Distort, expand and shrink. Working the shapes of letters as something fluid, like clay or rubber. The unexpected result leads young designers to bewilderment. Oxe is common expression among people in the northeast of Brazil, a slang that expresses amazement and baptizes the digital type created in 1999 by Buggy.

Vintage New York neon signage alongside the landmark Dubrow's Cafeteria [probably circa the 1940s] of the words "retail shop" inspired the namesake digital type design. Retail Shop JNL is a bold and somewhat eccentric Art Deco font with varying widths and unusual character forms available in both regular and oblique versions.

Freaky Prickle script was written using ink and various wooden sticks and digitized/ Autor’s target was to create the spontaneous, light, flying script with dynamics and energy at the same time. Upright and cursive styles are available. The type was planned for use as headline in fiction and display matter.

Tuscan X Condensed (whose actual name is Gothic Concave Tuscan Extra Condensed) was first produced in wood type by William H. Page & Company around 1872. The design is derived from a Gothic Condensed typeface, but with vertical stokes bowing inwards at the center. We modified the weight of the uppercase characters (since the original wood type has a lowercase much thinner than the caps) to harmonize with the lowercase when used digitally.

Linotype Boundaround is part of the Take Type Library, selected from the contestants of Linotype’s International Digital Type Design Contests from 1994 and 1997. German artist Christina Sachse gave her font a mystical feel. The vertical strokes meet the base line at a point and the strokes vary in their width. The lively Linotype Boundaround is suitable for shorter texts in point sizes 12 or larger and for headlines in larger point sizes.

Linotype Atomatic is part of the Take Type Library, selected from the contestants of Linotype’s International Digital Type Design Contests of 1994 and 1997. German artist Johannes Plass designed his font in one strongly-crafted weight. Linotype Atomatic seems to mirror the fast pace and technology of modern times. The slight lean to the right gives an impression of speed and movement. Linotype Atomatic is intended exclusively for headlines in larger point sizes.

Linotype Seven is part of the Take Type Library, chosen from the contestants of Linotype’s International Digital Type Design Contests of 1994 and 1997. This prize-winning font was designed by the German artist Christian Vornehm. The font looks as though hastily drawn with a wide, bristly brush, as though the scribe was in a hurry. Linotype Seven is loaded with energy and spontaneity. It is intended exclusively for short headlines in larger point sizes.

“Victoria Underwood” was found within the pages of the 1923 American Type Founders specimen book. It was one of many printing fonts faithfully replicating those used on various makes and models of actual typewriters. The purpose of such type was to allow mass production of letters or notices that could appear personalized rather than shop printed. Antique Typewriter JNL is the digital version of this design, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Front Row JNL is an all-caps reinterpretation of Morris Fuller Benton's 1937 type design "Empire", and is available in both regular and oblique versions. As is often the case when a digital type font is based on a few letter examples found on a printed sample [in this case, the sheet music of the 1946 Guy Lombardo hit "What More Can I Ask For"], the missing characters were drawn from scratch.

Linotype Down Town is part of the Take Type Library, chosen from the contestants of Linotype’s International Digital Type Design Contests of 1994 and 1997. The cheerful character of this fun font from German designer Critzler is perfect for comics or posters. The figures dance across the base line, swinging between thick and thin, big and small. Linotype Down Town is intended exclusively for headlines and short texts in at least 18 point.

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.

HWT Aetna is a revival of the sturdy Roman style of wood type most often called simply Aetna. This new digital version by Aaron Bell features four widths all based on the various widths commonly offered by 19th Century wood type manufacturers. In addition, there is a four-layer all-caps version Aetna based on the the famous Wm. Page Chromatic Types, that allows the user the ability to easily create these chromatic streamer and shadow effects. Both the multiple width Aetnas and Streamer component fonts support full Western and Eastern European languages.

Academy was designed circa 1910 at the Berthold type foundry (St.-Petersburg). It was based on Sorbonne (H. Berthold, Berlin, 1905), which represented the American Type Founders rework Cheltenham of 1896 (designers Bertram G. Goodhue, Morris F. Benton) and Russian typefaces of the mid-18th century. A low-contrast text typeface with historical flavor. The modern digital version was designed at Poligrafmash type design bureau in 1989 by Lyubov Kuznetsova. Corrections and additions were done later in ParaType in early 2000th. Reworked version with Bold Italic style was released in 2009.

