Goth icon and Saturday Night Live voice-over talent, Nicole Blackman grew up surrounded by design; her dad and her sister are architects, her mom is a retired fashion designer and her grandfather invented clip art. “No lie, Volk Clip Art in NJ,” she says. “Herb Lubalin designed his logo!” Sharing her grandfather’s fondness for fonts, Ms. Blackman created this alphabet. Her creativity sparked this lanky lettering’s theatrical nature in all caps and its supple beauty in upper and lower cases. Final fontification and adjustments were done by Chank Diesel. Blackman drew the original art for the alphabet in 1997; the newest version of the font was completed in 2006. Enjoy this seductive and stylish hand-drawn font.

Stu is based on the penmanship of the late Raoul "Stu" Stuart. Raoul's penmanship was always admired by those who saw it; it was a first glimpse into the artistic and creative side of an otherwise easy-going, funny guy. The print variants exude a soft yet masculine feel, while the scripts evoke a sense of sentimentality and romance. Stu features dingbats which say something about Raoul: affectionate and romantic (heart), a big coffee drinker (coffee cup), a great cook (spoon and fork), a music lover (musical note), and a prankster (winking smiley). (The winking smiley is available in all the font styles, while each of the other four dingbats is unique to one font style.) Stu is a tribute to the coolest dad in the world.

Opa-locka JNL is named for a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida and is based on an Art Nouveau-era bit of hand lettering found on vintage sheet music. Legendary aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss (who successfully developed the city of Miami Springs and the city of Hialeah with James Bright) began the development of Opa-locka around 1925 as a planned community with a "1001 Arabian Nights" theme. Plans for this exclusive community included a country club and a small private airfield, but the hurricane of 1926 derailed Curtiss' original vision of the city. Opa-locka gradually took shape as a residential area for middle-class families, but the closing of a long-established Marine base, changing demographics and a reputation for being a hot-spot for crime, drug abuse and corruption tarnished this once-grand community (which boasts the largest collection of Moorish Revival architecture in the Western hemisphere). Old-time Miamians bristle when the city's name (an abbreviation of a Seminole place name, spelled Opa-tisha-wocka-locka) is mis-spelled as "Opa-Locka", "Opa Locka" or "Opalocka". The correct name is hyphenated, and the second part is in lower case.

The "Newbeats" typeface came about after watching the film A Hard Day's Night starring the Beatles, hence the name "Newbeats". The font was on the poster of the film and based on these letters I designed a full alphabet, complete with ligatures. The font has been fully digitized and fine-tuned to make it possible to use in all software applications and graphics programs. Whomever sees the font for the first time would think this is a totally new font; it has a modern look despite the mid-60s feel that I have tried to preserve. This characterful and playful typeface can be used for all kinds of graphic applications, both for vintage style design and in modern designs. The "Newbeats" font is a real hit! For those who want to come up with a surprising style, look and feel, this is highly recommended. Logos, posters, advertisements, branding, magazines, t-shirts and other hip designs will look much more attractive! A must for those who want to give their designs a big twist. Play and win with Newbeats and you will be amazed by the result. What are you waiting for?

ManRay is a photogenic typefamily of 6 fonts designed by @andinistas, with more than 2600 glyphs distributed in 3 Scripts and 3 Caps. Its shapes are ideal for attention-grabbing and for its eloquent character set, each style is presented with three levels of erosion planned with meticulous dotted texture bézier drawing, diagonal texture, and vertical texture pattern. ManRay Script, Script2, Script3 is based on calligraphy made with a fine tip brush and therefore communicates pleasant and attractive ideas. Its capital letters measure three times the height of the lower case and stand out for its artistic curved lines ideal for writing on photos, logos, labels, packaging, posters, covers of food products, spirits, organic teas, etc. In that order, it also offers other expressive alternate letters that activate spontaneously, and each of the three styles is case-infinite with and without Swash, Stylistic, and Titling Alternates. ManRay Caps, Caps2, Caps3 are inspired by calligraphic Roman letters drawn with a brush with a square tip and are equipped with descending flourishes for word start and end. The core of ManRay mixes the ideas of Ed Benguiat and Ross F. George and its name is a tribute to the Dada hero who changed history a century ago by working against the conventions of art and photography.

