Fantini is the revival and elaborate update of a typeface called Fantan, made in-house and released in 1970 by a minor Chicago film type supplier called Custom Headings International. In the most excellent tradition of seriously-planned American film faces back then, CHI released a full complement of swashes and alternates to the curly art nouveau letters. Fantan didn't fare much among the type scene's big players back then, but it did spread like electricity among the smaller ones, the mom-and-pop type shops. But by the late 1980s, when film type was giving up the ghost, most smaller players in the industry were gone, in some cases along with little original libraries that existed nowhere else and became instant rarities on their way to be forgotten and almost impossible to resurrect for future technologies. Fantini is the fun and curly art nouveau font bridging the softness and psychedelia of the 1960s with the flirtatious flare of the 1970s like no other face does. Elements of psychedelia and funk flare out and intermix crazily to create cool, swirly letters packed with a lot of joy and energy. This is the kind of American art nouveau font that made its comeback in the late 20th century and is now a standard visual in the branding drive of almost every consumer product, from coffee labels to book and music covers to your favorite sugar or thirst-crunching fix. Alongside Fantini's enormous main font come small caps and three extra fonts loaded with swashy alternates and variations on plenty of letters. All available in all popular font formats. Fantini Pro, the OpenType version, packs the whole she-bang in a single font of high versatility for those who have applications that support advanced type technologies. In order to make Fantini a reality, Canada Type received original 2" film specimen from Robert Donona, a Clevelander whose enthusiasm about American film type has never faltered, even decades after the technology itself became obsolete. Keep an eye out for that name. Robert, who was computer-reluctant for the longest time, has now come a long way toward mastering digital type design.

TT Fellows useful links: Specimen | Graphic presentation | Customization options There can't be too many universal fonts! Meet TT Fellows, a new workhorse whose functionality allows you to comfortably use the font in a variety of projects. Calm and neutral at first glance, the mood of TT Fellows can change. Working with the typeface, you can reveal its soft and friendly nature, or even the brutal one, for example, by typing the text exclusively in capital letters in the bold style. TT Fellows is easy to use and perfect for setting large text arrays. Thanks to the font's uniwidth and versatility, the font is ideal for use on websites or in periodicals. Bold styles will work harmoniously in headlines or as accents in print or on packaging. TT Fellows is a humanist sans serif with a mechanical touch. With its open shapes, the friendly neutral character of thin weights and an even softer character in bold weights, the new typeface differs in character from the classic TT Norms® and TT Commons sans serifs, while still offering the same functionality. Calm regular styles differ from bold, deliberately display and more expressive ones. By the way, TT Fellows is a unwidth typeface. It was important for us that the user could change the styles, knowing that the layout will not suffer. The typeface features equal width proportions, open apertures, and slightly squared ovals, which associatively brings it closer to other popular modern fonts. Since the idea of the typeface was focused on it being a uniwidth typeface, we needed to fit the bold styles into the regular em squares, which led to interesting graphic solutions that are noticeable, for example, in the k and ж characters, in which the branches are cut directly into the stems. TT Fellows consists of 19 styles: 9 upright, 9 italic and 1 variable, each with over 700 glyphs. The font has 26 useful OpenType features. For example, there is a switch to single-part versions of letters a and y, fractions, tabular characters, case versions of punctuation, and localized versions of characters for different languages. There is a ligature for a combination of two characters of a complex design fl. TT Fellows font field guide including best practices, font pairings and alternatives.

