Imagine there's an explosion in a comic book, the exclamation that follows is set in PAGODA INTERNATIONAL. This font is inspired by the graphics on one of Honolulu's 1950's skyscrapers - The Pagoda Hotel with the International Ballroom. Created by former wine label designer, Wesley Poole, Pagoda is the opposite of sophisticated elegance. "Big, fat, and horsy, that's what I was after. It's the wacky juxtaposition of these familiar shapes that makes it work. Just try a couple words. You'll be surprised! I'm glad this one's behind me. It's my first pancake."

The inspiration for Deco Eccentrique JNL was initially hand drawn contoured lettering from a mid-1920s piece of sheet music; the style of the letters showing influences of the upcoming Art Deco movement. This was made into a digital font entitled Poster Contoured JNL. Once all of the excess parts of the previous design were stripped away to only the inner letters, the pre-Art Deco influences remained along with characters of varying stroke widths and shapes. This non-conformist type face is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The Souvenir typeface was originally drawn by Morris Fuller Benton in 1914 as a single weight for the American Type Founders company. It was revived in 1967 by Photo-Lettering and optimized for phototypesetting equipment. ITC was formed in 1971 and, with the help of Photo-Lettering, introduced ITC Souvenir as one of its first font families. ITC Souvenir was designed by Ed Benguiat and comes in four weights, each with a matching italic. In 1983, Ned Bunnel's ITC Souvenir Monospaced was released; this is a monospace version of ITC Souvenir.

The 1930 Geneva Motor Show (Salon International De l'Automobile Et Du Cycle) showcased a lot of new cars, but one item in particular took my interest: the amazing art deco poster announcing the show. Lokomotiv font was based on this poster. It is a very deco-ish font, futuristic, angular, with bold squares, rounds and triangles. As I had to work with just a handful of glyphs, and needed to fill an entire font, I made up the missing ones myself. Lokomotiv, by the way, is German for Locomotive.

San Marco is a part of the 1990 program Type before Gutenberg, which included the work of twelve contemporary font designers and represented styles from across the ages. Linotype offers a package including all these fonts on its web page, www.fonts.de. San Marco was designed by Karlgeorg Hoefer and brings to mind the style of the Italian Gothic found on the cathedrals of Milan and Florence as well as on the facade of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. Its highly stylized characters make San Marco a good choice for extravagant typography.

I was commissioned by the Emporium (now Macys) to digitize Radiant Bold Extra Condensed (originally designed by Robert Middleton in 1940) for use in their Sunday supplement to the San Francisco Examiner. For several years, I stubbornly refused to add the lowercase letters to the font, because I thought it looked best just used with caps, but finally relented, added the lowercase letters and at the same time created two more weights as well: Light and Medium. Used very large and carefully, these faces can be quite elegant.

Decalcomania JNL is based on examples of gold and black water-applied initial decals made by the Transfer Monogram Company of Chicago circa the 1940s. It is presumed the patterns for the letters were hand cut, possibly explaining the variations in line widths and character shapes. These eccentricities were left intact and followed through to the other characters in order to represent a more "authentic" digital version of these vintage decals. Decalcomania JNL is available in both the regular (outline) version, and a solid black version, as well as obliques of both styles.

Designed for the newspaper technology of the 1980s, Clarion uses many of the findings made in the preparation of Monotype Nimrod, from which it is derived. The Clarion font family differs from Nimrod in its detailing, which is more akin to that of the Ionics, a style which influenced most designers of contemporary newspaper faces. The large x-height and sturdy construction of the characters make Clarion well suited for use on laser printers as well as being an excellent choice for setting newspapers, journals, newsletters and circulars.

The inspiration source for Chaoxiang Monogram is another hand-drawn treasure from a vintage embroidery publication which plays on the anglo-version of chinese letters with stabbing strokes and the charm of the orient. While the original intent of this monogram style is uncertain, the possibilities of its use are up to your imagination. This is one of many monogram designs from the early 1900’s which fall into a two letter format bound within a framing element. Download and view the MFC Chaoxiang Guidebook if you would like to learn a little more.

This is a family of "Gothic" types from the Monotype Design Studio. The faces named "Gothic No. 1 through 4" were produced by Compugraphic. Gothic No. 1 is a condensed, late 19th century American-style sans serif typeface. Gothic No. 2 and Gothic No. 3 are based on the Metro #2 series, designed by W.A. Dwiggins for Mergenthaler Linotype during the 1920s and 30s. Gothic No. 4 looks vaguely like Gothic number one, but is heavier and smaller on the body. Gothic Extra Light Extended is a very light and wide design.

