Empire Display is a sans serif italic display face which references the styling of the 30s through to the 50s. It has a large x height and with its condensed proportions makes it ideal for headlines, posters or where large size settings are required. It has the unique feature of having the stems and cross bars slightly angled top and bottom. This also helps to create the art deco/modern feel that sets it apart from standard condensed typefaces.

The April 8, 1932 issue of The Film Daily ran an ad for a film entitled "The Sin of Lena Rivers". Hand lettered in a block style of chamfered characters, it is reminiscent of the 1920s, but still carries a touch of Art Deco influences with the thinner and extended horizontal strokes of the E, F and H. This retro sans serif design is now available digitally as Evil Ways JNL in both regular and oblique versions.

A vintage rubber stamp alphabet and star printing set had a package header with Art Deco-inspired lettering describing the product. Sold by a company called Elvin [circa late 50's-early 1960s], these Japanese-made sets were one of many distributed by independent toy importers and made in various configurations including [at times] tiny animal stamps. The type design on this particular item was the model for Retro Packaging JNL, available in both regular and oblique versions.

At the end of the 1931 gangster film “The Public Enemy” a hand lettered card offers up an afterword on the demise of Tom Powers (James Cagney’s character in the film) and how a “public enemy” is neither a man nor a character but a problem society must deal with. The text is in an Art-Deco influenced sans serif, and has been digitally recreated as Afterword JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Samuel Welo was a sign painter who had published in the 1920s and again in 1960 his “Studio Handbook – Letter and Design for Artists and Advertisers”, prolifically hand lettering all of the type style examples within the pages of the publication. In 1930 Welo also published “Lettering - Practical and Foreign”. From this book comes a thick-and-thin hand lettered Art Deco alphabet – now available digitally as Sightseeing Tour JNL in both regular and oblique versions.

Arbotek has the original skeleton that the author used for the development of his typeface Arboria, a real 'architect typography', with a basic and radical approach to pure geometric forms. The three basic styles - Thin, Light and Light Rounded - try to approach the cartographic technique annotations and their output on plotters. The voluptuous style, Ultra, keeps the same structure of the Light versions, but develops as a historic Art Decó variant of this 20s and 30s graphic style.

The Wright-Regan Instrument Company (Wrico) was one of the leading manufacturers of lettering templates for many years. Aside from their own line of products, they also did custom manufacturing. A series of lettering guides called “Mimeostyle” for the A. B. Dick Company of Chicago (produced for use in making mimeograph machine printing stencils) featured an art Deco squared letter design with rounded corners. This is now available digitally as Template Sans JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.

The beautiful Art Deco monoline pen lettering on the cover of a 1940s piece of sheet music inspired Central Park JNL. The 1940s was an era when couples took romantic walks along the pathways of Manhattan's Central Park or rode around it in hansom cabs. Big bands played at the major clubs and ballrooms and "uptown" meant the well-to-do. Men dressed in their tuxedos and top hats and the ladies were in their jewels and evening gowns.

This family takes its inspiration from two early Art Deco faces from Germany. The Normal version is based on Dynamo, designed by K. Sommer for Ludwig & Mayer in 1930, while the Narrow version is based on Stadion, designed by Erhard Grundeis for Die Schriftguß AG in 1929. Their common design motifs epitomize the Age of Streamline. Both versions include the complete Latin 1252, Central European 1250 and Turkish 1254 character sets, with localization for Lithuanian, Moldovan and Romanian.

