The hand-lettered name on a couple of 1940s-era piano course books was the basis for Piano Solo JNL.

The hand lettering found on a small catalog sheet for decorative decals from the 1930s-1940s era was the perfect source material for Crestview Six JNL. Handmade typefaces or signage from past decades offer a wonderfully humanistic change from the perfectly-crafted designs of printer's type (or digital type in the modern era). The font's name comes from the old alpha-numerical phone exchanges of the past.

Browsing online auctions and other webs sites often unearths wonderful examples of lettering from the past. A perfect example is Ritz Stencil JNL, modeled after a page from a 1930s-era lettering book. Although this font has similar characteristics to other better-known designs, there are enough unique differences to let it stand on its own as a great example of the Art Deco era.

An old set of brass stencils spotted for sale on eBay were the inspiration for this font from Jeff Levine. Redrawn completely from scratch, Jeff retained the narrow "M" and angled corners found in the original.

Martin Wilke’s underrated yet influential deco classic from 1932 has both feet firmly planted in the high traditions of Western European calligraphy while carefully and subtly introducing some traits from the sweeping geometric/minimalist vision of the time. In a way, it was one of the representatives of the European anti-type typefaces of that era, when print media was searching for the elusive aesthetic balance between humanism and geometry. This typeface enjoyed some popularity in Germany for a few years, and went on to influence further type designs in Holland and Italy. After the second World War, the black hole that swallowed a big chunk of Europe’s print culture, new influences and technologies overtook the scene, and selective historical emphasis ensued, highlighting some of the era’s designs and overlooking others. Further selective picking in the digital era all but buried Wilke’s body of work - unfairly so, because he was just as important in German type history as Bernhard, Post, Schneidler, Tiemann and Trump. The original metal Wilke Kursiv came in one weight. This digital version goes a long way in expanding on that original offering. Now Wilke’s masterpiece comes in three weights, and with a full Pro treatment including swash caps, small capitals, five types of figures, automatic fractions, and plenty of other OpenType niceties. Each of the Wilke Kursiv Pro fonts comes with over 700 characters, and contains support for most Latin-based languages. Also available are three non-Pro fonts in each weight.

A trio of fonts based on the handwriting of some of Adobe?s own designers. The three eponymous styles of the family ? Ernie, Frank, and Tiffany ? each have a unique flavor with its own rhythm and character.

Foda Tholoth font is to reflect the beauty of its original Arabic and Islamic calligraphy. This font can be used headlines and Quranic verses. Foda Tholoth is designed by Foda & Esraa Amer and manufactured by Ahmed Eraqi.

Iron Lake Rough is a pioneer era inspired slab serif font. The font works great in western, rustic and outdoor related themes.

a fanciful version of an old font by George Bruce and Sons Typefoundry, a historical USA deceased foundry from the victorian era...

Print Shop Stencil JNL was created from the few letters spotted on the packaging of a 1960s-era toy printing press set.

Printers Leftovers JNL has an assortment of cartoons, embellishments, ornaments and decorations that span many eras and cover numerous tastes and styles.