed Letters JNL came from an online auction of some foil-embossed gummed letters from the 1940s and 1950s. One particular set was of a sans serif face that hadn't been produced in decades, and Jeff Levine felt it was worthy of a digital treatment.

Sign Stencil JNL was modeled from some vintage lettering stencils spotted in an online auction that were part of a store sign making kit. A variety of styles, sizes and designs were contained within a carrying case along with paints, brushes and instructions on how to paint attractive signs.

Spotted in an online auction was a set of brass stencils (possibly handmade) of which some of the characters were individually displayed. The interesting placement of where the letters were broken into stencil parts inspired the creation of Trade Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Modeled after some antique stencil cutting tools spotted in an online auction, Stencil Cutter JNL portrays the look of hand tooled lettering. The rounded-end characters have their own personality and this eccentricity provides a warmth and charm from times past. Stencil Cutter JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Online auctions offer a myriad of unique, vintage and novel lettering devices – all which are fertile ground for typographic inspiration. In this instance, a set of stamped metal letters for outdoor signage was the basis for Stamped Metal JNL. Some of the non-traditional letter weights makes these simple block letters a wonderful change of pace for bold, attention-getting headlines.

An old brass stencil of the word 'large' was spotted for sale in an online auction. What set it apart from many other vintage stencil items was the beautiful, hand-punched Western letters with a diamond-shape center. Those five letters served as the basis for Old Chisholm JNL, which retains the look and hand-made charm of the original metal stencil.

Hand lettering on the packaging for an Arrow "Commander" Staple Remover seen in an online auction is the inspiration for the unusual and angular typeface comprising Staple Remover JNL. The Art Deco era of the 1930s and 1940s offers many wonderful examples of stylized and experimental lettering, and this, by far is one of the more eclectic styles of the time.

Online auctions continue to be a surprising wealth of font design inspiration. In this instance, a number of silk embroidered Art Deco initials inside inverted triangles inspired Deco Pennant Initials JNL. The uppercase version is white lettering on a black background – similar to the originals. On the lowercase keys is a set of initials that are black on white with a black border. Since the inverted triangles resemble pennants, there’s a solid black blank on the left parenthesis key and a outlined blank one on the right parenthesis key. In this way, the initials could be used for monograms or interspersed with the blanks to form short banner messages.

Browsing online auctions and other webs sites often unearths wonderful examples of lettering from the past. A perfect example is Ritz Stencil JNL, modeled after a page from a 1930s-era lettering book. Although this font has similar characteristics to other better-known designs, there are enough unique differences to let it stand on its own as a great example of the Art Deco era.

A group of unique metal plates with stencil initials cut into them was spotted while browsing through online auctions for source material. What made these items even more interesting was how some of the stencil letters had been sectionally divided - not vertically or horizontally as in most stencils, but lines cut at angles. This is the basis for Steel Stencil JNL and Steel Stencil Oblique JNL.

An image spotted in an online auction online of a 1940 Milton Bradley child's activity set consisting of wooden letters formed the basis for School Activities JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions. Although the basic characters feature chamfered corners, the nature of bending the steel rule dies to form the letters to be cut from the wood provided rounded edges as well, creating their unique look.

Eckhardt Poster Board JNL further continues Jeff Levine's series of sign painter-oriented fonts, named in honor of his good friend Albert Eckhardt, Jr. (who ran Allied signs in Miami, Florida from 1959 until his passing). The typeface is a casual brush style, modeled from an image of a do-it-yourself sign making kit comprised of stencils, paint and brush spotted for sale through an online auction.

The grandeur of what was Miami Beach had its golden years peak in the 1940s. One of the grande dame hotels that stood at Collins Avenue and 23rd Street was the Roney Plaza; built in the 1920s and demolished around 1969. An online auction offered a pair of gummed labels provided by the hotel to be used by their guests for shipping souvenir packages back home, thus also giving the hotel a promotional plug. Jeff Levine not only created two typefaces from this hand-lettered label - Old Miami Beach JNL and Old Miami Beach Nights JNL (a solid black version), but painstakingly recreated the look of the label for the promotional flag and banner for the fonts.

The cover lettering of a 1940s issue of a romance comic spotted in an auction online was the inspiration for Monthly Adventures JNL. Classic in its Art Deco look, this condensed outline font is evocative of the hand-lettered titles used during the Golden Age of the comic book. Available in both the original outline version and a thick, solid version with the outline removed, as well as oblique variations of both.

An image of a vintage British lettering stencil set [probably circa 1960s] spotted in an online auction inspired North End Stencil JNL. The original lettering was a hybrid of both stencil and solid letter forms, but for the digital version all of the characters were given the stencil treatment. North End Stencil JNL is named after a district in London, and the type face is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Emporia JNL is a wonderfully decorative and vintage wood type named for a city in Kansas, and modeled from just a dozen images of individual type blocks spotted for auction online. The release of this typeface is also a milestone for Jeff Levine Fonts. The foundry started in January, 2006 with only ten releases, and has now grown to be an impressive library of unique lettering designs from the past. The collection also contains numerous original and novelty creations. Emporia JNL is proudly released as the 500th font design to join this extensive library.

The design idea for this condensed sans serif stencil font was inspired by a post-World War II brass stencil spotted in an online auction. The United States was assisting Europe with much-needed goods, and the text in the middle of a “stars and stripes” shield used for marking the shipping containers read “For European Recovery supplied by the United States of America”. It was the first line (“For European Recovery”) that became the working model for Supplier Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.