Samman is a Kufic simple Arabic typeface. It can be used to decorate public signs in streets, airports, hospitals, schools, malls, hotels, mosques, and other public places. My family's surname is "Samman" which stands for the person who sells fat especially the one produced by cows ("Samn" in Arabic). Consequently, "Samman" Typeface was designed for eternizing the memory of my family. The main characteristic of "Samman" Typeface is the leaf-shaped style for some of its Arabic characters such as "Dad", "Sad", "Faa", "Meem" and others. The distinguishing artistic design of its "Haa" character adds a unique feature to this typeface especially when connected with other characters. The shape of the characters' "dot", "dots", and "point" is innovative; a triangle with a semi-circle shape. "Samman" Typeface is suitable for books' covers, advertisement light boards, and titles in magazines and newspapers. Its characters' modern Kufic styles give the typeface more distinction when it is used also in posters, greeting cards, covers, exhibitions' signboards and external or internal walls of malls or metro's exits and entrances. It can also be used in titles for Arabic news and advertisements appeared in different Arabic and foreign satellite channels.

ULGA Grid Rounded is the smooth, rounded sibling of ULGA Grid and ULGA Grid Solid. The typeface consists of three weights, regular, medium and bold, with corresponding oblique styles. Every character in the extended ULGA Grid family shares the same width. ULGA Grid Rounded features a rounded square design, giving this typeface a soft, yet sturdy appearance. A contradictory mix of stiffness and suppleness, characters slide around like lead-filled snakes trying to find their way through a maze. If this typeface were a snack, it would be a smooth, chocolatey treat - too much of it and you’ll feel dizzy and a bit sick. But, hey, I’m not your dad, do what you want. Learn from your mistakes, that’s what I say. A versatile display typeface that can be used for a wide range of purposes including CD covers, posters, packaging, advertising, name badges for robots, brochures and film titles. Mix and match with ULGA Grid and ULGA Grid Solid, use the alternatives, sneak in an oblique style to spice things up, but most of all this is a fun typeface family. The character set supports Western Europe, Vietnamese, Central/Eastern Europe, Baltic, Turkish and Romanian.

This font was created in honor of my husband for our 12th wedding anniversary. 14 years ago, I met this tall, skinny guy from Indiana in the lobby of a hotel in Hong Kong. We talked. The next day, we had lunch together. And that night we had dinner together. And the next day. And the next. We met just before my 19th birthday, and on my birthday he took me to the top of Victoria Peak, where we looked out over the city of Hong Kong- such a beautiful place to begin a lifetime of love! We spent 4 months together in Hong Kong, falling in love with each other and with the beautiful city we were privileged to call home for that short time. We married the next year. We've lived in Indiana, Texas, China, Kentucky, and Florida over those 12 years of marriage and have welcomed 2 daughters into our lives. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he completes my life in a way I didn't know was possible. And I know that I'm blessed beyond words to have a supportive, wonderful, encouraging husband who is also a loving, involved, caring dad to our daughters. This font is for you, Keith!

Makika Sun enhances the handwritten expressive possibilities of an architect mom and a graphic designer dad in Bogotá, Colombia. In other words, it is a versatile handwritten font family designed for writing short messages in children's contexts. Makika Sun shines for its conceptualization and logic, combining ideas from the American calligrapher Austin Norman Palmer and the Italian calligrapher Ludovico degli Arrighi. Makika Sun, a creative font family specializing in titles and paragraphs for children's books, emerged in 2009 and has developed over the years. Its essence lies in the simplicity of handwriting. In 2023, Makika Sun was applied in the book "Secret Files Tardigrades 1" for children ages 5-6 on Amazon from MyMicroSchool. The main goal of Makika Sun is to emulate handwriting that is legible and accessible to everyone. Makika Sun stands out for its readability and uncomplicated, artisanal style. It offers four typographic styles that simulate different calibers of markers: thick tip (Makika Sun Black), medium tip (Makika Sun Bold), normal tip (Makika Sun Regular) and Makika Sun Dingbats, a set of arrows and figures perfect to enrich your writing. . In short, Makika Sun's versatility and stylistic uniformity make it easy to create writing in various typographic settings. Its typographic heart communicates harmony in messages meticulously designed for spontaneous contexts that require high readability. Makika Sun offers a dynamic range of styles in 4 fonts notable for their outstanding performance in the field of children's book design and the creation of playful brand identities.

