In the 1930s the WPA (Works Progress Administration) was involved with getting a number of Americans back to work during the Great Depression. One faction of the WPA's efforts was the Federal Art Project. Thin, condensed hand lettering on a poster for an Art Exhibition at the New Bedford Free Public Library is the inspiration for Art Exhibit JNL.

Tazugane Info is a Japanese typeface family developed by the Monotype Studio, an alternative set of kana designed to match the kanji and Latin alphabet which retains the original form of the Tazugane Gothic. In contrast to the Tazugane Gothic, the kana of Info family is more systematically designed in order to give the text a calm, restraint look.

I happened to come across a facsimile of a sample of text with typeface made by Sweynheim & Pannartz in 1476. I scanned the sample, and redraw all the available glyphs from the sample in RobFog. After that I added the missing characters by copying and pasting the forms of the original characters, and filling in the missing parts.

Tall, thin, grid, legible and handmade! What's not to like?! The font was made using a squared paper as a base for the lines. However, I managed to keep the free spirit of the handmade look, despite the guides. Play around with the 4 different versions of each letter and the swashes to make your text stand out!

Tamiami JNL is based on a popular old typeface from the early 1900s, best known as "Cuba". 90 miles Northwest of that tropical island is Miami, Florida... and the Tamiami Trail was one of the first connecting routes between the City of Tampa on the West coast of Florida and Miami on the East coast - hence the conjunction "Tamiami".

Goudy Titling was designed by Steve Matteson. It is based on the 2" wood engravings Frederic Goudy made for his book ‘The Trajan Capitals’ - a seminal book about the history of the Roman letter. These letterforms predate the work of Father Catich’s exhaustive study of the Trajan Column and, while remarkably faithful to the inscription, have Goudy’s interpretive fingerprints.

The cover of the sheet music for the 1910 song “We’ve kept the Golden Rule” features a hand lettered and slightly spurred Art Nouveau type style. As an older couple was pictured below the song’s title, this inspired the name Golden Years JNL for the digital font, which is available in both regular and oblique version.

Colombine is based on the handwriting of Gudrun Zapf von Hesse. The dynamic forms of Gudrun Zapf von Hesse's Colombine express the dance, the lightheartedness and the liveliness of Commedia dell'Arte. The type is an excellent choice for artistic as well as festive applications. The different weights make Colombine perfect for certificates and other celebratory texts.

Inspired by the Froben capitals believed to have been cut by Peter Schoeffer the Younger, son of Gutenberg’s apprentice, this design is neither strictly a Venetian nor an Aldine. The archaic approach and lack of the Aldine model lead us to place the face in the Venetian group. The design owes more to Goudy than to Schoeffer.

For the Polynesian Fan Inspired by the bamboo lettering of the iconic Mai Kai restaurant logo, Hanalei Pro has all the flavor of the genre without compromise. Great for titling and larger typesetting, and the added true SmallCaps & Lining/Tabular figures and limitless fractions give more range of use. The Hanalei Pro family contains 628 characters per font.

Dance Lesson JNL is a reinterpretation of the popular "Latin Bold" typeface. The font's name is a reference to the Latin dance craze of the 1950s, when the Cha-Cha, Meringue, Tango, Mambo and even the "Chalypso" - a hybrid of Cha-Cha and Calypso rhythms had everyone moving to the beat of Central and South America.

Misket is a display typeface designed by Altay Dagistan. The glyphs were drawn one by one by hand, using traditional calligraphy methods. The font features a modulation called “reversed contrast”. Instead of the stems being thicker than the horizontals like in most typefaces, the contrast is reversed so, the stems are much thinner than the horizontals.

In StamperRS all the letters are on little stamps. The upper-case letters are have black letters on white stamps and the lower-case letters have white letters on black stamps. The character set is limited. The letters are from the typeface Myhota, also by Ingrimayne Type. StamperRS was first released in 1995 with the name Stamper.

Norton is a full character set based on the five letters in the famous Norton Motorcycles logo. K-Type has attempted to remain true to the spirit of the original identity, whilst updating the face, particularly the upper case, to sit more comfortably in contemporary usage. Thanks to Paul Lloyd for the influence of his typeface, Duvall.

Andreis is a typeface inspired by the art nouveau shapes that appear in the letters of a metal box, made at the beginning of the 20th century by the company G. De Adréis from Badalona in Spain. Its organic and feminine forms evoke the aesthetics of those years and add elegance to the projects where it is used.

