Born on May 8, 1892 in Reno Nevada, Lewis Franklin (“Lew” ) Hymers left an indelible mark as a caricaturist, cartoonist and graphic artist. At the age of twenty [in 1912] he worked for the San Francisco Chronicle. During World War I he worked for the Washington Post. He even was employed for a time by Walt Disney as an animator - but most of his life was spent in either Tujunga, California or his birthplace of Reno, Nevada as a self-employed illustrator. Hymers inked a feature for the Nevada State Journal called “Seen About Town”, which was published during the 1930s and 1940s. In this panel, he caricaturized many of the familiar faces around Reno. He also designed signs, logos, post cards and numerous other commercial illustrations for clients, but what has endeared him to a number of fans was his vast library of stock cuts (the predecessor to paper and electronic clip art) which feature his humorous characters in various professions and life situations. So popular is his work amongst those “in the know” that a clip art book collection of over seven hundred of his drawings that was issued by Dover Publications [but long out of print] commands asking prices ranging from just under $15 to well over $100 for a single copy. Lew Hymers passed away on February 5, 1953 just a few months shy of his 61st birthday. Although his artwork depicts the 1930s and 1940s lifestyles, equipment and conveniences, more than sixty years after his death they stand up amazingly well as cheerful pieces of nostalgia. The twenty-seven images (and some variants) in Hymers JNL were painstakingly re-drawn from scans of one of his catalogs and is but just a tiny fraction of the hundreds upon hundreds of illustrations from the pen of this prolific artist.

I hate the idea of revivals. I have publicly said I choose not to do revivals because they make me uncomfortable. This is as close as I have been to crossing my own line. To be direct, Rhythm is based on the ATF typeface, Ratio (I just recently learned the foundry of origin). I came across this typeface from a printed specimen years ago when I was in school and held onto it. It was unique and I loved how well integrated the inline worked within both the flourish and serif of the glyphs—it was old, but not, reminiscent, but fresh. My specimen was limited in the glyph offering (it was c. 1930ish) and I realized a lot would need to be done to ‘finish’ it and bring it to contemporary expectations. I didn't want to do ‘retro’ and tried to avoid the visual trappings associated with it. What I did want to do is interpret what I had in the specimen and reinterpret it digitally, refining its construction and extending its typographic equity along the way. The ‘One’ and ‘Two’ (and their matching ‘Solids’) styles diverge providing various elaborations that coordinate well between rigid bracketed serifs and compact tails. I further expanded the glyph offering to include a full diacritic set, old style numerals, fractions, stylistic alternates, swashes, titling alternates and controlled flourishes that adhere to the efficient framework of the script. And yes, I refer to it as a ‘script’ because calling it a ‘cutesy serif’ seems wrong :) I hope this is seen less as a slavish revival and more as a championing of a really unique typeface. The Original Typeface was Adastra, designed by Herbert Thannhaeuser for the Foundry D. Stempel AG in Frankfurt, Germany.

Harri Text is more than an extension of Harri. It shares its origin, a certain flavour and a great deal of its idiosyncrasies, but while Harri is an uppercase-only typeface intended for display uses, Harri Text is conceived as a text type family, including a new extra-light weight, italics, small caps and other additions that make it suitable for editorial purposes. As its predecessor Harri Text addresses several concerns regarding the dualism neutrality vs. idiosyncrasy, or in other words, how local features meet global design in the context of a modern society (as is the case in the Basque Country in recent times). The origin of Harri Text —vernacular Basque lettering for the most part— is full of idiosyncrasies and peculiarities that, while giving them its special character, may hinder readability in some cases. The default set in Harri Text tones its essence down a little bit. It is still present, although less obstrusive. Stylistic sets 1, 2 and 3 are a chance to recover gradually this essence modifying some characters —specially the characteristic design of letter A– for those who seek a more local flavour. Stylistic set 4, on the other hand, does the opposite job, this is, removes asymmetrical serifs and other small details in order to create a more neutral atmosphere. Any traces to its origin are this way diluted resulting in a crisp and clean incise variant. Stylistic set 6 is available in the italic styles. It provides a more fluid and cursive flavour to some letters in case a calligraphic mood is desired. Harri Text comes with 1054 glyphs in its character set (1078 in the italics) with support for more than 220 languages.

