Donald DBXL Beekman needed a break. And he took it too. While sitting there consuming a sandwich and a half-pint of milk, he took up his ruler and pencil. By the time there was no milk left and only some bread crumbs remained on his plate, VLNL Breakz was finished. That’s DBXL for you. Get your letters during your break. VLNL Breakz was originally designed as the headline and logo font for the breakdance competition Amsterdam Breakz, but turned out to be very versatile. It has 4 variations, Regular and Condensed widths / Bold and Light weights.

FF Berlage started as a research project about the typography of the prominent Dutch architect Hendrik Pieter Berlage (1856 1935). Donald Beekman based the design on a great number of sources, but mainly lettering found in two of Berlage s most quintessential buildings, the Amsterdam Commodities Exchange building (called Beurs van Berlage), and the ANDB building for the Amsterdam diamond cutters union (called De Burcht). Berlage is considered the father of modern architecture in The Netherlands due to his revolutionary theories on architecture and design, that would greatly influence many Dutch architect groups, like the Amsterdam School and De Stijl.

'Brokken’ is the Dutch word for ‘chunks’. They are the hearty specialty of the house, prepared by the ship’s cook Donald DBXL Beekman. Nice'n'greasy and monospaced, you'll always find a decent way to cram the letters in. Brokken is straightforward, straight-lined with beveled corners, and all caps. For the ones who have to watch their weight, or who simple don’t like their fonts to be too fatty, DBXL designed a diet version called Brokken Light. With their big contrast, both weights combine very well and are great for making ultra-compact ribbon headlines or stacking vertically.

Cirth was invented by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien for use in his novels. It is modelled on the Anglo-Saxon Runic alphabet, and is used to write the language of the Dwarves (Khuzdul) in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in inscriptions in wood and stone. It is also used as a alternative alphabet for English. The fonts here are both the hobbit version and the version for English.

DBXL Nightfever was originally designed by Donald Beekman in 2001 for the disco-techno-house record label of the same name, an imprint of United Recordings. Geometric and gridded, with a solid sci-fi techno feel, Nightfever still contains a lot of soul. Three additional wider weights were added for more design flexibility, as well as italics for all widths. After the record label was terminated the Nightfever fonts were used for many other DBXL design projects. It was put online for free download first in 2008, this year (2019) the design got more refined with additional accurate kerning and spacing. All fresh and new, ready for a new space age!

Noelia Script is a typeface inspired on the work of Doyald Young, Tommy Thompson, Matthew Carter and Giambattista Bodoni. This project is great to use in designs about sports, travel, and city postals, among others. This font has about 360 glyphs with stylistic alternates, old style numbers, serif caps, and a nice touch of classic penmanship. This is the result of a few months of work and that is it! Enjoy it! Thanks for buy it!

Raw herring is the Dutch sashimi. Every year at the beginning of the summer a new batch of freshly caught herring arrives at Holland’s quays. Fishing boats actually race each other to be the first boat bringing it home. The fresh herring is called ‘Hollandsche Nieuwe’ (Holland’s new). This typeface, designed by Donald Roos, is based on the typography of Dutch fish shops and stalls. Inspired by lettering from the 30’s and 40’s, infused with some ‘techno’ flavour, Hollandsche Nieuwe is the brand new fresh fishy type flavor on your computer! It is traditionally eaten with sliced onions and pickles. Simply pick up the fish by the tail, open your mouth and take a bite! Enjoy!

Donald DBXL Beekman lives on a ship in Amsterdam’s waters (well, the Amstel river, actually). Living on the water inspired him to design this ‘cruise ship’ typeface VLNL Decks. Available in several variations, it’s a fabulous cocktail of freshly caught fish typography. Decks is recommended for seafood restaurants, speed boats as well as slick city boys wearing overly expensive sunglasses or Ibiza sunset parties. Decks is the tiger prawn amidst sea foods. VLNL Decks has a distinct modern techno look but the rounded corners give it a warm and human feel. It is available in 3 monolinear weights (Light, Medium, Bold) and 3 weights with contrast between horizontals and verticals (Different Light, Different Medium, Different Bold).

Smart Sans is a personal tribute to Leslie (Sam) Smart, the first type director to be hired by a major typesetting house in Canada. Smart was a twentieth century design pioneer who raised the standards of Canadian typography. Together with three of his peers, he established the first Type Directors Club in Toronto. After Smart's death in 1998, type designer Rod McDonald decided that something should be done to commemorate Smart's life and achievements. I had first thought of establishing a scholarship in Sam's name, but a typeface design soon replaced this idea," says McDonald. "Once I decided to design a typeface, however, it became a foregone conclusion that it would be a sans serif - for no other reason than that I loved the name Smart Sans." Two typefaces served as inspiration for McDonald's work. "Like thousands of designers, I'm keen on Matthew Carter's Helvetica Compressed series. And, when I was younger, I also loved Fred Lambert's Compacta," says McDonald. "I thought there might be a place for a small range that could take over from these 'old workhorses' and, in the process, bring a fresher look to the genre." McDonald drew three weights for the Smart Sans family, all ideally suited for setting attention-getting headlines and powerful display copy. The two-storied 'g' contributes to the design's lively personality, and the short 'r' helps maintain tight, even spacing. Smart Sans is the perfect homage to a great typographer, because it raises the bar on what to expect from condensed sans serif typefaces. Sam Smart would be pleased."

Big. Bold. Beautiful. Slinkster is an intricately unique display face created by carefully overlapping equally-sized circles. The geometric patterns formed become increasingly mesmerizing the larger the type is set. Slinkster works best for display, headers, logotypes, and any other large-scale applications that allow the viewer to become hypnotized by its complexity. Due to how detailed Slinkster is, you may experience some lagging as it can take a while to render. Like this font? Consider donating to encourage further development and new fonts! Donations accepted through this Paypal address: willryan042@gmail.com