Geodeco font family brings to you the recovery of the typographic forms from the beginning of the 20th century, with a strong ArtDecó flavour but from a new point of view: modernity and geometry. Modernity in the visual contrast between lowercase and capital letters, where rounded shapes are opposed to the breaks and graphic tensions of the strokes of the capital letters. which gives it an enormous originality. Generous doses of internal whites, assure a powerful legibility even with the spite of its short ascending and descending strokes. What we get is a coherent and martial look where fluidity and homogeneity is the main note. Soft and rounded minuscule, with large internal whites for super legibility, bombproof, especially on screens, where Geodeco lives with an astonishing naturalness. The capital letters, used alone as display, or as companions of the minuscule characters, give the family a touch of originality and exotic flavor. Like the spices in the food; a brief but intense note. Breaking the rectangular shapes so that the appearance of the letter comes out benefits from enlarging the internal whites and making them consistent with the white of the lower case. GeoDeco works very well in plain text with the obvious limitation that it is not a type for small bodies, but exceptionality weldon for plain text and signage. Maximum visibility, total beauty on screens. A family of this new century with the flavour of that epoch of experimentation that were the years 20. Extensive multilanguage support and almost all Opentype functionalities. Try it and it will convince you - for sure!

The most popular of the Egyptian styles of the 19th century.

Brda originally designed by the Polish designer Franciszek Otto for the Powiat weekly newspaper. Powiat needed a new, dynamically drawn sans serif for its headlines, and Otto's Brda fit the bill. Combining traditional Grotesk letterforms with witty subtleties, like the notched-joint seen in the capital G, Brda displays a novel design that works best when set large. The typeface is named after the Brda river, which runs through Bydgoszcz, Poland, the city where Powiat is published. The Brda family includes three weights, each with a companion italic: Regular, Bold, and Extra Bold. The Brda family's Extra Bold weight was one of the winners selected in the 2003 International Type Design Contest, sponsored by Linotype GmbH. Franciszek Otto also teaches graphic design at the Secondary Art School in Bydgoszcz, where his typefaces rank among the students' favorites.

The idea behind the font called Chaco originated after testing the deficiency shown in road signs in Latin America. The design began after a long documenting period. Throughout the various stages of the work,  there were several  tests and checks  conducted of the formal solutions implemented which, based on the results, would gradually be changed until we finally reached, in this way, its definite design. The original project for the font features three steps, namely: regular, light and bold, yet by making progress in the development, it was possible for us to perceive that by enlarging the black and thin variances, the family with 5 different weights could offer very good results in mass media, such as newspapers, magazines and television. In order to expand its possibilities of utilization, the set was completed with italics and small capitals.

Inspired by the Roman lettershapes that Asensio y Mejorada drew in 1780, Frontis is a text typeface that takes this reference just as a starting point. The delicate appearance of Neoclassical fonts becomes confidence in Frontis. The characters have a solid skeleton, and the text looks classy in the condensed half of the family. A style that shines especially at display sizes. A collection of vegetal motifs and some stylistic uppercase ligatures complete the character set. These extra shapes serve to frame and bring together all the weights and styles in the type family. The lapidary ligatures and the ornaments underline the 18th-century roots of the design. There is a connection between Frontis and those classic letters that were once engraved on stone. And yet, the design is daring enough to make it a perfect choice for contemporary use.

We produce original printing press letter fonts, for example from the journal Southern Literary Messenger (circa 1830 - 1870). The only one in the world. What makes our fonts so attractive to the eye, are the myriad imperfections. It's not an approximation to the printing-press letters--- these are the actual letters, complete with all their manifold differences. If you look closely you will notice that the letter 'e' say, each time it is printed, is slightly different. These differences arise from the mechanical action of the inked-wooden press on the paper, and cannot be faked by artificial means. The eye subconsciously picks up this text as the actual printing press letters. Edgar Allan Poe published many of his great works in the Southern Literary Messenger, as did many other great nineteenth century writers, ie. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne &c.

One would think the whole hippy thing would have died out after the knighting of Mick Jagger and the selling out of the The Who. Not at Canada Type. We still occasionally read Burroughs and Ginsberg, listen to Dylan and Hendrix, and use the backyard to pretend (um, like run barefoot with the dog). And we're always happy to make another psychedelic font. This one is based on an early 1970s film type that went by the names Hoopla and Scorpio. Doobie is a typical hippy font that uses the simplest elements of the art nouveau genre. Bubbly and wavy, Doobie exudes an almost child-like innocence, the ever laid back, optimistic simplicity of flower power. It is right at home alongside the many other psychedelic fonts that make Canada Type the definite home of the groovy alphabet. Far out!

A smooth contemplative Antiqua with aspiring to the sky ascenders, inspired by the Quietism philosophy. Clarity of the mind is achieved by bringing the body into a state of calm and contemplation, and this is reflected in the design – the quiet horizontal serifs (body) are opposed to the peaky soaring ascenders (mind). The design also features four optical size subfamilies with different x-height and contrast, oldstyle diagonal stress, oldstyle figures by default, smooth details and slightly dark texture. Video about the Quietism typeface concept: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBqkROHMEAc Scripts: Latin, Greek, Cyrillic. Languages: 480+. The complete list of supported languages: michaelrafailyk.com/quietism The promo images used illustration of Ola Rafailyk, paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Tom Roberts, photos of Boys in Bristol Photography and Ken Cheung from Pexels, and photo of Rodin's The Thinker at the Musée Rodin.

Anadolu was inspired by the distinct style of sign lettering in rural Turkey, and refined based on sign lettering in Hungary. Shown here are samples in Turkish and Hungarian, as well as Finnish and Estonian, two other languages in the Finno-Ugric language group with Hungarian. The slight curve at the tops of ascenders and bottoms of descenders is inspired by the linguistic process of "vowel harmony" in Turkish and Hungarian. Anadolu is the Turkish name for Anatolia, the peninsula where Turkey lies. The name recalls another sans-serif typeface named for its country of origin. The tittle on the i is reimagined as a diacritic, and the dotless ı is reimagined as the basic, prototypical i. Too many typefaces treat diacritics as afterthoughts. Since diacritics are integral to the languages that inspired Anadolu, they were designed as core components of the typeface.

Several years ago I was asked to do a sign for a rummage sale. To print the words RUMMAGE SALE, I took letters from some of the ornate fonts I was working on at the time. I liked the results, so made them into a font. Fonts from which the letters come include HippityDippity, Tuskcandy, Letunical, OakPark, WyomingStrudel, NeuAltisch, WyomingMacroni, WyomingPastad, and Rundigsburg. The original typeface had two variants of each letter, one on the upper-case keys and the other on the lower-case keys. The name of the original font, RummageSaleOne, acknowledged that a greater selection of letters was desirable but it was only with the upgrade of 2020 that the greater selection was added. The additional variants were added in two ways: as a separate typeface (RummageSale-Two) and also as OpenType stylistic alternatives.

Zulu-Ndebele Pattern is the first ever font to be based solely on the traditional decorative patterns of the Zulu and Ndebele tribes of Southern Africa. The designer has lived in KwaZulu (Place of the Zulu), for over 50 years and has made a life-long study of traditional Zulu beadwork and carving, and of Ndebele wall decoration. There are 52 pattern units that may be combined in many ways to create borders, backgrounds and an unlimited number of designs. The pattern units correspond to the upper and lower case letters. The reason that the Zulu and Ndebele patterns have been grouped together is that the true tribal areas are contiguous and the there has been much artistic cross-fertilization between the two cultures. Many of the patterns that are used by the two tribes are identical.

Mimeograph Lettering JNL is based on one of the numerous plastic lettering templates once manufactured by the A.B. Dick Company of Chicago and is available in both regular and oblique versions. The mimeograph utilized a porous drum which inked the backside of a waxed stencil sheet. Unlike traditional stencils which have cut out areas that are directly inked or painted, a mimeo stencil has the area to be printed scratched away by removing the wax coating with a stylus. The resulting image allows the ink from the drum to seep through the sheet and transfer to the blank paper. As with a companion font (Mimeograph Template JNL), the character shapes follow the routed letters of the template, complete with rounded terminals. A previous font release [designed with flat terminals and some alternate characters] is available as Interoffice Memo JNL.

Monotype’s hot metal Bell series from 1931 was based on original types made by the punchcutter Richard Austin for the foundry of John Bell in the 1780s. The different sizes of Monotype’s series were not all based on the same model. As type historian James Mosley wrote on Typophile, “For 18 point and above (the metal type was cut in sizes up to 36 point) Monotype’s model was a larger type [than the model used for the text sizes], the ‘Great Primer’ cut by Austin. This has greater contrast in the capitals and a flat foot to letter a.” The digital Bell closely follows the design of the hot metal 18pt version, and is therefore somewhat lighter in color than the text sizes of Monotype’s original metal face. James Mosley’s Typophile article can be found here.

Waite Park JNL is based on the smallest of the die-cut letters and numbers contained in the Webway Sign Cabinet - once manufactured by the Holes-Webway Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The largest of the set's sizes (2 inch) was the model for Sign Kit JNL, the medium size (1-1/8 inch) was used to make Sign Production JNL and this font is a version from the 3/4 inch size. Each size of alphabet and numerals have their own unique characteristics, although they all follow the same basic font style, which is reminiscent of classic Art Deco-era sanserif typefaces. The name Waite Park JNL was derived from a division of Holes-Webway that (for some reason lost to time) distributed their sign kits under the name Waite Park Sign Company, located in the Minnesota city of the same name.