On April 20, 1950, film comedian Jerry Lewis indulged his love of cameras by opening up Jerry Lewis’ Camera Exchange on Vine Street in Hollywood. It closed in 1951. Thanks to an image preserved within newsreel footage of the shop’s grand opening night, a glimpse of the post-Art Deco signage with its unusual, block style lettering inspired a digital version. Highly unusual and best for novelty projects, Shutterbug JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

A photo of the now closed [circa-1953] Lowell Municipal Pool (at 1601 N. 28th St.) in Boise, Idaho shows the words “Municipal Pool” formed into the cement of the entrance to the above-ground swimming facility. Both the lettering and building entrance designs harken back to the Art Deco era and the sign features stencil-like characters. This inspired a typeface aptly named Municipal Pool JNL, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The 1934 French publication L'Art du Tracé Rationnel de la Lettre is a vintage guide book on lettering chock full of interesting alphabets that have been an ongoing source of digital type revivals from the designs found within its pages. Monthly Statement JNL is a squared slab serif design with some Art Deco flair; available in both regular and oblique versions. This style of type evokes images of billheads, bank statements and other important documents of the era.

This is a digital reinterpretation of Walter Huxley's 1935 evergreen "Huxley Vertical", which was originally cast for American Type Founders. A timeless classic which has been in use since the Art Deco era, this version is known as Hotel Suite JNL. As in the original metal type, alternates for A,K,M,R,W and Y are available and can be found on their respective lower case keys. Hotel Suite JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Monotype Gallia's design was initially developed by Wadsworth A. Parker for the American Type Founders (ATF) in 1927. Monotype released its own version in 1928. Its style is embodied with the spirit of the American Art Deco age and the Roaring 20s. It makes a superb headline selection, and has also been used effectively for packaging as well. Also try the typeface on signage, menus, invitations, or stationary. If you like Monotype Gallia, check out Monotype Broadway, too!

Searching the internet for interesting type ideas leads one to many unusual items for sale online. An antique, hand-cut metal stencil from France with the word “Bagagens” [luggage] provided a condensed Art Deco design in a semi-stencil format (some solid letters, others with traditional ‘breaks’ within the characters). The digital version of the type style has a more traditional stencil character set. Garment Bag Stencil JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Safety is influenced by works from the Machine Age which had its greatest period between the two world wars and celebrated the triumphs of the late Industrial Age including mass production, skyscrapers, radio & phonographs, hydroelectric power and streamlined styling in industrial design. It is based on an Art Deco display style lettering known most popularly as Broadway or Manhattan but, having existed in a multitude of incarnations from showcard lettering to neon signs for a century.

Inspired by the elegance and sophistication of Hollywood's Golden Era, Oscar is a lyrical nod to the pinnacle of cinema achievements, the Academy Awards. Its slim, graceful features are accentuated by undulating triple waves. Delicate yet study, it will handily support messages both solemn and joyful. Use Oscar when you wish to convey a sense of celebration and prestige, a reference to the era of Art Deco and the 1920s or, a feeling of grace and ceremony.

The hand lettered title found on the 1924 sheet music for the tango “Sentimiento Gaucho” (“Sentimental Gaucho”) offered a different take on the thick-and-thin lettering that permeated the late 1920s through the Art Deco age. A ‘slash’ or ‘swipe’ is cut through the characters (similar to “Directa JNL” – another take on this type of design). Last Tango JNL is the digital recreation of this novelty lettering and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Belle Jardin is an Art Deco inspired display family of three typefaces, offered in in-line engraved regular and demi bold forms as well as a solid bold form. It offers upper and lower case solid slab-built forms that create an immediate atmosphere of the streamline era of the thirties and are also at home in post-war revival inspired design work. The letterforms are solidly legible and ideal for cover and poster inspired design work.

Most folks might picture wood type lettering as the fancy styles of the 1880s which so perfectly evoked images of the Old West. Occasionally there is an exception to that rule, as an online image of some vintage wood letters with an Art Deco influence inspired a revival as a digital type face. Wood Lined JNL features a bold alphabet with an engraved line throughout the characters, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Periodical JNL is based on one the many stylized titles from the cover of the 1920s Spanish magazine "Nuevo Mundo" (New World). Each cover displayed a beautiful piece of period artwork along with the magazine's name in different lettering styles of the time (Art Nouveau and early Art Deco). The original design features an "engraved" look and now has an oblique counterpart. Also available are solid versions (without the inside lines) in both regular and oblique styles.