The deep well of creativity that is the era of the hand lettered sheet music title page brings forth Nouveau Nights JNL. Re-drawn from a period example of the 1920s, this titling font perfectly captures the warm "human" look of pen and ink lettering, long before the advent of "perfect" digital type.

Public Notice JNL is based on a wood type alphabet originally shown in George Nesbitt’s 1838 catalog as “Gothic.” The image sample used for a model had only the basic A-Z characters, an ampersand and an exclamation point, so numbers and additional characters were designed and added to the digital version.

The decorative title typeface was designed at Polygraphmash type design bureau in 1967 by Iraida Chepil. It is a decorative variant ('open', or 'engraved') of classical serif typefaces. For use in magazine headlines, title and display typography. The revised and completed digital version was designed for ParaType in 2005 by Victor Kharyk.

Aligarh is a semi-slab serif font formed with a smooth rounded bracket whose edges end with unique shapes, an exploration of combining unique styles in a typefaces. Designed to be used in a variety of media both print and digital media. 18 fonts built from 9 sizes and supported by open types.

A 1935 piece of sheet music entitled “(There’s A) Little Picture Playhouse in My Heart” had its movie-themed title hand lettered in a condensed Art Deco style with a few interesting character variations. The resulting digital type design is Stage Production JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

A 1926 trade ad for the silent comedy “The Nut-Cracker” starring Edward Everett Horton has the film’s title hand lettered in a decorative bold sans serif design complete with highlight lines and accent dots. This festive type face is now available digitally as Movie Matinee JNL in both regular and oblique versions.

One of the type samples showcased in the 1907 Barnhart Brothers & Spindler specimen book was named “Sterling”; a spurred serif Art Nouveau design. This is now available digitally as Millinery JNL in both regular and oblique versions. An old fashioned term for a once plentiful business, ‘millinery’ is a women’s hat shop.

The cover of the 1930s-era “Catalog of Artists’ Materials” from Ernst H. Friedrichs, Inc. (New York) has the words “Artists’ Materials” hand lettered in a stylized Art Deco sans serif type style. This unique design is now the digital font Art Materials JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The Zapf Renaissance Antiqua type family was designed by Hermann Zapf for the German Scangraphic Dr. Böger GmbH in Hamburg, from 1984–1986. The typefaces were engineered for use in digital CRT phototypesetting. This version was based on Scangraphic SH version (For Display use) and not on the SB version (for text use).

Star Ornaments are seen as a long standing companion to many wood type poster layouts. Various manufacturers managed to derive many variations of the five pointed star motif and offered them as a ubiquitous ornament option in almost all of their catalogs. Manufacturers such as Wm. H Page, Morgans & Wilcox, Tubbs Mfg. Co. and of course, Hamilton Wood Type each had their own slight variations. This digital font features almost 100 glyphs of mostly stars, but it also features a unique star border that can create boxes just like the modular offerings of the 19th century. The twist on this digital version is the inclusion of additional connection options that become a unique lettering 'kit' that can create typography or maze-like connections using a limited set of component parts.

Found within the pages of the 1934 edition of the American Type Foundry’s “Book of American Type” is a sans serif design with rounded terminals that emulates a typewriter face. “Jumbo Typewriter” is reminiscent of the type of lettering formerly found on teletype news copy. “Teletype” was a division of Western Electric (part of AT&T), and the machines utilized telephone lines to electronically type and send (as well as receive) messages worldwide. Many folks will remember the sound of teletype machines in the background when radio stations had their news breaks. Now available digitally as News Copy JNL, it is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Linotype Afrika, from German type designer Jörg Herz, is part of the TakeType Library, chosen from the entries of the Linotype-sponsored International Digital Type Design Contest 1999 for inclusion on the TakeType 3 CD. Dancing, jumping, and playing, the lively beings of this symbol font exude joy. Ornaments and a few frolicking animals complete the font. Combining the single figures, whether as decoration or border, creates a pattern which will surprise you with its lightness and dynamism.

Linotype Agogo is part of the Take Type Library, chosen from the contestants of Linotype’s International Digital Type Design Contests of 1994 and 1997. Designed by British artist Ed Bugg, the font is reminiscent of the elegant 1920s and 1930s. It is a calligraphy font with five weights, one regular and four swash. The regular weight alone is clear and legible enough even for longer texts, although when used with swash characters, the texts should be shorter or headlines.