Castile is a central region of Spain that formed the core of the Kingdom of Castile, under which Spain was united in the 15th and 16th centuries. "Castile" is a Kufic modern Arabic typeface. It is suitable for books' covers, advertisement light boards, and titles in magazines and newspapers. It is very distinctive when used in black and white printout. It decorates colored pages and makes artworks more attractive. This font comes in three different weights. I adore Spain and the historical achievements of the Islamic civilization existed there in the past. By designing "Castile" Typeface, I wanted to refer to the Islamic civilization that Muslims had in Spain and especially in Andalusia. Today the name of Castile survives in two autonomous regions of Spain: Castile-La Mancha (capital city is Toledo) and Castile-Leon (capital city is Valladolid). The main characteristic of "Castile" Typeface is in its modern open-end style for some of its Arabic characters such as "Sad", "Dad", "Seen", "Sheen", "Qaf", "Faa", "Yaa" and others. The shape of the characters' "dot", "dots", and "point" is innovative; a triangle with a semi-circle shape. "Castile" Typeface is suitable for books' covers, advertisement light boards, and titles in magazines and newspapers. Its charactersí modern Kufic styles give the typeface more distinction when it is used also in posters, greeting cards, covers, exhibitionsí signboards and external or internal walls of malls or metroís exits and entrances. It can also be used in titles for Arabic news and advertisements appeared in different Arabic and foreign satellite channels.

Father's Day, or June 17 of this year, is in the middle of Argentinian winter. And like people do on wintery Sunday mornings, I was bundled up in bed with too many covers, pillows and comforters. Feeling good and not thinking about anything in particular, Father's Day was nowhere in the vicinity of my mind. My eleven year old son, Matías, came into the room with a handmade present for me. Up to this point, my Father's Day gift history was nothing unusual. Books, socks, hand-painted wooden spoons, the kind of thing any father would expect from his pre-teen son. So you can understand when I say I was bracing myself to fake excitement at my son's present. But this Father's Day was special. I didn't have to fake excitement. I was in fact excited beyond my own belief. Matí's handmade present was a complete alphabet drawn on an A4 paper. Grungy, childish, and sweeter than a ton of honey. He'd spent days making it, three-dimensioning the letters, wiggle-shadowing them. Incredible. A common annoyance for graphic designers is explaining to people, even those close to them, what they do for a living. You have to somehow make it understandable that you are a visual communicator, not an artist. Part of the problem is the fact that "graphic designer" and "visual communicator" are just not in the dictionary of standard professions out there. If you're a plumber, you can wrap all the duties of your job with 3.5 words: I'm a plumber. If you're a graphic designer, no wrapper, 3.5 or 300 words, will ever cover it. I've spent many hours throughout the years explaining to my own family and friends what I do for a living, but most of them still come back and ask what it is exactly that I do for dough. When you're a type designer, that problem magnifies itself considerably. When someone asks you what you do for a living, you start looking for the nearest exit, but none of the ones you can find is any good. All the one-line descriptions are vague, and every single one of them queues a long, one-sided conversation that usually ends with someone getting too drunk listening, or too tired of talking. Now imagine being a type designer, with a curious eleven year old son. The kid is curious as to why daddy keeps writing huge letters on the computer screen. Let's go play some ball, dad. As soon as I finish working, son. He looks over my shoulder and sees a big twirly H on the screen. To him it looks like a game, like I'm not working. And I have to explain it to him again. This Father's Day, my son gave me the one present that tells me he finally understands what I do for a living. Perhaps he is even comfortable with it, or curious enough about that he wants to try it out himself. Either way, it was the happiest Father's Day I've ever had, and I'm prouder of my son than of everything else I've done in my life. This is Matí's font. I hope you find it useful.