The Xavier family of typefaces is based on the delightful deco typeface called Ashley Crawford, originally designed in 1930 by Ashley Havinden. After designing Xavier Black (Serif) and Xavier Sans Black, I added Bold Sans, Medium and Medium Sans and finally added lowercase to the medium weights. Although more manageable than Ashley Crawford, Xavier, due to its very playful nature (splayed A, M, etc.) needs to be used with care, especially in terms of spacing. Xavier is a playful typeface and I have been particularly pleased to see it used in children's books.

Sanitation JNL is a bold Art Deco sans design inspired by some stylized hand lettering on a 1930s-era WPA (Works Progress Administration) poster and is available in both regular and oblique versions. The topic of the poster was "Your home is not complete without a sanitary unit" and that was recommended by the State Department of Public Health. A "sanitary unit" is the formal name for what rural folks called an "outhouse", and it's presumed the target group were homeowners not hooked up to major sewer lines such as in those rural areas.

The Women's Suffrage Movement gained women the right to vote in 1920. Up until then there were many ways undertaken to rally sympathy for the cause. In 1916 Alice Paul formed the National Woman's Party. That same year a song with the [exhaustive] sixteen word title "She's Good Enough to be Your Baby's Mother (And She's Good Enough to Vote with You)" yielded a hand lettered Art Nouveau sans serif design in the main portion of the title. This became the basis for Plain Nouveau JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Rough Riders Redux along with our Rough Riders font, got its start from a small sample of letters used in the logo for the Beach Creek Railroad Co. dating back to the early 1860’s. I studied the design for one year before drawing the letters. Rough Riders and the Redux version are simply the most Wildest Western looking fonts you'll find. The Rough Riders fill font is not meant to be used as a stand alone black typeface, the fill font is designed to be layered behind the regular Rough Riders font.

When designing a font, I often imagine how I think it should be used or where I'd be likely to see it out in the real world. With Barataria I envisioned it on decorative, antique-looking signs hanging outside shops in the French Quarter of New Orleans - hence the name. Barataria is based on samples of 1920s period poster lettering. It's a bold, heavy roman font with strong, rounded character forms. Barataria also has some unique alternative character forms, like the super-looped 'g' shown in the sample.

Syrup is a friendly, subtly rounded type family combining sans and script styles. It’s aesthetic roots are in the sign painting of the 1950’s but the execution is distinctly modern. The different styles are designed to work well together so you can have multiple levels of typography all with the same feeling and aesthetic. Try combining the styles in different ways for maximum impact. All styles are packed with Opentype features to enable flexible customisation of your design and the font is especially well suited for branding and packaging typography.

The inspiration source for MFC Gilchrist Monogram is an extremely ornamented letterset from a vintage embroidery publication from the early 1900's. We’ve digitally recreated the ornamental glyphs from the original design, and created a matching set of smallcaps in order to offer more versatility with this monogram. We have also created two additional sets of alternate glyphs with different fills for more variations. Experiment with all of these in different combinations for unique designs. Download and view the MFC Gilchrist Monogram Guidebook if you would like to learn a little more.

Kilometro Display is a Font Family inspired by the chrome car emblems of the auto industry. In the early 1950s Car manufacturers started using this sort of joint-lettering (script) to write their brand or model on their cars. The trend quickly made it’s way to other industries like electric appliances and it lasted for a good 30 plus years. Today only a handful of brands still uses this font style for their products. This geometric script re-lives a bold past all the way through 5 styles to a thin future.

An online reproduction of a trade ad circa the 1950s for comedian-actor Paul Gilbert featured his name in the hand-drawn lettering that serves as the basis for Stand Up JNL. While the style of the typeface is derivative of the Latin Spur faces used popularly since the 1800s, the playful – almost awkward angles create a casual design that evokes good times. It should be noted that the extremes of such angles might appear ill-spaced unless kerning is turned on within the application where the typeface will be used.

Introducing Luckystrikes, a handwritten script-font inspired by a poor amount of characters in the 1950-style advertising of the well-known American cigarettes. Kustomtype redrew this font with a very clear and cool old-script style. This font is great for all your creative projects. Luckystrikes comes with uppercase, lowercase, numerals, punctuations in script so you can use it to customize all your designs. Perfect to use for Logos, Letterhead, Poster, Apparel Design, Package design, Label design etc. Luckystrikes is designed by Coert De Decker in 2018 and published by Kustomtype Font Foundry.

