The dearJoe series of fonts had it’s origin somewhere around 1999, the year I created dearJoe 1, which was a first (and half-assed) attempt at converting my own handwriting into a working font. Being able to type in my own handwriting had always been a childhood fantasy, and even though I only partly understood the software, a working font was generated and I decided to put it on the internet for people to use. And that’s what they did: at this moment the dearJoe 1 font has been downloaded millions of times and can be found on just about anything, ranging from Vietnamese riksjas, a Tasmanian gym to a fancy chocolate store on 5th Avenue. The font is not something I am particularly proud of, but it started me of in building what later became the JOEBOB graphics font foundry. Inbetween creating other fonts, the dearJoe series has become a theme I revisit every once in a while, trying to create an update on how my handwriting evolved, along with my abilities in creating fonts that mimic actual handwriting. In the last decade or so I started implementing ligatures and alternate characters, which helped a lot in making something that can almost pass for actual handwriting.

Why Baka Expert? There’s actually a simple answer. The original Baka was done as an experiment of sorts. I wanted to quickly capture a rough, frenetic handwriting style that broke normal conventions. Commercially, it was successful, received some accolades ... but I wasn’t completely satisfied, so I went back to the master art and the lettering explorations and produced Baka Too. This addressed some of the line items I wanted to refine in Baka. I liked it. Each font has been out for a few years now, and I have seen them in use. I’m very critical of my work, and I could still see things—modulations of strokes, angle of the nib, ink swell, and so on—that I wanted to change, refine, and reorder. For me, it is typographic indulgence, but I wanted to take this handwriting ‘font’ and turn it into a robust ‘typeface.’ So I did just that and a bit more by adding back more of my initial flourish concepts; attaining tighter, consistent control of the modulation; optimizing points; adding titling options; and expanding the character language set. Baka and Baka Too had to exist to produce this entirely new re-envisioning of an old friend ... and they all play well together :)

A complete figurative alphabet was published by one Peter Flotner (ca. 1485-1546) in 1534. In Flotner’s alphabet, naked or nearly-naked figures are posed singly or disposed in pairs to form the various letters. Unlike de Grassi’s alphabet, we find only human figures here, no other animals. And unlike Tory’s illustrations, these letters seem an end in themselves, rather than the means of demonstrating a design strategy. Flotner’s alphabet was imitated by other engravers. The letters G and N are reproduced from an alphabet published by one Martin Weygel in Bavaria in 1560. Peter Flötner , c.1485-1546, German medalist and artisan, possibly Swiss by birth. He was active in decorative sculpture, wood carving, and other crafts, making medals and plaques and furnishing designs of classical motifs for silversmiths. He was in Nuremberg by 1522 and did most of his work there, although he made two trips to Italy. Flötner is now regarded as a pioneer of the German Renaissance. His Kunstbuch was published in 1549. In the Metropolitan Museum are five of his bronze plaques illustrating biblical episodes. A stylistical tip : Use this caps with SchneiderBuchDeutsch, as shown in the banners above, to create a perfect historiated layout.

"I digitized and to revitalize NurnbergSchwabacher by the extinct Haas'sche Schriftgiesserei, a German/Swiss foundry established in 1790 and based in Basel/Münchenstein. Many of its shares were acquired by D. Stempel in 1927. On the Luc Devroye site this foundry is listed on the Extinct Foundries of the 18th century page. This design is very similar to another Intellecta best seller: Hostetler Fette Ultfraktur Ornamental, both drawn from the classical type specimen book from Hostetler. The ornamental frame that completes the font is a fantastic baroque ornament that I found in another old book, unfortunately lost now. Luc Devroye, whose book is the source for all of my fonts, writes this about Rudolf Hostettler: He was a Swiss type designer, author of “The Printer’s Terms” designed by Jan Tschichold, of "Technical Terms of the Printing Industry" (5th edition was printed in 1995), and of "Type: eine Auswahl guter Drucktypen; 80 Alphabete klassischer und moderner Schriften" (Teufen, Ausser-Rhoden: Niggli, 1958). He also wrote "Type: A Selection of Types" (1949, fgm books, R. Hostettler, E. Kopley, H. Strehler Publ., St. Gallen and London) in which he highlights type made by European houses such as Haas, Enschedé, Deberny and Nebiolo. Jost Hochuli wrote his biography.

Bambusa Pro is a sturdy expressive modern calligraphy family of 4 fonts: Regular, Bold, Basic and Ornaments. It owes its name to the bamboo pen that was used to draw all of the characters and swashes. The typical ink-strokes of the bamboo pen give Bambusa Pro a distinctively different appearance than dip pen calligraphy fonts like Salt & Spices Pro. Similarities between the two are a wide variety of long swashes that connect to the first and last letter of a sentence or name. But with Bambusa Pro this even goes for accented characters, and all upper and lower case letters. Together with five different connecting spaces you can create phrases that look as if the pen was never lifted from the paper. Like Stylist Pro all characters of Bambusa Pro connect to each other, both lower case and upper case letters and vice versa. Bambusa Pro Basic also is hand-lettered with a bamboo pen, but is a lot more straight forward. It combines beautifully with the connected styles Regular and Bold. On top of that Bambusa Pro Ornaments offers 100+ glyphs for additional designs possibilities. Enjoy! You will need an opentype savvy application to get the most out of Bambusa Pro.

