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.

A vintage hand lettered sign for a carnival game was the basis for Sign Display Casual JNL, a classic example of the "one stroke" casual text lettering that sets sign painters apart from sign manufacturers.

Samuel Welo’s “Studio Handbook for Artists and Advertisers” (published in both 1927 and 1960) showcased this talented man’s hand-lettered alphabets; used as inspiration for the sign trade and for graphic designers. A particularly interesting slab serif from the 1960 edition has many unusual character shapes, and served as the model for Casual Slab Serif JNL – available in both regular and oblique versions.

Now is a great time to dust off your old motor scooter and take a ride along the Italian Riviera. Let’s head to the flower city of San Remo, Italy - the namesake for this versatile, 1950s style script. Try San Remo on your next brochure or flyer project. You may want to consider using it to create a special logo or icon for your personal stationery. It’s perfect for any job that requires linked or connected letters. And for your convenience, this dashing design sports a variety of alternate characters plus lining and old style figures. San Remo Casual is also available as an OpenType font. It contains lining and oldstyle figures, prebuilt fractions, stylistic alternates, and a wide assortment of f-ligatures, plus more. These advanced features currently work in Adobe Creative Suite InDesign and Illustrator. Check for OpenType advanced feature support in other applications as it gradually becomes available with upgrades. Ciao!

M Cascade PRC is a graphic style Simplified Chinese typeface. Graphic font designs have strong personalities and visual impact. Graphic style Simplified Chinese fonts feature decorative elements and pronounced graphics characteristics, suitable for catching attention in display applications.

M Cascade HK is a graphic style Traditional Chinese typeface. Graphic font designs have strong personalities and visual impact. Graphic style Traditional Chinese fonts feature decorative elements and pronounced graphics characteristics, suitable for catching attention in display applications.

Font design meets architecture – the unique and architectural design of the urban villa “Dupli.Casa” by the architect J.Mayer.H triggered the inspiration for the typeface “La Casa”.
Inclinations and curvatures mirror the linear, modern impression of the architecture. The overall impression of the sans serif accounts for the great readability, even in lower point sizes – perfect for the design of books and magazines. The fresh and modern appearance of the font is particularly suitable for corporate designs of enterprises. The seven-font weights support more than 100 languages and the Cyrillic characters ensure a versatile and international use. The low contrast, the reduction of the corner points and the clear nature of the font make “La Casa” perfectly applicable as a web font.

Mi Casa is a new condensed version of our Home Style font which is a revival of an old 1800's classic ornate French font. This new 2021 condensed version takes this old classic to an all new level by adding small caps, italics and a new black version. Mi Casa is perfect for headlines and logos from advertising to product labels, t-shirt lettering and restaurant menus. Fill fonts are also part of this family, new to this font style is the half fill font for creating a two color effect on the letters, you'll need an application that works in layers to use the fill fonts in Mi Casa. The regular fill font for Mi Casa isn't meant to be used as a stand alone font so we've created a solid black version with thicker serifs on top and adjusted outlines throughout for a better appearance as a solo font. We hope you enjoy Mi Casa as much as we did making it. Mi Casa is a trademark of FontMesa LLC

The cover of the 1919 sheet music for "While Others are Building Castles in the Air I'll Build A Cottage for Two" had its title hand lettered in a wonderfully eccentric Art Nouveau serif design that typified the era. Also typical of the time was the habit of various songwriters to come up with wordy titles. This particular one checks in at fourteen words. Nonetheless, the sheet music's title inspired Air Castles JNL and its oblique counterpart.

An offering by lettering artist Harvey Hopkins Dunn for the 1930 classic, American Alphabets, provided the inspiration for this graceful, engaging typeface. Use it liberally to exude elegance, or to turn on the charm. Both versions of the font include 1252 Latin, 1250 CE (with localization for Romanian and Moldovan).

LD Castle Distressed is a antique style font with a fairytale feel.

When I started working on this font, I had the radio on. Ed Sheeran was singing his song ‘Castle On The Hill’ and when I looked at this new font of mine, I couldn’t help but notice it had a bit of a medieval look. So I named it Castle On The Hill. COTH is a very lively, messy handpainted serif. It was made with a Japanese brush pen. I actually had a different look in mind, but this is what came out of the pen and I quite liked its looks. It is especially useful for children’s book covers, apps and posters, but be my guest and use it as you like. All it needs is a designers’ touch, a nice tune and a sunset.