Compendium is a sequel to my Burgues font from 2007. Actually it is more like a prequel to Burgues. Before Louis Madarasz awed the American Southeast with his disciplined corners and wild hairlines, Platt Rogers Spencer, up in Ohio, had laid down a style all his own, a style that would eventually become the groundwork for the veering calligraphic method that was later defined and developed by Madarasz. After I wrote the above paragraph, I was so surprised by it, particularly by the first two sentences, that I stopped and had to think about it for a week. Why a sequel/prequel? Am I subconsciously joining the ranks of typeface-as-brand designers? Are the tools I build finally taking control of me? Am I having to resort to “milking it” now? Not exactly. Even though the current trend of extending older popular typefaces can play tricks with a type designer’s mind, and maybe even send him into strange directions of planning, my purpose is not the extension of something popular. My purpose is presenting a more comprehensive picture as I keep coming to terms with my obsession with 19th century American penmanship. Those who already know my work probably have an idea about how obsessive I can be about presenting a complete and detailed image of the past through today’s eyes. So it is not hard to understand my need to expand on the Burgues concept in order to reach a fuller picture of how American calligraphy evolved in the 19th century. Burgues was really all about Madarasz, so much so that it bypasses the genius of those who came before him. Compendium seeks to put Madarasz’s work in a better chronological perspective, to show the rounds that led to the sharps, so to speak. And it is nearly criminal to ignore Spencer’s work, simply because it had a much wider influence on the scope of calligraphy in general. While Madarasz’s work managed to survive only through a handful of his students, Spencer’s work was disseminated throughout America by his children after he died in 1867. The Spencer sons were taught by their father and were great calligraphers themselves. They would pass the elegant Spencerian method on to thousands of American penmen and sign painters. Though Compendium has a naturally more normalized, Spencerian flow, its elegance, expressiveness, movement and precision are no less adventurous than Burgues. Nearing 700 glyphs, its character set contains plenty of variation in each letter, and many ornaments for letter beginnings, endings, and some that can even serve to envelope entire words with swashy calligraphic wonder. Those who love to explore typefaces in detail will be rewarded, thanks to OpenType. I am so in love with the technology now that it’s becoming harder for me to let go of a typeface and call it finished. You probably have noticed by now that my fascination with old calligraphy has not excluded my being influenced by modern design trends. This booklet is an example of this fusion of influences. I am living 150 years after the Spencers, so different contextualization and usage perspectives are inevitable. Here the photography of Gonzalo Aguilar join the digital branchings of Compendium to form visuals that dance and wave like the arms of humanity have been doing since time eternal. I hope you like Compendium and find it useful. I'm all Spencered out for now, but at one point, for history’s sake, I will make this a trilogy. When the hairline-and-swash bug visits me again, you will be the first to know. The PDF specimen was designed with the wonderful photography of Gonzalo Aguilar from Mexico. Please download it here http://new.myfonts.com/artwork?id=47049&subdir=original

Breaking the cycle of homelessness We are partnered with The House of St. Barnabas, a private members club in Soho Square, whose work as a not for profit charity aims to break the cycle of homelessness in London. Each purchase (of the family pack) comes with a one month membership to The House and 100% of the proceeds from sales of fonts go directly to the charity to help their essential work. This unique collection of 7 typefaces is based on the disappearing signs of Soho, at risk of being lost forever due to the ever changing landscape of the area. By re-imaging the signage as complete fonts, we have rescued this rich visual history from the streets and present the typefaces into a contemporary context for a bright optimistic future. FS Berwick Thanks to its humble tiled origins, this Egyptian serif type maintains a uniform character width, creating the irregular letter proportions found in the final alphabet. Broad-shouldered, the bracketed serifs firmly ground the font, whilst its extreme hairlines become a necessity due to the uniform width. Of note is the upside down ‘S’, to be found on the original sign on Berwick Street. Perhaps due to its ceramic origins, there is a surprising ‘slippiness’ to its final appearance. FS Cattle Cattle & Son is best described as a wide, but not overly extended, grotesque-style sans serif, showing a uniform width and carrying a robust strength to its form. Whilst lightly functional overall, the purposeful diagonal legs of the ‘K’, ‘R’ and the tail of the ‘Q’ add an urgency to its appearance. The reduced size of the ampersand gives away Cattle & Son’s hand-painted origins, and the oblique compacted ‘LTD’ found on the original sign is also included in the final set. This beautiful sign is tucked away under an arch in Portland Mews, sheltering from the weather. Perhaps this is why it has lasted so long. FS Century This somewhat elongated set of Roman capitals was originally rendered in paint circa 1940, but its roots trace back to the Trajan Column in Rome. Witness the slightly unbalanced ‘W’ and the painter’s hand is revealed. Century’s flared serif style is extremely short, sharp and bracketed. The ‘M’ is splayed and has no top serifs. Century has a uniform appearance of width, probably due to its sign-written origins. Yet is elegant, classic and exudes sophistication. FS Charity A true Tuscan letterform, the original is located on The House of St. Barnabas in ceramic tiles and was revealed in all its broken glory in 2014. FS Charity retains the option of using these incorrect characters (try typing lowercase in the test drive above and compare with the more uniform uppercase characters). FS Charity features fishtailed terminals on its strokes, a curious branched ‘T’ and the ‘S’ displays tear-drop ends to its serifs. Almost uniform in width, the ‘A’, ‘M’ and ‘W’ are the widest characters in this set. FS Marlborough The elongated Marlborough features diagonal terminals to some characters and numerals. Also retained is the space-saving contracted ‘T’ glyph from the original sign, while the ‘R’ features a distinctive wedge-shaped leg. Highly individual in this form, similar signage appears around Soho, but featuring a variety of widths in their design. FS Portland The sister type to Cattle & Son, Portland is oblique rather than italic. The serifs are not overly long, yet still enhance its rather rigid cap height and baseline appearance. Its ‘A’ has a top serif, the ‘M’ is square and the ‘G’ foregoes any spur. Particularly delightful is the open ampersand. Numerals align to encourage the horizontal flavour of the oblique style. Overall, Portland is both confident and graceful. FS St James A lineal Continental style, St James also displays a true sense of ‘Londoness’ in its titling form, perhaps influenced by early Underground signage. Irregular letterforms display a continental flavour, particularly evident in its Deco style ‘W’, ampersand and numerals. The rather high cross bar in the ‘A’ is also reflected in the raised middle strokes of the ‘M’. Noteworthy are the distinctive unions found on all of the characters and the additional small caps. The original lettering is still located on Greek St.