Novel Pro is the humanist Antiqua typeface family within the largely extended award winning Novel Collection, also containing Novel Sans Pro, Novel Sans Hair, Novel Sans Condensed Pro, Novel Display, Novel Display Condensed, Novel Display Extra Condensed, Novel Display Compressed, Novel Display Extra Compressed, Novel Mono Pro, Novel Sans Rounded Pro and Novel Sans Office Pro. Classic proportions of a Renaissance Antiqua combined with modern details let Novel appear as a friendly and elegant but functional typeface. The almost upright letters of the narrow Italics create a vital contrast to the generous construction of the roman. All typeface families of the Novel Collection have a carefully attuned character design and a well balanced weight contrast. The fine gradation of 12 weights enable designers to create fine legible typography and combine the design with other members of the Novel Collection to reach highest quality in typography. Novel Pro [914 glyphs] comes in 12 styles and contains small caps, an extra set of alternate glyphs, many ligatures, lining figures [proportionally spaced and monospaced], hanging figures [proportionally spaced and monospaced], small caps figures [proportionally spaced and monospaced], positive and negative circled figures for upper and lower case, superior and inferior figures, fractions, extensive language support, arrows for uppercase and lowercase and many more OpenType™ features.

VetteLetters is proud to bring you the TpKurier-family. It is cooked up by our German chef Martin Lorenz currently living in lovely Barcelona! Chef Lorenz about the TpKurier recipe: “TpKurier is the second redesign we did of Courier. The first redesign in 2000, although based on a five-unit grid, was drawn completely by hand. Six years later we designed another grid version of Courier, and the TpKurier family was born. This version is completely constructed up till its last detail. We didn't want to correct ‘mistakes’ deriving from the use of the grid, but instead make them visible (see “S”). TpKurier is based on a very simple grid, composed a proportion of four units high by two units wide. A series of other links between them make it possible to form a font from this grid. We felt it was important to consistently work within these limitations so that any unexpected asperities would help provide the font with its character. Even though it is a rough constructed typeface it was important to us to design real italic lower case letters and not just a sloped roman (see “a”, “g” or “s”). The first family published contained a serif and sans-serif version of the TpKurier, with italic and bold.”

The Englishman William Caslon punchcut many roman, italic, and non-Latin typefaces from 1720 until his death in 1766. At that time most types were being imported to England from Dutch sources, so Caslon was influenced by the characteristics of Dutch types. He did, however, achieve a level of craft that enabled his recognition as the first great English punchcutter. Caslon's roman became so popular that it was known as the script of kings, although on the other side of the political spectrum (and the ocean), the Americans used it for their Declaration of Independence in 1776. The original Caslon specimen sheets and punches have long provided a fertile source for the range of types bearing his name. Identifying characteristics of most Caslons include a cap A with a scooped-out apex; a cap C with two full serifs; and in the italic, a swashed lowercase v and w. Caslon's types have achieved legendary status among printers and typographers, and are considered safe, solid, and dependable. A few of the many interpretations from the early twentieth century were true to the source, as well as strong enough to last into the digital era. Caslon Black was designed by Dave Farey in the ITC library.

Leopoldo Sans is a modern sans serif typeface. He has a small family and its members are: light, regular and bold. Each weight includes small caps, ligatures, and tabular numbers. It could work perfectly in your design, web, editorial and corporate works.

Ratatouille was inspired by wooden faces of old with pointed serifs. Very suitable for Packaging greeting cards magazines posters and Advertising Ads. Designed in four weights from Extra-Light to Bold including Italics, covering a large range of editorial and advertising applications.

Amity Signature is a stylish and versatile font family featuring four distinct weights: Light, Regular, Medium, and Bold. This collection offers an elegant impression and flexibility for all design needs, such as logos, branding, signatures, posters, labels, product packaging, invitation designs, and more.

Inspired by the calligraphic poster art of Santa Fe's Randall Hasson, Personal Message JNL is part calligraphic, part cartoon lettering. A light, casual and friendly design, Personal Message JNL can be applied to many different print or web projects with equally attractive results.

AdvertiserÆs Gothic Light, from a volume of headline fonts, was designed by Robert Wiebking in 1917. Wiebking was a skilled type engraver from Chicago who created his own pantographic machine, used to cut punches drawn by other successful type designers, including Frederic Goudy.

Caramelia is a playful kid’s font with a unique and modern look. Get inspired by its wonderfully light appeal. The Caramelia font is a great choice to increase the prominence in your project. Although the typography is traditional, the basic elements are great.