Plantin is a family of text typefaces created by Monotype in 1913. Their namesake, Christophe Plantin (Christoffel Plantijn in Dutch), was born in France during the year 1520. In 1549, he moved to Antwerp, located in present-day Belgium. There he began printing in 1555. For a brief time, he also worked at the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands. Typefaces used in Christophe Plantin's books inspired future typographic developments. In 1913, the English Monotype Corporation's manager Frank Hinman Pierpont directed the Plantin revival. Based on 16th century specimens from the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp, specifically a type cut by Robert Granjon and a separate cursive Italic, the Plantin" typeface was conceived. Plantin was drawn for use in mechanical typesetting on the international publishing markets. Plantin, and the historical models that inspired it, are old-style typefaces in the French manner, but with x-height that are larger than those found in Claude Garamond's work. Plantin would go on to influence another Monotype design, Times New Roman. Stanley Morison and Victor Larent used Plantin as a reference during that typeface's cutting. Like Garamond, Plantin is exceptionally legible and makes a classic, elegant impression. Plantin is indeed a remarkably accommodating type face. The firm modelling of the strokes and the serifs in the letters make the mass appearance stronger than usual; the absence of thin elements ensures a good result on coated papers; and the compact structure of the letters, without loss of size makes Plantin one of the economical faces in use. In short, it is essentially an all-purpose face, excellent for periodical or jobbing work, and very effective in many sorts of book and magazine publishing. Plantin's Bold weight was especially optimized to provide ample contrast: bulkiness was avoided by introducing a slight sharpening to the serifs' forms."

Giambattista Bodoni (1740-1813) was called the King of Printers; he was a prolific type designer, a masterful engraver of punches and the most widely admired printer of his time. His books and typefaces were created during the 45 years he was the director of the fine press and publishing house of the Duke of Parma in Italy. He produced the best of what are known as modern" style types, basing them on the finest writing of his time. Modern types represented the ultimate typographic development of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. They have characteristics quite different from the types that preceded them; such as extreme vertical stress, fine hairlines contrasted by bold main strokes, and very subtle, almost non-existent bracketing of sharply defined hairline serifs. Bodoni saw this style as beautiful and harmonious-the natural result of writing done with a well-cut pen, and the look was fashionable and admired. Other punchcutters, such as the Didot family (1689-1853) in France, and J. E. Walbaum (1768-1839) in Germany made their own versions of the modern faces. Even though some nineteenth century critics turned up their noses and called such types shattering and chilly, today the Bodoni moderns are seen in much the same light as they were in his own time. When used with care, the Bodoni types are both romantic and elegant, with a presence that adds tasteful sparkle to headlines and advertising. Parma was designed by the monotype Design Team after studying Bodoni's steel punches at the Museo Bodoniana in Parma, Italy. They also referred to specimens from the "Manuale Tipografico," a monumental collection of Bodoni's work published by his widow in 1818.