Steve Jackaman has refined and optimized Jolly Roger for digital release. The original design was created in 1970 by the legendary American type designer Phil Martin, founder and creator of the Alphabet Innovations and TypeSpectra type collections. Although quirky, playful and highly unusual, Phil describes Jolly Roger as his personal favorite out of his entire library of over 400 typefaces. We are proud and humbled to reintroduce the design in honor of our good friend and colleague.

Linotype Dharma is part of the Take Type Library, chosen from the contestants of the International Digital Type Design Contests of 1994 and 1997. G. Jakob and J. Meißner designed this font with an ornamental character, for example, with diagonal slashes as umlauts or dots on the i and j and the triangular serifs on the upper left of both letters and numerals. Such details make for a restless font, best used for short headlines in large point sizes.

The hand composition typeface was created at Polygraphmash type design bureau in 1959 by a well-known Soviet book and type designer Pavel Kuzanyan (1901-1992). It was reproduced in the 1960s for slugcasting and machine display composition. Sharp contrast, strong weight, slightly condensed Modern Serif with calligraphic elements. The typeface is useful in text and display composition, in scientific, fiction and art books. The revised and completed digital version was designed at ParaType in 2002 by Lyubov Kuznetsova.

Linotype Mailbox is part of the Take Type Library, chosen from the entries of the Linotype-sponsored International Digital Type Design Contests of 1994 and 1997. The typefaces was created by German designer Andreas Karl. An entire alphabet, only lower case letters, with the look of @ -- who doesn’t think of the Internet? If you want to give your headlines or short texts an unmistakable feel of the Internet, you could not do better than Linotype MailBox.

Neva Regular with Italic was created by Moscow book and type designer Pavel Kuzanyan (1901-1992) at Polygrafmash in 1970 for slugcasting and display composition. Based on simple strict letterforms of Russian classical typefaces. Neva typeface was rewarded on the Gutenberg international type design contest in 1971 (Leipzig). The typeface is useful in text and display composition, in fiction and art books. The digital version and bold styles were designed for ParaType in 2002 by Lyubov Kuznetsova.

Redwood is the fresh and lively digitization of the popular ATF landmark, Raleigh Cursive. Drawn by Willard Sniffin in 1929, and introduced by ATF in 1930, this classic script is prominently featured in almost every published type history book, and proudly listed among every letterpress printer's type assets. Redwood's unique calligraphy is complemented with a set of swash capitals unlike any others out there. Strength, grace and elegance rarely ever combine the way they do in this typeface.

The three largest sizes of type made by the Caslon foundry are strangely unlike the famously consistent text faces cut by William Caslon. Perhaps they were the work of other hands—or of the master in a funky mood. Caslon’s text types have often been revived, but the display sizes, forceful and a touch eccentric, had no digital version until Matthew Carter’s Big Caslon. With striking Italics and rich design features , this typeface shines at BIG sizes.

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.

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.

Linotype Animalia is part of the Take Type Library, chosen from the contestants of Linotype’s International Digital Type Design Contests of 1994 and 1997. The font was designed by German artist Johannes Plass and is full of surprises. It is like a walk through the zoo, where the j is a shark chasing a small fish and the K is a moose gazing at the sky. Linotype Animalia is intended exclusively for use in headlines with large point sizes.

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.

Linotype Schnitz is part of the Take Type Library, selected from the contestants of Linotype’s International Digital Type Design Contests of 1994 and 1997. Designed by the Finnish artist Osmo Niemi, the characters seem to contain no round forms at all. Linotype Schnitz looks as though it were chiseled and has an angular, almost brittle feel. The restless and lively appearance makes Linotype Schnitz particular well-suited to headlines and shorter texts with point sizes of 12 and larger.

Linotype Gneisenauette is part of the Take Type Library, selected from the contestants of Linotype’s International Digital Type Design Contests of 1994 and 1997. The handwriting font was designed by Latvian artist Gustavs A. Grinbergs and is available in eight weights. Linotype Gneisenauette is a dynamic font which also reflects a bit of the optimistic spirit of the 1950s. The font is best used for headlines or middle length texts with a point size 12 or larger.