Rian Hughes’ 15th collection of fonts, “112 Hours”, is entirely dedicated to numbers. Culled from a myriad of sources – clock faces, tickets, watches house numbers – it is an eclectic and wide-ranging set. Each font contains only numerals and related punctuation – no letters. A new book has been designed by Hughes to show the collection, and includes sample settings, complete character sets, source material and an introduction. This is available print-to-order on Blurb in paperback and hardback: http://www.blurb.com/b/5539073-112-hours-hardback http://www.blurb.com/b/5539045-112-hours-paperback From the introduction: The idea for this, the fifteenth Device Fonts collection, began when I came across an online auction site dedicated to antique clocks. I was mesmerized by the inventive and bizarre numerals on their faces. Shorn of the need to extend the internal logic of a typeface through the entire alphabet, the designers of these treasures were free to explore interesting forms and shapes that would otherwise be denied them. Given this horological starting point, I decided to produce 12 fonts, each featuring just the numbers from 1 to 12 and, where appropriate, a small set of supporting characters — in most cases, the international currency symbols, a colon, full stop, hyphen, slash and the number sign. 10, 11 and 12 I opted to place in the capital A, B and C slots. Each font is shown in its entirety here. I soon passed 12, so the next logical finish line was 24. Like a typographic Jack Bauer, I soon passed that too -— the more I researched, the more I came across interesting and unique examples that insisted on digitization, or that inspired me to explore some new design direction. The sources broadened to include tickets, numbering machines, ecclesiastical brass plates and more. Though not derived from clock faces, I opted to keep the 1-12 conceit for consistency, which allowed me to design what are effectively numerical ligatures. I finally concluded one hundred fonts over my original estimate at 112. Even though it’s not strictly divisible by 12, the number has a certain symmetry, I reasoned, and was as good a place as any to round off the project. An overview reveals a broad range that nonetheless fall into several loose categories. There are fairly faithful revivals, only diverging from their source material to even out inconsistencies and regularize weighting or shape to make them more functional in a modern context; designs taken directly from the source material, preserving all the inky grit and character of the original; designs that are loosely based on a couple of numbers from the source material but diverge dramatically for reasons of improved aesthetics or mere whim; and entirely new designs with no historical precedent. As projects like this evolve (and, to be frank, get out of hand), they can take you in directions and to places you didn’t envisage when you first set out. Along the way, I corresponded with experts in railway livery, and now know about the history of cab side and smokebox plates; I travelled to the Musée de l’imprimerie in Nantes, France, to examine their numbering machines; I photographed house numbers in Paris, Florence, Venice, Amsterdam and here in the UK; I delved into my collection of tickets, passes and printed ephemera; I visited the Science Museum in London, the Royal Signals Museum in Dorset, and the Museum of London to source early adding machines, war-time telegraphs and post-war ration books. I photographed watches at Worthing Museum, weighing scales large enough to stand on in a Brick Lane pub, and digital station clocks at Baker Street tube station. I went to the London Under-ground archive at Acton Depot, where you can see all manner of vintage enamel signs and woodblock type; I photographed grocer’s stalls in East End street markets; I dug out old clocks I recalled from childhood at my parents’ place, examined old manual typewriters and cash tills, and crouched down with a torch to look at my electricity meter. I found out that Jane Fonda kicked a policeman, and unusually for someone with a lifelong aversion to sport, picked up some horse-racing jargon. I share some of that research here. In many cases I have not been slavish about staying close to the source material if I didn’t think it warranted it, so a close comparison will reveal differences. These changes could be made for aesthetic reasons, functional reasons (the originals didn’t need to be set in any combination, for example), or just reasons of personal taste. Where reference for the additional characters were not available — which was always the case with fonts derived from clock faces — I have endeavored to design them in a sympathetic style. I may even extend some of these to the full alphabet in the future. If I do, these number-only fonts could be considered as experimental design exercises: forays into form to probe interesting new graphic possibilities.

Aldero™ strives to be as useful to any design environment as Alder trees are to the forest. Wildlife and insects feed on Alder leaves and seeds. The tree also provides shelter for animals in winter while its shades keep streams from getting too hot in summer. The trunks and branches are excellent habitats for lichens and mosses. The nitrogen-rich leaves help fertilize the soil where they landed. Alder’s utilitarian nature inspires us to create Aldero™, a handy, versatile, go-to type family for all professional designers. To achieve what we set out to do, we gave Aldero™ the two-in-one looks, doubled the sets of ligatures, and loaded it with plenty more of Opentype features. We put in long hours, months after months, until we are proud of the outcome. And we truly believe that you will enjoy working with this typeface as much as we do. With five weights, ten styles, and 1,100+ glyphs per style, this versatile typeface comes with virtually two looks. The standard glyph set is perfect for formal, corporate design, while the stylistic alternate set elicits a fun, friendly, and casual feel. You can use each style separately or mix and match them to achieve your design aesthetic. Thanks to these options, a wide range of design possibilities are at your fingertips. In addition to the two large sets of ligatures (for both the standard and the stylistic glyph sets), we also pack tons of Opentype features into Aldero™ to improve your user experience while working with this typeface. To activate the case-sensitive features, for example, highlight the phrase with the type tool, then hit the “All Caps” button; or select each mark, punctuations, or symbols with the type tool, then choose the case-sensitive option from the Opentype popup window. Hope you enjoy working with Aldero™ as much as we do! To find out more about Aldero™ Opentype features and type specimen, please visit https://r9typedesign.com/aldero-features