Bredagh (pronounced Braid-ah) is a happy font! It can bring a smile to your face, yet is at one with science and mathematics and the Arts. The first presentation is in a Poetry book. Overall, it is a strong and capable font. The organic nature of the font Breadgh is in Nature itself, with the roundels as found in the cross-section of a tree, for example, both circular and rounded oblong shapes, influencing. Accordingly, some of the characters are of a condensed nature and some are not. The lower case does not have the condensed aspects but the numerals do. In the creation of Bredagh, it was the dynamic between all of these that was part of the challenge. And to make them all work together subtly to be in overall harmony—was the ultimate challenge.

Adolf Rusch von Ingweiler, was in the 19 th century known mysteriously as the “R'' printer. He was the first printer North of the Alps to introduce the new Roman style of type known now as Antiqua. He was active in the city of Strasbourg from around the early 1460's to 1489. One wonders if the unusual form of “R'' was a personal conceit. This font is, therefore, an Antiqua style font and has over a 1000 defined glyphs with wide support for medieval characters that have since fallen out of use. The baseline was slightly tidied up in order to give the printed text an even cleaner look than the original. The letters are very close approximations of the original type catalogued by the “Veröffentlichungen der Gesellschaft für Typenkunde des 15. Jahrhunderts” as Typ.1:103R GfT1197.

Publishing script pack combines the sensuality and elegance of Tango Argentino, evocative of special moments, of the new avant-garde font "Publishing Script" with the wildness and daring of "Publishing Draft Script". Two handmade new script fonts with 105 variations, between alternatives and swashes, plus 32 exclusive stylistic Ligatures that convey unequivocally fluidity and audacity. The distinction and vintage-contemporary approach of "Publishing Script", from the handmade character of the universe of the Fonts Café creations, which conserves the depth of the vintage/retro style mixed with an avant-garde stylish look. The authenticity and the self-confident approach of the "Publishing Draft Script", as a tool to rediscover the most intimate human being feelings, which introduces the new Fonts Café concept of Bio-write script! A perfect combination of style, readability and flexibility, a "must have" for your next Publishing projects!

Named for the Zulu traditional spear, Assegai evokes the long, slim outline of the weapon, and the strength of the Zulu warrior. The font combines the irregular shapes of tribal African art with the simple, clean elegance of contemporary design. It is especially useful for headings, subheading, for shorter passages and also works as a body font since it has both upper and lower case and is striking and readable.

The original source of design for Sign Sans JNL was an image online of an old New York drinking establishment called the Lenox Lounge. The metal channels encasing the neon had an unusual "feel" to some of the letters. While the original E,G and U of the sign looked "interesting", they didn't quite fit the font's layout. Those letters were scrapped for more traditional versions of them.

The Techno sound of the 1990s, a personal computer, a font creation software and some inspiration had been the sources to the F2F (Face2Face) font series. Thomas Nagel and his friends had the demand to create new unusual faces that should be used in the leading german techno magazine Frontpage". Even typeset in 6 point to nearly unreadability it was a pleasure for the kids to read and decrypt the messages."

Knuckleball is a wonky, octagonal sans-serif typeface produced by Bebop Font Foundry in 2023. The font shares its name with the elusive knuckleball - a baseball term for a pitch that is thrown without spin. The throw is erratic and unpredictable due to the airflow over the motionless seams. The strange and unexpected letterforms of the font represent the pitch's movement. Knuckleball is ideal for logos, branding, and merchandise.

The 1951 sheet music of "I Like the Wide Open Spaces" has the cover title set in a casual type design that emulates the "one stroke" or "speed letter" style so popular with sign painters in that decade. Taking the lettering on the sheet music and expanding the character set with a new interpretation, the result is Sign Work JNL which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

ITC Dyadis font is the work of Austrian designer Yvonne Diedrich. It is named for the Greek word dyas", meaning duality and explores the duality of serif and sans serif letterforms, blending their styles and focusing on their connection with one another. The forms were inspired by the typefaces of the 1920s and 30s and combine the legibility and elegance of a serif font with the simplicity of sans serif."

The Sideshadow family has 4 weights, Regular, Bold, Light and Half Light (which is intermediate between Regular and Light). The distinguishing feature of the font (you don't actually need me to explain this, do you?) is the partial shadow to the side of the main character, giving it a distinct and eye-grabbing look. The zip files contain both OTF and TTF versions of the font - install one version only.

A vintage photograph of the Man at the Wheel Saloon in San Pedro, CA [circa 1895] provided an excellent type design source with the unusual lettering on the bar’s sign. Basically a spurred serif design, the unusual characteristic of the type style is the ‘bumps’ or ‘dots’ on the tops of each letter. This has been redrawn digitally as Beer Joint JNL, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.