Cloister Open Face was designed in 1929 by Morris Fuller Benton as one weight of the Cloister Old Style family. Cloister itself appeared from 1897 with American Type Founders, and later for the typesetting machines of the Linotype, Intertype and Monotype companies. At that time, it was the truest modern industrial revival of the Jensonian Roman. Benton stayed close to the style of his model in both design and spacing. Cloister Open Face has an old-world elegance, and it works well for titling in books and magazines. In 1458, Charles VII sent the Frenchman Nicolas Jenson to learn the craft of movable type in Mainz, the city where Gutenberg was working. Jenson was supposed to return to France with his newly learned skills, but instead he traveled to Italy, as did other itinerant printers of the time. From 1468 on, he was in Venice, where he flourished as a punchcutter, printer and publisher. He was probably the first non-German printer of movable type, and he produced about 150 editions. Though his punches have vanished, his books have not, and those produced from about 1470 until his death in 1480 have served as a source of inspiration for type designers over centuries. His Roman type is often called the first true Roman." Notable in almost all Jensonian Romans is the angled crossbar on the lowercase e, which is known as the "Venetian Oldstyle e.""

Under the commission of the American Century Magazine"", Linn Boyd Benton designed a new text typeface in 1894 with a design typical of the Neorenaissance movement in typography. Morris Fuller Benton produced various interpretations of this font for American Typefounders and the companies Linotype, Intertype and Monotype quickly took up the typeface. New Century Schoolbook font is a very legible font, fairly narrow and with relatively little stroke contrast. This font is from Morris F. Benton and appeared in 1915.

Franklin Gothic was designed between 1903 and 1912 by Morris Fuller Benton for the American Type Founders Company. The font serves as the American Grotesk prototype. It was named after Benjamin Franklin. Even today, Franklin Gothic remains one of the most widely used sans serif typefaces. The robust character of the font gives text a modern feel. It is widely used in newspapers and advertising and is frequently seen in posters, placards and other material where space is restricted. Featured in: Best Fonts for Tattoos

A beautiful and stylish pen lettered alphabet appears within the pages of the 1921 publication “How to Write Show Cards” and its Art Nouveau stylings made it a perfect candidate for a digital revival. Pleasant Show Card JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Alf Becker graced the pages of "Signs of the Times" magazine month after month for decades, presenting attractive and unusual hand lettered alphabets as inspiration for other sign painters and show card writers. From straightforward text faces to novelty ideas, Becker's talent as a master sign crafter was constant in his work. Show Card Casual JNL is one example of what is referred to as a "one stroke" alphabet (utilizing a single brush stroke in each direction to form the letter or number). Its casual look and playful charm allow for a message to be presented in an informal format that is pleasing to the eye. The type design is available in both regular and oblique versions. Special thanks to Tod Swormstedt of ST Publications for providing the reference material.

The title and credits for the 1951 Dick Powell and Rhonda Fleming film “Cry Danger” were hand lettered in a freehand brush lettering often seen on store signs and show cards. Serving as the model for Show Card Freehand JNL, this pleasant and casual typeface is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Art Nouveau serif capitals and numerals in the 1917 instructional book “A Roman Alphabet and How to Use It” were the inspiration for Show Card Roman JNL; available in both regular and oblique versions.

A collection of design elements used in logotypes and calling cards from the Victorian era. A PDF file included in the package shows how to construct the various elements

Show Card Sans JNL (available in both regular and oblique versions) is based on a chart showing the basic construction of sans serif lettering in the 1922 instruction book “Modern Show Card Writing”.

The 1920 edition of “How to Paint Signs and Sho’ Cards” by E. C. Matthews offered a number of examples of then-modern lettering styles for sign painters and show card writers. A bold display alphabet made with a round lettering nib is now available as Show Card Pen JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.

A playful, casual take on round nib pen lettering was spotted amongst some online scans from an old lettering book. The free-form and stylized shapes of the letters and numbers are reminiscent of old-time show cards, movie titles and signage in vogue around the early 1900s through the 1920s. Fancy Show Card JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Show Card Deco JNL is a hybrid of examples from hand lettered titles found on various song folios from the Carl Fischer Music Library circa the 1930s and is available in both regular and oblique versions. This particular typeface lends itself perfectly to show cards, posters, headlines and display titling which captures the modern, streamlined design of the Art Deco era.

Hard Lines - A Fun Display Font With Shadow Decoration inside. It will elevate a wide range of design projects to the highest level, be it branding, headings, wedding designs, invitations, signatures, logotype, wall art illustration, apparel, labels, and much more!

For decades, the National Show Card Writer Company of Minneapolis, MN produced sign making kits used by shopkeepers, schools, churches and many other types of organizations. The standard sets were comprised of two part stencils that when overlaid, produced finished lettering, or a buyer could choose the same type style designs with a standard stencil letter. From one of these templates comes Show Card Stencil JNL, in both regular and oblique versions. Take note that the U, V and W have the heavier vertical strokes reversed. As this was the way the original stencil design was manufactured, it has been retained for this digital type as well.

One example in the 1919 instructional book “One Hundred Alphabets for the Show Card Writer” was for an elegant sans serif with a subtle Art Nouveau style to the letter forms. This is now available digitally as Show Card Elite JNL in both regular and oblique versions.

The very first Speedball-Lettering Book was published in 1915, and within its pages was a rough-hewn example of lettering with the name "Rapid Sho-Card Style". The design is now available as Antique Show Card JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.

A movie poster for the 1952 Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis comedy “Sailor Beware” had the text rendered in a casual style of brush lettering similar to that found on store show cards. This inspired Show Card Brush JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Here's a new take on an old favorite from Frederic Goudy, named Goudy Fancy. Taking its name from a British expression meaning "A-OK," this font is a perfect choice for engaging and enchanting headlines. The font also contains numerous alternate characters to spice up your layouts. Both versions of the font contain characters to support all major European languages.

The inspiration for this font made its first appearance in the 1897 American Type Founders specimen book, under the name "Lithotint". As the name suggests, the original was tinted gray (diagonal lines formed the body); this version is solid and spooky, too. The font contains a few ghostly graphics, including ghosts at the bracket positions, a haunted house at the backslash position, and a scary backdrop at the ASCII tilde and ASCII circumflex positions. Both versions of the font include 1252 Latin, 1250 CE (with localization for Romanian and Moldovan).

An old favorite from the venerable Letragraphica series, named Yankee Shadow and designed by Tony Geddes, provides the pattern for this sporty font. For this version, the outlines have been beefed up, and the shadow has been moved in an easterly direction. Both versions of this font include the complete Latin 1252 and CE 1250 character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.

LD Kiss the Cook resembles those quick recipe notes or a handwritten kitchen scrawl.

Carved in stone or wood? this old looking typeface will be great for signage, posters and short texts too.