Simplo: the ‘Italian Futura’. Simplo is a geometric sans serif typeface, built in sixteen styles. It is a tribute to the 1930s typeface Semplicità, designed by Nebiolo’s Alessandro Butti. Although many details of Simplo differ from Semplicità, it preserves the spirit of the original. Simplo is ideal for use in display sizes. It is also quite legible in text, and is well suited for graphic design and corporate identity design. Simplo has sixteen styles, extensive language support, eight different kinds of figures, sophisticated OpenType features — so it’s ready for advanced typographic projects. The most notable characteristics of this typeface are the ‘t’ and the ‘f’. The ‘t’ is the culmination of simplicity: a vertical line with just a simple right-side crossbar. The ‘f’ also has just a right-side crossbar, and is really tall: it reaches both the highest and lowest vertical position of the typeface. The top of the distinctive ‘s’, is much narrower than its bottom. The ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘d’, ‘g’, ‘p’, ‘q’, and ‘u’ are spurless, and show a family resemblance with Hans Reichel’s 1990s typeface Dax. However, these letters are rounder and more geometric than Dax’s counterparts, because of Dax’s higher x-height and narrower design. In Paul Shaw’s Imprint article about typefaces that have been overlooked and/or underappreciated, “Overlooked Typefaces”, he concluded his discussion of Semplicità as follows: “These idiosyncrasies suggest that Semplicità might find a warm reception today, given the current love affair with Gotham, Neutraface and Proxima—and the resurgence of ITC Avant-Garde Gothic.” Free demo font available. For more information about Simplo, download the PDF Specimen Manual.

Dick Jensen (USA) designed Serpentine, is a contemporary-looking display font, for the Visual Graphics Corporation in 1972. With the rise of digital typesetting and desktop publishing, this typeface quickly became both popular and ubiquitous. This dynamic, wide, boxy design is identifiable via tiny triangular swellings at the stroke endings - what might be called semi-serifs. Serpentine is available in six different font styles: Light, Light Oblique, Medium, Medium Oblique, Bold, and Bold Oblique. Serpentine" is a greenish rock that sometimes resembles a serpent's skin, and is often used as a decorative stone in architecture. Though this font doesn't seem at all snaky or sinuous, it does have an architectural, stone-like solidity. The subtle, almost non-existent curves and semi-serifs keep it from being too stern or cold. Although the underlying strokes of each weight are similar, the six members of the Serpentine font family all present their own individual personalities. Serpentine Light lends itself well to text for onscreen displays, for instance, while the numbers from typeface's heavier weights are seen around the world on soccer jerseys! Additionally, the oblique styles convey a streamlined sense of speed, furthermore lending Serpentine well to sport and athletic applications (especially the faster, high-speed varieties). Because of its 1970s pedigree, Serpentine has come to be known as a genuine "retro" face. This makes the typeface even more appropriate for display usage, in applications such as logo design, magazine headlines, and party flyers. If you like Serpentine, check out the following similar fonts in the Linotype portfolio: Copperplate Gothic (similar serifs) Eurostile (similar width) Princetown (another "athletic" font) Insignia (similar "techno" feeling)"

CA Normal is a typeface aiming for beauty without ostensible effects, merely relying on clarity and well balanced proportions. True beauty is not to be found in perfect geometry, so slight irregularities and inconsequences are spread throughout the typographic image. That’s perfection through imperfection. CA Normal merges influences from European grotesques and American gothics, breeding an experimental mongrel. The underlying concept stays in the background, giving the design a great self-evidence. Although it is doubtful if there can be such thing as neutrality, CA Normal comes pretty close to what people mean when speaking of a neutral font. Nevertheless it’s not faceless, anonymous or confound able. It’s just that the charm comes from subtle details rather than obvious design features. As good text typefaces must not be too smooth nor too agitated, CA Normal is smuggling little uneven details into the typographic image, that keep the readers eye awake. The well crafted oblique follows the grotesque tradition which knows no individually drawn italics. A rather unexpected addition is the reverse oblique, a style mainly used for maps. Under the classic surface lies a modern well equipped font, featuring small caps, a Central European character set and numerals in all kinds of flavors. Numerous ligatures round up the overall impression. By default CA Normal will set numbers as proportional lining figures. But if you prefer oldstyle figures, or tabular figures, just use the OpenType functions of your layout program. These allow access to the small caps as well, which feature a complete central European character set, brackets, punctuation and lining figures in small caps height.

The joy of pure geometry, revisited. Geometric typefaces are a staple in every typographer’s toolbox since the 1920s. It was a time when iconic faces such as Futura, Erbar, and Kabel appeared on the scene and turned the world of type upside-down. Inspired by those early giants as well as later epigones with a legacy of their own (such as 1970’s Avant Garde Gothic), Flink is the Identity Letters take on this genre, characterized by a clean and focused appearance. With neat shapes and the look of pure geometry, Flink adapts to a vast range of applications and topics, from the fine print in contract to website body copy to logo design to billboard-size slogans. Its x-height is considerably larger than in classic geometric sans-serif fonts; its proportions are harmonized as opposed to strictly constructed. This makes for a more contemporary look, setting it apart from the classics. To further reduce the rigidity of a purely geometric composition, you can replace some letters with more humanist alternates, such as a, g, j, etc. This font family comes along in 8 weights from Thin to Black. Each weight consists of an Upright and Italic version. There are more than 750 characters per style, including two stylistic sets that offer variations to the look and feel of Flink, making it even more versatile. Plenty of additional Open Type Features like ligatures, case sensitive forms, old-style figures, and symbols make Flink a valuable tool for the discerning typographer. Flink is the reimagination of a classic genre, designed to suit the needs of our time. ––––– Please note: There is an upgraded Version available: Flink Neue