A revival of one of the popular wooden type fonts of the 19th century, for large display. Lowercase not designed for this type.

Printers Pictures JNL is another volume of vintage letterpress stock cuts, cartoons, embellishments and what-nots for those who enjoy these charming illustrations.

It is the athenian version of the ancient Greek script. Ancient Greek numerals are included. It's not Unicode, it's a Latin based font.

Nova Horst is an amplified version of Horst, a highly original font (MyFonts Rising Star) based on etchings by the extraordinary artist and printmaker Horst Janssen. Nova Horst keeps all the amazing wilderness of the original font, while enriched with sharp OpenType programming, plus a whole new set of alternates, a handy set of ornaments and loads of cool unpredictable overlapping glyphs. Language support was also expanded. Now there are 5 sets of letters, 2 sets of numerals and a robust set of discretionary ligatures. OpenType functionalities now include an extremely playful Contextual Alternates feature and also Discretionary Ligatures and Stylistic Alternates. Nova Horst is an energizing blend of eccentric characters, cool OpenType features, loads of alternates and a meticulous kerning table. But be warned: as the original font, this one is quite addictive! A quick roadmap: • All features turned off: you can choose the different letterforms stored on upper- and lowercase sets. There are no overlapping letters. • Contextual Alternates turned on: you get alternating characters from 4 sets of glyphs, with loads of overlapping letters, all managed by a carefully handcrafted kerning table. The result is a very cool random effect on glyphs distribution. • Discretionary Ligatures turned on: now some additional glyphs enter the scene. There are more than 60 ligatures glyphs which substitute pairs of letters for some extra-coolness • Stylistic Alternates turned on: access the counterless glyphs from the Stylistic Alternates set. Use each feature alone or mix them up for added boldness. Gorgeous extravaganza guaranteed!

Burgues Script is an ode to the late 19th century American calligrapher Louis Madarasz, whose legendary pen has inspired schools of penmanship for over 100 years. His talent has caused some people to call him “the most skillful penman the world has ever known.” I use the word ‘ode’ in a colloquially ambitious manner. If I was an actual poet, my words would be about things I desire but cannot attain, objects of utter beauty that make me wallow in humility, or people of enormous talent who look down at me from the clouds of genius. But I don’t write poems. My work consists of letters drawn to fit together, that become an element of someone’s visual poetry. I am the poet’s assistant, so to speak. Once in a while, the assistant persists on what the subject of the poem will be. And occasionally, the poet gives in to the persistence. I hope you, visual poet, find my persistence justified in this case. The two main sources for Burgues were the calligraphy examples shown in Zaner Bloser’s The Secret of the Skill of Madarasz: His Philosophy and Penmanship Masterpieces, and C. W. Jones’s Lessons in Advanced Engraver’s Script Penmanship by L. Madarasz. These two references were the cornerstone for the concept I was trying to work with. I did have to change many of the letters in order to be able to produce digital calligraphy that can flow flexibly and offered the user a variety of options, while maintaining its attractive appearance. To this end, many ligatures and swashes were made, as well as full flourished sets of letters for use at the beginnings or endings of words and sentences. All of this has been tied together with OpenType and tested thoroughly within today’s standard design and desktop publishing software. After working with digital scripts for so long, at one point I thought that Burgues Script would become a bit of a chore to complete. I also thought that, like with most other scripts, the process would regularize itself after a while and be reduced to a mechanical habit. Surprisingly, and fortunately for me, this did not happen. The past holds as many surprises as the future. Madarasz’s method of penmanship was fascinating and challenging to translate into the strict, mathematically oriented language of the computer. It seems that the extremely high contrast of the forms, coupled with the required flow and connectivity of such lettering, will always be hard work for any visual artist to produce, even with the aide of a powerful machine. I can only imagine what steady nerves and discipline Madarasz must have had to be able to produce fully flourished and sublimely connected words and sentences on a whim. When I think of Madarasz producing a flourished calligraphic logotype in a few seconds, and try to reconcile that with the timelines of my or my colleagues’ work in identity and packaging design, the mind reels. Such blinding talent from over a hundred years ago. Burgues is the Spanish word for Bourgeois. In the end, I hope Burgues Script will serve you well when a flourished word or sentence is required for a design project. One of the wonders of the computer age is the ability to visually conjure up the past, serving both the present and the future. With Burgues, you have a piece of “the most skillful penman the world has ever known,” at your service. Burgues received important awards such as a Certificate of Excellence TDC2 2008 and a Certificate of Excellence at the Bienal Tipos Latinos 2008.

Are you ready to take your designs to new heights? Look no further than Alepholon, the revolutionary industrial typeface with its own unique flair. With its unconventional curves and resilient, mechanized structure, Alepholon is the perfect choice for futuristic lunar road signs, as well as any design that needs to make a bold and impactful statement. By incorporating Alepholon into your work, you’ll be adding a sense of excitement and wonder that’s sure to captivate your audience. This typeface is more than just a font – it’s a symbol of progress and innovation that’s sure to elevate any message to new heights. So why settle for ordinary fonts when you can make a bold statement with Alepholon? Try it out today and experience the future of typography for yourself! Most Latin-based European, Greek, and some Cyrillic-based writing systems are supported, including the following languages. Afaan Oromo, Afar, Afrikaans, Albanian, Alsatian, Aromanian, Aymara, Bashkir (Latin), Basque, Belarusian (Latin), Bemba, Bikol, Bosnian, Breton, Bulgarian, Cape Verdean, Creole, Catalan, Cebuano, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chichewa, Crimean Tatar (Latin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dawan, Dholuo, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Frisian, Friulian, Gagauz (Latin), Galician, Ganda, Genoese, German, Greek, Greenlandic, Guadeloupean Creole, Haitian Creole, Hawaiian, Hiligaynon, Hungarian, Icelandic, Ilocano, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Kaqchikel, Karakalpak (Latin), Kashubian, Kikongo, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Komi-Permyak, Kurdish (Latin), Latvian, Lithuanian, Lombard, Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, Maasai, Macedonian, Makhuwa, Malay, Maltese, Māori, Moldovan, Montenegrin, Ndebele, Neapolitan, Norwegian, Novial, Occitan, Ossetian, Ossetian (Latin), Papiamento, Piedmontese, Polish, Portuguese, Quechua, Rarotongan, Romanian, Romansh, Russian, Sami, Sango, Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian, Serbian (Latin), Shona, Sicilian, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Sorbian, Sotho, Spanish, Swahili, Swazi, Swedish, Tagalog, Tahitian, Tetum, Tongan, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen (Latin), Tuvaluan, Uzbek (Latin), Ukrainian, Venetian, Vepsian, Võro, Walloon, Waray-Waray, Wayuu, Welsh, Wolof, Xhosa, Yapese, Zapotec Zulu and Zuni.

“Corinthiago” feels equally charming and elegant. This stunning handwritten font is a stylish homage to classic calligraphy. It features a varying baseline, smooth lines, gorgeous glyphs and stunning alternates Alternates to help enrich your designs: 1. Titling (titl) alternates, are accents for initial letters. is the first stroke that is long and and slightly curved according to the letters, both lowercase and uppercase. 2. Swash (swsh) alternates, is an accent at the end of a letter, is an additional stroke to end writing. 3. Stylistic alternate (Salt), is an alternative glyph to add style emphasis. 4. Stylistic set (SS), some additional glyphs for design alternatives. If you use a combination of two lowercase with a combination of tilt and swsh it will produce a harmonic letter that you can use for a logo, no problem also for a logo consisting of more than two letters, all you have to make sure is starts with a titl and ends with swsh. All glyph alternates (titl, swsh, Salt and SS) are also supported by multiple languages. Another OpenType that is also very important is Ligature (league), this font consists of 51 Ligatures including: Abe, Ade, Ale, Ab, Ad, Af, Aj, Ak, Al, Am, An, Ao, Ap, As, Ax, Ay, Az, aa, ar, be, cc, da, de, di, do, du, dy, ee, er, ii, ir, is, le, ll, lt, om, on, oo, op, or, ov, ow, ox, oy, oz, ss, st, th, tl, tt, ur and uu. We continue to see the possibility to update ligatures in the future. This font is the right choice for a modern design, can be applied to invitations, writing messages in the form of quotes, book and magazine covers, and of course for your brand logo text.

Polydot is an experimental Font, built following its own rules. It has interesting letter shapes, making it a perfect choice for creative packaging and magazine design. At the same time it makes a beautiful, neat but vivid text pattern when used in smaller sizes: Use it for children’s books, food and beverage, cosmetics or health topics. Each Glyph is based on at least one dot on the body line, and has up to two more on the lower case level and the ascender level. Since they have the same size and are on the same height on all letters, no matter what weight and shape, these dots give a strong structure to the typeface, allowing for dynamic and easy letter shapes, inspired by brush strokes. It’s not a hand font but it has the dynamics of one. It has no serifs but provides the structure and readability of a roman type. It has an extensive choice of weights, but it’s characteristic dots have the same size and it has the same tracking through all weights. Try it, it’s special.

In the tradition of the stock cuts that printing type foundries offered as metal, these spot illustrations remind you —for their look and technique— of vintage publications like victorian age newspapers and magazines. Similar to their counterparts in the Whimsies, Absurdies, Ombres, Bizarries and Whimsies series, the Genteta is another collection of little people in funny and absurd situations, recreated in black ink, from imagination and with no reference or models, and then carefully digitized. The Genteta trio of dingbats includes more than 150 new images. Their vectorial file format means you can use them at any size with no loss of quality. Every Genteta dingbat offers ready-made images for a variety of creative projects. They can be used as they come or easily customized in any graphics program. At small sizes they are ideal spot illustrations with a whimsical touch; at large sizes they can bring a whole page, a spread or even a big poster to life. Use them in creative projects including, but not limited to, flyers, brochures, book jackets and editorial illustration.

Nyata™ — Clearly Visible, No Matter What. I love London for its finest visual branding, especially its Johnston typeface spreading all over the city. It inspired me to create this new font family: Nyata™. Nyata means clearly visible in Indonesian. The typeface is designed to be clean, unique, and legible. It is a great combination for any display requiring high legibility, such as city’s way finder. Long ascenders help some characters more obvious. You will never confuse wether it is an h or an n. Moreover, I tried to create all the letters are distinguishable. Of course, no time for people to doubt between Uppercase “I” and lowercase “l” when seeing a way finder. Last but not least, it is equipped with tons of OpenType features such as slashed zero to help the words more obvious, or stylistic sets if you don’t fancy the serifed uppercase I. Nyata™ is also delivered in Variable Font format. Enjoy all the styles and everything in between in one variable font only sized less than 150kb.

My name is Teruyoshi Matsui. I live in Japan. I am a Brush Artist. I artistically write the letters of the alphabet with a Japanese brush. I have created the font “ BrushType Longhand”. It was originally named "BrushType Alternative". But I changed my mind before it was completed. At first I aimed at an alternative font. But while I was trying to make it alternative, I realized that it was not. Of course there are many alternative letters that you have never seen before among them, so you have to be careful using the font. If you are a progressive and defiant designer trying to discriminate against others' designs, you should own my font "BrushType Longhand". Be ambitious! This is the word I will give you. I am ambitious ,too. No one in the world creates brush fonts like me. I am the only one as a Brush Artist though no one knows. I will be a world artist some day. So you should buy the font that is one of my favorite works. Thank you.

Presenting a font with the tallest x-height in the world. Febsta. Comes only with caps for now. Support me to create small letters.

A special offer by RMU Typedesign for those who like it old-style. Now finally with the possibility to create a Greek Meander frame.

Odditype is a font that surely lives up to its name... Odd, quirky, techno...yet not. Its use is as broad as your imagination.

In 1951 Alessandro Butti cut a fontfamily for Nebiolo which he called Fluidum. Both weights, light and bold, were now revived and named Butti.

Stripwriter is a comic style font that has a multitude of uses. While not an original idea, this style of font is always useful.

Designed by Andrew Smith this bouncy and playful headline font does not take itself seriously. Perfect for headlines, children's books or on the web.

Non-alphabetic typeface consisting of 38 silhouette and outline images of women’s footwear and accessories. Designed by Yana Kutyina. Released by ParaType in 2008.

Introducing Korrupt, the typeface that shatters traditional letterforms and transports you to a bizarre, malevolent post-singularity metadystopia. With its antihumanist design and conflicting angles, this alien font is straight from the future. It’s a psychedelic apparatus that conjures up images of a twisted, eerie world. Korrupt is not for the faint of heart—it’s for those who want to push the boundaries of design and explore the strange and unconventional. If you’re into nanopunk, post-cyberpunk, biopunk or any other twisted science fiction theme, Korrupt is the font for you. Its optimal design will transport you to a world that’s both familiar and yet utterly alien. So don’t settle for the same old boring fonts—embrace the bizarre and choose Korrupt. It’s a typeface that will leave a lasting impression and make your message stand out. Get ready to take your design to the next level with this avant-garde, out-of-this-world typeface. Most Latin-based European writing systems are supported, including the following languages. Afaan Oromo, Afar, Afrikaans, Albanian, Alsatian, Aromanian, Aymara, Azerbaijani, Bashkir (Latin), Basque, Belarusian (Latin), Bemba, Bikol, Bosnian, Breton, Cape Verdean, Creole, Catalan, Cebuano, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chichewa, Crimean Tatar (Latin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dawan, Dholuo, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Frisian, Friulian, Gagauz (Latin), Galician, Ganda, Genoese, German, Gikuyu, Greenlandic, Guadeloupean Creole, Haitian Creole, Hawaiian, Hiligaynon, Hungarian, Icelandic, Igbo, Ilocano, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Kaingang, Kanuri, Kaqchikel, Karakalpak (Latin), Kashubian, Kikongo, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kurdish (Latin), Latvian, Lithuanian, Lombard, Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, Maasai, Makhuwa, Malay, Maltese, Māori, Moldovan, Montenegrin, Nahuatl, Ndebele, Neapolitan, Norwegian, Novial, Occitan, Ossetian (Latin), Papiamento, Piedmontese, Polish, Portuguese, Quechua, Rarotongan, Romanian, Romansh, Sami, Sango, Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian (Latin), Shona, Sicilian, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Sorbian, Sotho, Spanish, Swahili, Swazi, Swedish, Tagalog, Tahitian, Tetum, Tongan, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen (Latin), Tuvaluan, Uzbek (Latin), Venda, Venetian, Vepsian, Võro, Walloon, Waray-Waray, Wayuu, Welsh, Wolof, Xavante, Xhosa, Yapese, Zapotec, Zarma, Zazaki, Zulu and Zuni.

Introducing Ethnocentric, the typeface of the future. With its sleek, ultramodern design, Ethnocentric is perfect for those looking to inject a high-tech feel into their projects. The outstretched pod forms of this accelerated font suggest rapid horizontal movement, making it the ideal choice for anything from tech blogs to cutting-edge product labels. But what sets Ethnocentric apart from other typefaces is its non-traditional, scientific sensibility. Sharp diagonal cuts and anomalistic gaps inject your words with a sense of experimentation and innovation, perfect for companies on the cutting edge of technology. If you prefer a more rounded style, be sure to check out Ethnocentric’s sister typeface, Quadrillion. But if you’re looking for something with a bit more edge, Ethnocentric is the perfect choice. With six weights and italics available, you’ll have all the versatility you need to make your project stand out from the crowd. Don’t settle for anything less than the best. Choose Ethnocentric, and take your designs to the next level. Most Latin-based European writing systems are supported, including the following languages. Afaan Oromo, Afar, Afrikaans, Albanian, Alsatian, Aromanian, Aymara, Bashkir (Latin), Basque, Belarusian (Latin), Bemba, Bikol, Bosnian, Breton, Cape Verdean, Creole, Catalan, Cebuano, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chichewa, Crimean Tatar (Latin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dawan, Dholuo, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Frisian, Friulian, Gagauz (Latin), Galician, Ganda, Genoese, German, Greenlandic, Guadeloupean Creole, Haitian Creole, Hawaiian, Hiligaynon, Hungarian, Icelandic, Ilocano, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Kaqchikel, Karakalpak (Latin), Kashubian, Kikongo, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kurdish (Latin), Latvian, Lithuanian, Lombard, Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, Maasai, Makhuwa, Malay, Maltese, Māori, Moldovan, Montenegrin, Ndebele, Neapolitan, Norwegian, Novial, Occitan, Ossetian (Latin), Papiamento, Piedmontese, Polish, Portuguese, Quechua, Rarotongan, Romanian, Romansh, Sami, Sango, Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian (Latin), Shona, Sicilian, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Sorbian, Sotho, Spanish, Swahili, Swazi, Swedish, Tagalog, Tahitian, Tetum, Tongan, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen (Latin), Tuvaluan, Uzbek (Latin), Venetian, Vepsian, Võro, Walloon, Waray-Waray, Wayuu, Welsh, Wolof, Xhosa, Yapese, Zapotec Zulu and Zuni.

Step into the future of typography with Cybermontage, a postmodern display typeface that channels the electric energy of the 80s and 90s. This font brings a fresh take on the retro typographic trend with its eclectic mix of campy colors, clean geometric shapes, torn paper edges, faux finishes, and kitschy patterns. Cybermontage is not your average typeface—it’s a work of art that uses OpenType technology to create a pseudorandomized effect by shuffling several variations of glyphs. Don’t worry if your application doesn’t support OpenType, you can access all the character variations from the Unicode Private Use Area (PUA) encoding. Get ready for a typographic adventure with Cybermontage. The character interconnection can get pretty wild, so if your application supports optical kerning, you may want to activate it. Whether you’re designing a bold headline, a retro poster or a quirky logo, Cybermontage will take your design to the next level. Join the postmodern revolution and make your designs stand out with Cybermontage, the font that defies convention and unleashes creativity. Most Latin-based European writing systems are supported, including the following languages. Afaan Oromo, Afar, Afrikaans, Albanian, Alsatian, Aromanian, Aymara, Bashkir (Latin), Basque, Belarusian (Latin), Bemba, Bikol, Bosnian, Breton, Cape Verdean, Creole, Catalan, Cebuano, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chichewa, Crimean Tatar (Latin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dawan, Dholuo, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Frisian, Friulian, Gagauz (Latin), Galician, Ganda, Genoese, German, Greenlandic, Guadeloupean Creole, Haitian Creole, Hawaiian, Hiligaynon, Hungarian, Icelandic, Ilocano, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Kaqchikel, Karakalpak (Latin), Kashubian, Kikongo, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kurdish (Latin), Latvian, Lithuanian, Lombard, Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, Maasai, Makhuwa, Malay, Maltese, Māori, Moldovan, Montenegrin, Ndebele, Neapolitan, Norwegian, Novial, Occitan, Ossetian (Latin), Papiamento, Piedmontese, Polish, Portuguese, Quechua, Rarotongan, Romanian, Romansh, Sami, Sango, Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian (Latin), Shona, Sicilian, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Sorbian, Sotho, Spanish, Swahili, Swazi, Swedish, Tagalog, Tahitian, Tetum, Tongan, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen (Latin), Tuvaluan, Uzbek (Latin), Venetian, Vepsian, Võro, Walloon, Waray-Waray, Wayuu, Welsh, Wolof, Xhosa, Yapese, Zapotec Zulu and Zuni.

Welcome to a world where the past and future collide, where vintage meets modern in a glorious display of Clockpunk. This industrial grotesque typeface is not your ordinary typeface. Inspired by early twentieth-century boxy railroad signage, Clockpunk is the perfect fusion of steampunk and sci-fi. Its sharp serifs and straight lines bring to mind memories of vintage ads painted on brick walls, adding an air of nostalgia and history to your designs. But don’t be fooled by its retro look, Clockpunk is a versatile font that can be used for both small print and headlines. Its Regular and Small Cap styles are perfect for bringing your vision to life, whether you’re designing a poster for a steampunk festival or creating a sci-fi book cover. With Clockpunk, the possibilities are endless. Get ready to take your designs to the next level with this unique and eye-catching typeface. Clockpunk is here to make a statement and leave a lasting impression. Most Latin-based European, Greek, and some Cyrillic-based writing systems are supported, including the following languages. Afaan Oromo, Afar, Afrikaans, Albanian, Alsatian, Aromanian, Aymara, Bashkir (Latin), Basque, Belarusian (Latin), Bemba, Bikol, Bosnian, Breton, Bulgarian, Cape Verdean, Creole, Catalan, Cebuano, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chichewa, Crimean Tatar (Latin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dawan, Dholuo, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Frisian, Friulian, Gagauz (Latin), Galician, Ganda, Genoese, German, Greek, Greenlandic, Guadeloupean Creole, Haitian Creole, Hawaiian, Hiligaynon, Hungarian, Icelandic, Ilocano, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Kaqchikel, Karakalpak (Latin), Kashubian, Kikongo, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Komi-Permyak, Kurdish (Latin), Latvian, Lithuanian, Lombard, Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, Maasai, Macedonian, Makhuwa, Malay, Maltese, Māori, Moldovan, Montenegrin, Ndebele, Neapolitan, Norwegian, Novial, Occitan, Ossetian, Ossetian (Latin), Papiamento, Piedmontese, Polish, Portuguese, Quechua, Rarotongan, Romanian, Romansh, Russian, Sami, Sango, Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian, Serbian (Latin), Shona, Sicilian, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Sorbian, Sotho, Spanish, Swahili, Swazi, Swedish, Tagalog, Tahitian, Tetum, Tongan, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen (Latin), Tuvaluan, Uzbek (Latin), Venetian, Vepsian, Võro, Walloon, Waray-Waray, Wayuu, Welsh, Wolof, Xhosa, Yapese, Zapotec Zulu and Zuni.

The futuristic innovation of Superego—the ultimate geometric-techno typeface that will revolutionize your message like never before. With its creative aesthetic, Superego is a powerful force inspired by the cabinet artwork of the 1981 arcade game, Stargate. With an unyielding sense of innovation and technological perfection, Superego features primitive geometric shapes and unconventional letterforms that are nothing short of extraordinary. Every single letter is crafted to perfection, making each message you create a work of art. Superego is more than just a typeface. It’s a testament to the future of design, a bold and daring statement that refuses to be silenced. Superego will elevate your message to new heights, bringing a unique and unexpected edge to your designs. This is not your average typeface. This is a transformative tool that will leave a lasting impression on anyone who encounters it. So join the revolution and experience the unparalleled power of Superego today. Most Latin-based European writing systems are supported, including the following languages. Afaan Oromo, Afar, Afrikaans, Albanian, Alsatian, Aromanian, Aymara, Bashkir (Latin), Basque, Belarusian (Latin), Bemba, Bikol, Bosnian, Breton, Cape Verdean, Creole, Catalan, Cebuano, Chamorro, Chavacano, Chichewa, Crimean Tatar (Latin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dawan, Dholuo, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Fijian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Frisian, Friulian, Gagauz (Latin), Galician, Ganda, Genoese, German, Greenlandic, Guadeloupean Creole, Haitian Creole, Hawaiian, Hiligaynon, Hungarian, Icelandic, Ilocano, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Kaqchikel, Karakalpak (Latin), Kashubian, Kikongo, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Kurdish (Latin), Latvian, Lithuanian, Lombard, Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, Maasai, Makhuwa, Malay, Maltese, Māori, Moldovan, Montenegrin, Ndebele, Neapolitan, Norwegian, Novial, Occitan, Ossetian (Latin), Papiamento, Piedmontese, Polish, Portuguese, Quechua, Rarotongan, Romanian, Romansh, Sami, Sango, Saramaccan, Sardinian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian (Latin), Shona, Sicilian, Silesian, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Sorbian, Sotho, Spanish, Swahili, Swazi, Swedish, Tagalog, Tahitian, Tetum, Tongan, Tshiluba, Tsonga, Tswana, Tumbuka, Turkish, Turkmen (Latin), Tuvaluan, Uzbek (Latin), Venetian, Vepsian, Võro, Walloon, Waray-Waray, Wayuu, Welsh, Wolof, Xhosa, Yapese, