Designed by Douglas C. McMurtrie. Digitally engineered by Steve Jackaman. Based on the original Ludlow drawings, circa 1928.

And the day in which I introduce my second typographic family has arrived. In order to do this, I borrowed several passages from this beautiful book by Maurice Maeterlinck, “Life and Flowers”. His poetic observation of Nature made me reflect about the small discoveries behind the flow of my pen on paper. About that quick, spontaneous, overwhelmed stroke, with some awkwardness as well as certainty in it. About the writing that looms line after line. About the mischievous stains of ink flooding my writing tool. Lady Dodó was born as a product of these drawings, pieces of writing and reflections. Following the steps of its ancestor and friend, Lady René, it takes advantage of the goodness of the Open Type technology to propose a systematized as well as a personalized writing font. Both friendly and challenging. Due to the large number of alternate characters (both for lower and upper case as well as for numbers) and to its precise programming, it proposes to design diverse and rich typographical sets with multiple strokes in a simple way. However, Lady Dodó is not just made of typographical signs; it also proposes a set of modules to make patterns and another one to design frames. From the combination of these modular signs, an infinite universe of possibilities for decoration arises. Here is Lady Dodó, ready to get started and write its destiny. July 2015.

Although inspired by the engraved lettering on eighteenth-century English trade-cards, ITC Vineyard has unusual characteristics of its own. The type retains some quality of copperplate scripts, but the differentiation between thicks and hairlines is not very sharp. There are a few cursive forms, but most of the letters are romanized: they are almost upright and not joining. Occasional flourishes are casually interpreted from various sources such as the lettering on trade-cards and writing masters' copybooks. “I think it is a new kind of 'copperplate script' which is not too formal and easier to read,” claims designer Akira Kobayshi. Irregularities are apparent in the angle of caps and numerals, but the face's quirkiness gives a type page some friendliness rather than cold brilliancy. ITC Vineyard is designed in two weights: regular and bold. Each variation includes several extra characters such as an alternative lowercase 'd' with a long arm, a T-h ligature, swelled rules, and a pair of flourishes. Swash caps are available for both weights. The swash caps variation also includes oldstyle figures. Kobayashi notes: “There are a few swash-cap lowercase combinations that collide or look awkward. In that case, I recommend using the plain caps. Setting all swash cap copy should also be discouraged.” Featured in: Best Fonts for Tattoos

First introduced by the American Type Founders Company in 1906, Railroad Gothic was the quintessential typographic expression of turn-of-the-century industrial spirit—bold and brash in tone, and a little rough around the edges. A favorite for the plain speak of big headlines, Railroad Gothic quickly gained popularity among printers. Its condensed but robust forms were likely a source of inspiration for later families of industrial sans serifs. The design feels like a cleaned-up version of some earlier Victorian gothics, notable for their uneven proportions and awkward letterforms. ATF offered a number of sizes of Railroad Gothic as metal type, with cuts varying in design considerably from size to size. Creating this new digital version involved interpreting the characteristics of different sizes and making some aesthetic choices: where to retain the design’s familiar unstudied gawkiness, and where to make improvements. The new ATF® Railroad Gothic features a measured, harmonious interpretation of the original, and has been extended with four new weights (each bolder than the last). The heaviest weights are carefully designed to keep counters open, no matter how dense the overall effect may be, maintaining legibility at any display size. This contemporary rendition of a historic American design boasts a full Latin character set, including glyphs undreamed-of in the heyday of railroads.