Dom Loves Mary has a baby brother! Check out Fratello Nick here: http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/correspondence-ink/fratello-nick/ The DomLovesMary font family has all you need to create unique, custom stationery products. THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE DOMLOVESMARY FONT FAMILY: DomLovesMary is named in memory of Dominic and Mary Sementelli, Debi’s in-laws. Dom and Mary were opposites who were truly “made for each other”. A snazzy dresser, Mary was feisty, loved to dance, sing, and be the life of the party. Dom was cool, calm and collected and was happy to shine the spotlight on the love of his life. They balanced each other out in a really great way. Going through some of her in-laws old photos, Debi found their wedding album. She was struck by the beautiful look on their faces as they got ready to start their life together. She saw the excitement, joy and anticipation of them envisioning “Una Bella Vita!” (A beautiful life!) She decided to create a hand-lettered font with them in mind represented by two totally different lettering styles that were, like Dom and Mary, “made for each other”. It’s her way of honoring them and sharing their beautiful life with all of the couples just starting theirs together. They truly had “Una Bella Vita” and we hope you do too. WHAT'S UNIQUE ABOUT THE DOMLOVESMARY FONT FAMILY: The SCRIPT & TEXT FONTS are lettering styles that were made to compliment each other. With a vintage, classic feel, they will add elegance to your design, while the TEXT serves to offer support with easy to read simplicity. In addition to the standard character set, each of the uniquely styled script fonts includes a collection of flourished ornaments. Use them to create corners, headers or other embellishments to complete the look. And if you really want to fancy things up, we offer two sets of 72 additional flourishes that were specifically made to add to upper and lower case letters for easy customization. Dress them up with one, two or more. It’s like choosing simple pearls or piling on the glitz! Or combine several to create unique flourished ornaments of your own. To add even more panache, we're pleased to present our ready made set of most frequently used ADD-ON WORDS. Created with the wedding client in mind, this set of 66 includes envelope friendly titles: Mr and Mrs, Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Doctor, the Doctors, as well as words to fill out your invitation suite: RSVP, Respond, Save the Date, Accommodations, Directions and more! Easily create Bride and Groom signs or Thank You cards or tags with the click of a key. Or use angled words like “and, at, to, on, for, from and of” to add a special touch to your large groups of copy. PACKAGES: We are pleased to have a variety of customers. From professional invitation designers to DIY brides, publishing companies and website / blog designers among others. So we've created packages to help fit their diverse needs. Purchase just one of our beautiful DomLovesMary SCRIPT fonts, each with its collection of included flourishes or the PRO VERSION complete with ALL THREE script fonts and a combined total of over 100 flourished ornaments. Add our TEXT font, a set of FLOURISHES or ADD-ON WORDS. Love the idea of customizing your letters with all the possible combinations? We offer a special price when you purchase both sets of flourishes. Or choose our Accoutrements Package containing both sets of FLOURISHES for letter customization as well as our ADD-ON WORDS. Want to have it all? The “DomLovesMary Total Design” package is for you. Each of these packages are offered at a 25% savings. WHAT PROGRAM WILL YOU USE?: All of the font options come in both Pro and Standard format fonts. For those with programs that can take advantage of OpenType features (click on the link to see if the program your using is one of them) the Pro fonts are for you. http://www.typotheque.com/fonts/opentype_feature_support/ For others without the ability to use Open Type features, we provide all of the script fonts that comprise the Pro Version as separate versions (Regular, Contextual and Stylistic). If you are using a program like Microsoft Word, and want all three script fonts, you can still purchase the Pro Version (a $50.00 savings), and install the individual fonts bundled in the Standard Fonts folder. We have set it up so they will appear separately as DomLovesMary, DomLovesMary Contextual and DomLovesMary Stylistic in your fonts list. Exciting news! In an effort to help our customers access all the goodies that are normally only available in Open Type Capable programs (like the flourished ornaments that come with our script fonts), we have found a simple application that allows you to do just that. For this reason, we've made sure to unicode all of our characters and glyphs so that they will work in this type of program. There may be others, but we checked this one out and found that it works. Check out PopChar