The Salden fonts are our tribute to the man who was dubbed the face of the Dutch book, and whose work is considered essential in 20th century Dutch design history. Helmut Salden’s exquisite book cover designs were the gold standard in the Netherlands for more than four decades. His influence over Dutch lettering artists and book designers ranges far and wide, and his work continues to be used commercially and exhibited to this very day. At the root of Salden’s design work was a unique eye for counter space and incredible lettering skills that never failed to awe, regardless of category or genre. This made our attention to his lettering all the more focused within our appreciation to his overall aesthetic. Though Salden never designed alphabets to be turned into typefaces (he drew sets of letters which he sometimes recycled and modified to fit various projects), we thought there was enough there to deduce what a few different typefaces by Salden would have looked like. The man was prolific, so there were certainly enough forms to guide us, and enough variation in style to push our excitement even further. And so we contacted the right people, obtained access to the relevant material, and had a lot of fun from there. This set covers the gamut of Salden’s lettering talents. Included are his famous caps, his untamed, chunky flare sans serif in two widths, his unique Roman letters and an italic companion and, most recognizable of all, his one-of-a-kind scripty upright italic lowercase shapes, which he used alongside Roman caps drawn specifically for that kind of combination titling. All the fonts in this set include Pan-European glyph sets. They’re also loaded with extras. Salden Roman (908 glyphs) and Salden Italic (976 glyphs) each come with built-in small caps (and caps-to-small-caps), quite a few ligatures, and two different sets of alternates. Salden Black and Salden Black Condensed (636 glyphs each) come with a set of alternates, and both lining and oldstyle figures. Salden Caps (597 glyphs) comes with a set of alternates, and Salden Titling (886 glyphs) comes with a quite a lot of swashed forms and alternates (including as many six variants for some forms), a few discretionary ligatures, and two sets of figures. There are also some form alternates for the Cyrillic and Greek sets included in all six fonts. These alphabets were enjoyably studied and meticulously developed over the past ten years or so. We consider ourselves very fortunate to be the ones bringing them to the world as our contribution to maintaining the legacy of a legendary talent and a great designer. The majority of the work was based on Salden’s original drawings, access to which was graciously provided by Museum Meermanno in The Hague. The Salden fonts were done in agreement with Stichting 1940-1945, and their sale will in part benefit Museum Meermanno.

One menorah that I have long found particularly appealing was named The Tree of Life Menorah, a replica of which I gave as a gift one holiday to a kindly old couple who were neighbors and became friends. It had a simple, organic elegance that I see in the best of Art Nouveau sculpture. To me personally, Judeism is a celebration of life, like the triumph of the flower that blossoms in the crack of the city sidewalk. Just as Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the temple and the miracle of the oil, it celebrates the victorious quest for freedom of the Hebrew people led by Judah Maccabee. Hanukkah represents determination and courage and faith — and it represents the presence of God in the lives of His people. It is interesting to note that the founding of the Albanian nation in the early twentieth century grew out of the resistance of the Albanian people to the imposition of Greek language and culture in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. The typeface, HADASSAH, designed by Henri Friedlander (1904-1996), is my favorite Hebrew typeface. Thirty years in the crafting, I believe it is unsurpassed for its shear beauty, combining a subtle modulation of stroke with a simplicity and clarity of form. No doubt, that is why it has become so popular. For me, the Sîyn/Shîyn characters are especially satisfying. For a Hanukkah message in Hebrew, I would choose HADASSAH LIGHT for a headline and print it as large as I could. If, however, you are looking for a friendly, warm face for a seasonal message in a roman-letter based language, may I suggest BETHLEHEM EPHRATH. It will be as comfortable as a bulky, hand-knit sweater on a frosty afternoon and reflects the solid, encompassing, family orientation of this holiday. It was on the way to Ephrath that Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel gave birth to Benjamin and then died from her labor. It was to Ephrath that Naomi and Ruth returned and in Ephrath that we have the wonderful, heart-warming story of the marriage between Ruth and her Redeemer-Kinsman, Boaz. And it was to Ephrath that prophet, Samuel, went to find a new king and there in Ephrath that the prophet annointed a small shepherd boy named David. The Proverbs tell us to seek wisdom. Never underestimate the impact you have on others. Words of kindness can change people’s lives. The Talmud says that the highest form of wisdom is kindness. Be wise this holiday season. The font BETHLEHEM EPHRATH is based on the typeface Accent with the permission of URW++ of Hamburg, Germany. Like most display fonts, it is most effective at 18 points and larger. Like most script fonts, it is most effective when set with both upper and lower case. Although this font is readable in all caps (many scripts are not), that does not make it a good idea. Do so only with caution.

The Vale Press was a contemporary of Willam Morris's Kelmscott Press. The types used by the Vale Press were designed by artist Charles Ricketts, who also supervised the design and printing of Vale Press books. The main type used, Vale, was based on the Jenson 15th century roman type style. The King's Fount was an experimental semi-uncial font based on the Vale type. The King's Fount was designed in 1903 for the Vale edition of the 15h century poem "The Kingis Quair". This semi-uncial font evokes old English and Anglo-Saxon lettering. P22 Vale Pro combines the two fonts P22 Vale Roman and P22 Vale King's Fount into one "Pro" font. This pro font also includes a Central European character set, old style figures, fractions, ornaments and a special faux "Middle English" feature to make "anee text appeer Olde." This feature is not known to exist in any other font.

Winslow Title is a high contrast modern type family comes in two styles and a monolinear script family. The traditional proportions of Winslow Title are historical in nature and follow the design and style of Winslow Book as a high contrast variant. The Winslow Title Mod family is a contemporary take on the style, with tapering terminals and less pronounced finials. Each family includes both styles, to be accessed through the opentype panel as a stylistic alternate. If preferable, you can purchase the entire family collection to have easier access to both styles, but it's not necessary. The typeface family comprises of roman and italic styles in six weights from Thin to Black and two widths in the roman style: Regular and Narrow. The accompanying script family has a single weight but offers five tracking widths, from Narrow to Wide. The bundle is an elegant combination of styles perfect for titling and display design. The serif typeface is packed with features that make ideal titling styles. Not only do they include the Stylistic Alternates, but also Titling Alternates, Discretionary Ligatures, Small Capitals, Swashes and Contextual Ligatures. As noted previously, the typeface comes in two styles, Traditional and Modern. Each can be accessed either by the Stylistic Alternates or Stylistic Sets. Titling Alternates are alternates that expand the ball terminals to K, R, V, W, and Y (see Titling Alternates slide). Contextual Ligatures are for capital combinations with A that tighten the gap created by the extended serifs. It connects characters with a pairing serif (the lower right serif of the M with the lower right serif of the A) and bridges them together. This combination works for single and multiple A combinations. It is turned on automatically in the Opentype panel and shouldn’t need to be accessed individually. Alternatively, the Discretionary Ligatures feature combines diagonal or baseline stems with lifted small capitals, creating a unique combination of characters. Swashes is an extensive feature that offers up to five swash options per many of each character. These can be selected via the Glyphs panel or as character alternates in Adobe programs. The Script family has a feature set of it’s own, with initial and final swashes on lowercase letters, middle swashes for select characters, and a titling feature that joins words together by replacing the space with a line. Stylistic alternates create a bouncing baseline on connecting strokes. *Note: there is no great need to purchase both families as all styles can be accessed via Opentype features, but if customers prefer to purchase both styles, it can be done by selecting the Complete Typeface Family collection.

Located in the Valencian Community, Spain, Manises is very famous for its pottery. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Manises was the most important production center for Spanish-Moresca ceramics, which was exported throughout Europe. At the beginning of the 16th century, Manises tiles were very commercially successful, especially of the heraldic type. Much appreciated by the Aragonese crown, Manises ceramics was also exported to France, Italy, and especially to Naples. As a big fan of Paterna and Manises ceramics, Naples influenced other Italian courts. Calixto III and Alejandro VI continuously commissioned Valencian pieces and tiles for the halls of the Vatican. The export also extended to Sicily, Venice, Turkey, Cyprus and even Flanders and the Baltic countries. The palaces of all the courts of Europe were enriched with this art. Many painters reproduced it in his paintings. It can be seen in the work of Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, and in the central panel of a triptych by Hugo Van der Goes (Uffizi Gallery, Florence). In this city there are also some frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio in which the Arabic-Valencian earthenware appears. Manises font is inspired by a text written on a 16th century tile, but adapting it to our times and giving it a very modern air. It is characterised by being able to combine uppercase and lowercase letters in a conventional manner, or use only capitals, or only lowercase letters, or, a random combination of both. It comes with an extra of many ligatures, stylistic alternates, and a set of very useful catchwords, to give more modernity to your text. This OpenType features may only be accessible via OpenType-aware applications, or the Character Map to view and copy any of the extra characters to paste into your favourite text editor/app. Manises looks lovely on wedding invitations, greeting cards, logos, posters, labels, t-shirt design, logos, children's material, in ink or water-colour based designs, fashion, magazines, food packaging and menus, book covers and whatever your imagination holds!