Lodge Introducing our retro chunky serif font, a bold and nostalgic typeface that brings a classic and timeless design to your projects. With its thick, distinctive serifs and strong character set, this font is perfect for creating eye catching headlines, vintage posters, and stylish branding. Embrace the 1970s-inspired aesthetics with this unique typography that adds a touch of nostalgia to your designs. Whether you're working on print materials, display graphics, or editorial layouts, our retro chunky serif font will give your projects a bold and timeless appeal.

Linotype Lichtwerk, from German designer Bernd Pfannkuchen, is part of the Take Type Library, chosen from the entries of the Linotype-sponsored International Digital Type Design Contest 1999 for inclusion on the Take Type 3 CD. This display font contains very narrow forms with a high x-height. It is reminiscent of the constructivism of the 1920s and was designed with a small number of basic forms. The high, thin letters form words and an overall picture which almost flickers on the page. Linotype Lichtwerk with its technical look is suited exclusively for headlines.

The Armanen runes (or Armanen Futharkh) are a series of 18 runes, closely based on the historical Younger Futhark, introduced by Austrian mysticist and Germanic revivalist Guido von List in his Das Geheimnis der Runen (English: "The Secret of the Runes"), published as a periodical article in 1906, and as a standalone publication in 1908. The name Armanen runes associates the runes with the postulated Armanen, whom von List saw as ancient Aryan priest-kings. The Armanen runes continue in use today in esotericism and in currents of Germanic neopaganism.

In Lewis F. Day’s 1910 classic, Alphabets Old and New, the author presented the inspiration for this typeface as an example of German monumental lettering, most likely to suggest not that the typeface was really big, but that it had been found on German monuments. Bold yet charming, the face takes its name from a picturesque village in the Bavarian Alps which was the ancestral home of the Gröbl line of Curtii forebears. Both versions of this font include the complete Latin 1252 and CE 1250 character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.

A rubber stamp printing set from the 1930s (or possibly earlier) was the model for Winery JNL. Containing a pleasant serif font, it also provided a few little touches unusual for such toy sets of the time. The horizontal crossbar of the H has a diamond embellishment, as does the horizontal stroke of the number 3. Additionally, the lower right tail of the G curves away from the letter and the Q has a spiral tail. Re-drawn from scans of the original stamp impressions, this typeface is available in both regular and oblique versions.

In the days of hand lettering, a common philosophy was "the problem creates the solution". Often times the layout artist would have to adapt the lettering style to fit the amount of copy on a line. A perfect example is during the early 1900s, when popular sheet music of the time almost seemed to be competing for how many words could be used within a song's a title. One such piece of sheet music offered up the tall, condensed and variable-width lettering found within Narrow Minded JNL.

Biffo was designed by David Marshall and produced in 1964. The alphabet in handwritten style has the character of writing done with a broad tipped pen. The figures are round and flexible, even its vertical strokes have rounded edges, softening the look of the characters. The basic forms show parallels with a pear shape: generous in the lower third and thinning out as they move upward. Biffo is a unique, lively typeface perfect for personal correpondence and for communicating spontaneity. It is best for short and middle length texts as well as headlines.

Commercial Script is a sophisticated copperplate script design. Its capitals are elaborate initials, and the lowercase letters join together in the style of real handwriting. Commercial Script's elegant refinement makes it a classic and ever-popular typeface. The spark behind this typeface comes from centries-old English Spencerian copperplate calligraphy. In 1985, the American typefoundry Barnhart Brothers & Spindler released a typeface in this style. This was redesigned by ATF's Morris Fuller Benton in 1906, and ATF released Commercial Script" in 1908. In 1994, Letraset' released this digital version of the typeface."

Journalistic is one in a series of fonts designed for use in creating replica vintage newspapers. It is inspired by the nameplate of a New England newspaper from the 1920s. Its rough character is apparent at headline sizes, and it remains nicely legible at smaller sizes for diplomas and other formal documents. The OpenType font contains a variety of discretionary ligatures and contextual alternates, including the long s and other glyphs for classic German typography. Long s substitution can be achieved through either historical or titling alternate OpenType features.

A heavy blackletter; Rudolf Koch’s first type from 1909. On an old page full of type specimen from the 1930s, the type is described as ”Schwabacher (used by the Deutsche Reichsbahn [German Imperial Railway]).“ As a matter of fact, it is the first print of the Offenbach script master Rudolf Koch, who came out with this typeface in 1909. At that time, it was given the name ”Neudeutsch“ (New German). Later, it became very popular under the name Koch-Schrift, and was at times the official typeface of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (German Imperial Railway).

For Monumental Gothic, we delved into the archives and found some old rubbings and photos of monumental brasses from British tombs of the 12th and 13th centuries. The sources included famous monuments like the tomb of Richard II and less well known inscriptions with similar style lettering. The rubbings were made by Dave Nalle in the 1970s (when they still let you have access to the the brasses). Monumental Gothic includes some alternate characters, plus upper and lower case characters, numbers and a selection of very interesting decorative emblems to complement the text.

astroluxtype’s Spacepod is a headline display font set. The font contains uppercase and lowercase letterforms with a minimum glyph set. The style suggests weird sci fi from the 1970’s or the far future... you decide? Is this the font for your sci fi western book cover title with a nod to The Matrix in the story or a poster for the movie remake of Westworld? Wherever your ship takes you in the universe Spacepod should be the letterforms on the side of your craft that states, “No rides for damn dirty apes!”

The design of this display face is based on the hot metal typeface Acropolis, issued by the German type foundry Ludwig Wagner in Leipzig in 1940. To further increase its usefulness a Cyrillic was added to it: URW Akropolis, redrawn and digitally remastered by Coen Hofmann for the URW Font Forum, is a true display design that should not be set below 48 point if you want to preserve it's fine details like the open triangular sections, e.g. in L, G, S, T etc. and gain the full typographic splendidness of this beautiful typeface.

Sistina, designed by Hermann Zapf in 1950 was first named Aurelia Titling. It is a heavy supplement to the Michelangelo Titling based on studies of inscriptions in Rome. First release in hotmetal at D. Stempel AG, Frankfurt in 1951. Sistina was originally an all caps font. The digital version from Linotype contains small caps. Hermann Zapf together with Akira Kobayashi, type director from Linotype had made a new revised version of Sistina now named as Palatino Imperial" in the Palatino nova type family, a Platinum Collection product from Linotype."

Eurostile, created in 1962 by Aldo Novarese for the Nebbiolo type foundry, is one of the most popular sans serif fonts of all, and has been for about 50 years. Originally designed as a screen font it was very popular from the beginning, even though it is only a slightly modified version of the 10-year-older Microgramma, but completed with lower case characters. On public demand, URW++ has expanded its range of Eurostile with Eurostile Round with 19 additional styles. Quite like Futura Round by URW++, Eurostile Round works perfectly well as webfont.

Rundfunk Grotesk was produced together with Rundfunk Antiqua by the Linotype Design Studio in 1933-1935. The combination was originally intended for small point sizes and shorter texts. Unfortunately, this typeface was never completed and consists only of Antiqua roman and Grotesk bold. This unusual combination was chosen because small newspaper ads often use a semi bold for the headlines and a regular antique for the text. Rundfunk Grotesk is intended to be used exclusively in headlines and reflects in its unique character the spirit of the 1930s.

Round, firm, and bursting at the seams with good humor, ITC Mister Chuckles is based on the premise that barrel shapes have pleasant associations. Think: beer-barrel polkas, a barrel of fun, or a barrel of laughs, and you'll get the idea. Designer Nick Curtis has combined sans serif sturdiness, a hint of 1930s deco and a handful of giggles in this remarkably versatile all-cap face. If the typographic occasion calls for mirth and merriment, invite Mister Chuckles to the party. You'll have more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

Designed by Les Usherwood. Chelsea is a ‘modern’ Old Style serif font family designed by Les Usherwood (Typsettra) in the early 1980’s. Steve Jackaman (ITF) digitally engineered the family exclusively for ITF’s Red Rooster Collection in 1993. Usherwood drew influence from Frederic Goudy’s 1911 creation ‘Kennerley Old Style’ when designing Chelsea; Chelsea, however, tends to be wider with a taller x-height. Chelsea has the clean and upscale feel that is present in all Usherwood creations, and its legible design lends itself to projects of any size.

Lasting Impression JNL was rendered from scans of a 1930s rubber stamp printing set. At small sizes it has the look of hand-stamped lettering. At larger sizes, the user will see jagged and angular lines giving the font a kind of retro-grunge look. This typeface was the model for the more cleanly-drawn Casual Friday JNL, also by Jeff Levine. There is a limited character set, and both the spacing and kerning have been intentionally omitted so that the results will more closely resemble the uneven letter spacing of rubber stamps on paper.

Because of the large influx of Irish immigrants during the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was not unusual for songwriters of the day to craft songs around Irish themes, offering a nostalgic link to their homeland. One such 1917 piece entitled "You Brought Ireland Right Over to Me" had the title hand lettered on the sheet music cover in a sans serif design reflecting the popular Art Nouveau movement of the day. This design is now available digitally as Retro Nouveau JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.