Algreve is the progenitor of our recent set of WoodType inspired typefaces. It’s more sophisticated, perhaps, and less rustic than one of the others. It’s incised or hand-tooled style lends a little sophistication and a little lightness. Ideal for period poster work…

Introducing Votrag - 10 Modern Font Collection, a versatile typeface set that encompasses a spectrum of design possibilities. With five distinct weights - thin, light, regular, semibold, and bold - each accompanied by both clean and textured versions, Votrag offers a total of ten unique fonts.

Ribelano is a serif display font that represents clear, contrast, and sharpness. The font comes in 6 different weight styles from Light to Black and it comes with 300+ glyphs. Perfectly suited for display needs such as heading, branding, logos, poster, etc.

Remedia is a simple linear typeface with a wide range of font weights, from a hairline Ultra Light to Extra Black. Legible in body copy and a great starting point for a unique logo, Remedia is a creative typeface for everyday uses.

This formal calligraphic face is light, and delicate with beautiful lines and curves. The Pro version adds extra elegance with alternate caps and beginning and ending swashes. Explora has over 600 glyphs and features international languages including the entire Cherokee Nation character set.

Spellbound is a beautiful light handwritten font with a unique feel and looks stunning. It will add a luxury spark to any design project! This font is PUA encoded which means you can access all of the amazing glyphs and ligatures with ease!

Julius comes in very handy if you want to jump back in time to the middle of the last century. Julius is also one of my first typefaces, recently I added the light version. Enjoy your trip back into the past, Gert Wiescher

Haiku is a very modern old-style typeface. Inspired by late Renaissance-era typography, and carefully optimised for both display and text, digital and print. Featuring ligatures, old-style numerals, wide language support, and true italics.

Winterflows is a handwritten font with quick dry strokes and a signature style. It is perfect for branding projects, homeware designs, product packaging or simply as a stylish text overlay to any background image or posters.

FG Elias is an all caps font from handwriting which looks a bit angry I think. It has a size variation between the caps and lowercase. Works great for headers or text you want to emphasize.

You need traditional christmas symbols to illustrate your text? How about using these historic designs that had been used in good old typography. xmas is not too far and always comes in winter time. Happy Xmas.

This is Classic Hebrew Sefardi Font. This is a beautiful typeface to invitations, posters, cover books and small texts. All diacritic marks for vocalization are present (Nikud), including shevana, kamats katan, cholam chaser and dagesh hazak.

Microdot is a pixel typeface that uses 5 by 7 grid. Fonts supports Latin, Cyrillic, and Hebrew, all with thoroughly designed diacritics. Microdot makes use of advanced OpenType features, just as any other modern text typeface.

This is Classic Hebrew Sefardi Font. This is a beautiful typeface to invitations, posters, cover books and small texts. All diacritic marks for vocalization are present (Nikud), including shevana, kamats katan, cholam chaser and dagesh hazak.

Trampoline is neat handwriting typeface inspired by requests I'm receiving as designer from people who would like to display dose of human touch in their products and editorials by having an typeface with personality and individuality.

Cute and adorable, they're...Onigiri! Designed to evoke the cuteness of Japanese mascots with the informality of script, these little riceballs o' text are sure to please! Comes in Latin alphabet, hiragana, katakana and onigiri dingbats!

Deuglas is a minimal and neat sans serif font. It can easily be matched to an incredibly large set of projects, so add it to your creative ideas and notice how it makes them stand out!

JH Lina is an Arabic Naskh typeface, including four weights; it is typical for long running text, headlines, branding , news letters, magazines, signage and electronic publishings ... The diacritic positioning is fine tuned per the publishers requirements.

Nacho, is a font inspired by the Mexican culture as the party of the dead and customs, created From the Thin to the Densa, it also contains a dingbat set to make the text more dynamic.

Geotrica is a minimal and neat sans serif font. It can easily be matched to an incredibly large set of projects, so add it to your creative ideas and notice how it makes them stand out!

A family with a retro feel with 12 styles in 6 weights, for both headlines and body text use as well editorial and corporate design from advertising to packaging and digital design. Supports Central/European languages.

The goal was to create a typeface that looks reputable and still original. Notably, some uppercase characters indicate this font its unique character. It is ideally suited for both body text and headings, or modern logos.

AZ Cut Script utilizes a simple hand-drawn “old look” to the line work which is designed to have a “worn feel” to it. Ideal for use as headline or sub-head text in your design.

Northern Petal is a casual script font with a touch of naturally connected handwritten feel. It is perfect for eye-catching branding projects, text overlay to any background, social media, wedding invitations, greeting cards and more.

Christine is a minimal and neat sans serif font. It can easily be matched to an incredibly large set of projects, so add it to your creative ideas and notice how it makes them stand out!

Handy Cut is an experimental project inspired by paper cutting only using fingers, designed by Paty Bean from south Chilean farm. It includes dingbats and alternate characters to play with in expressive and irregular short texts.