American Revolution is a unique collection of signatures of 84 key personalities from both sides of the American Revolutionary War, one of the supreme dramas in history. A must-have for autograph collectors, desktop publishers, history buffs, or anyone who has ever dreamed of sending a letter, card, or e-mail “signed” as if by one of these famous Revolionary War figures. This font includes signatures from the following American Revolutionary War personalities, from both sides: Ethan Allen, Charles T. Armand, John Armstrong, Benedict Arnold, Pudhomme de Borre, John Cadwalader, George Rogers Clark, George Clinton, James Clinton, Thomas Conway, William Davidson, Philippe du Coudray, The Chevalier Louis Lebegue dePresle Duportail, Chistopher Gadsden, Horatio Gates, Moses Hazen, John Glover, Mordecai Gist, Nathaniel Greene, William Heath, Edward Hand, John E. Howard, Robert Howe, Isaac Huger, William Irvine, Henry Knox, Baron Johann de Kalb, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Marquis de Lafayette, Charles Lee, Henry Lee, Andrew Lewis, William Maxwell, Benjamin Lincoln, Francis Marion, James Moore, Daniel Morgan, William Moultrie, Peter Muhlenberg, Alexander McDougall, Lewis Nicola, Lachlan McIntosh, John Nixon, Hugh Mercer, Samuel H. Parsons, Thomas Mifflin, John Paterson, Richard Montgomery, Andrew Pickens, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Enoch Poor, Count Casimir Pulaski, Israel Putnam, Joseph Reed, Elisha Sheldon, Arthur St. Clair, William Smallwood, Philip Schuyler, John Stark, Charles Scott, Adam Stephen, John Sullivan, Jethro Sumner, Thomas Sumter, James Varnum, Baron Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben, Lord Stirling, Artemas Ward, Joseph Warren, George Washington, Anthony Wayne, James Wilkinson, Otho H. Williams, John Paul Jones, William Woodford, David Wooster, John Burgoyne, Sir Guy Carleton, Charles Cornwallis, Sir Henry Clinton, Sir Thomas Gage, Richard, Earl Howe, Sir William Howe, Sir Banastre Tarleton. This font behaves exactly like any other font. Each signature is mapped to a regular character on your keyboard. Open any Windows application, select the installed font, and type a letter, and the signature will appear at that point on the page. Painstaking craftsmanship and an incredible collection of hard-to-find signatures go into this one-of-a-kind font. Comes with a character map.

American Authors is a unique collection of signatures of 75 famous American authors, poets, writers, and novelists. A must-have for autograph collectors, desktop publishers, history buffs, fans, or anyone who has ever dreamed of sending a letter, card, or e-mail "signed" as if by one of these famous literary figures. This font includes signatures from the following literary figures: Joel Barlow, Charles Brockden Brown, J. Fenimore Cooper, Stephen Crane, Richard H. Dana Jr., Theodore Dreiser, W.C. Bryan, Timothy Dwight, T.S. Eliot, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Faulkner, Eugene Field, Philip Freneau, Robert Frost, Hamlin Garland, Alexander Hamilton, Bret Harte, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Lafcadio Hearn, Ernest Hemingway, W.D. Howells, Henry James, John P. Kennedy, Washington Irving, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Julia Ward Howe, Francis Scott Key, Sidney Lanier, James Russell Lowell, Edgar Lee Masters, Cotton Mather, Herman Melville, George John Nathan, Henry W. Longfellow, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Eugene O'Neill, Thomas Paine, Edgar Allan Poe, J.K. Paulding, Sydney Porter (aka O. Henry), Carl Sandburg, Samuel Sewall, John Howard Payne, W.H. Prescott, W. Gilmore Simms, Captain John Smith, Gertrude Stein, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Trumbull, Daniel Webster, Noah Webster, Samuel L. Clemens (aka Mark Twain), John G. Whittier, Thomas Wolfe, Henry D. Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Jacqueline Susann, Louisa May Alcott, Wystan Hugh Auden, Pearl Buck, Edgar Rice Burroughs, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Erle Stanley Gardner, Horace Greeley, Zane Grey, Sinclair Lewis, Jack London, Norman Mailer, Ogden Nash, Beatrix Potter, Ezra Pound, John Steinbeck, Leon Uris, Thornton Wilder. This font behaves exactly like any other font. Each signature is mapped to a regular character on your keyboard. Open any Windows application, select the installed font, and type a letter, and the signature will appear at that point on the page. Painstaking craftsmanship and an incredible collection of hard-to-find signatures go into this one-of-a-kind font. Comes with a character map. Article abstract: American Authors is a unique collection of signatures of 75 famous American authors, poets, writers, and novelists in a high-quality font.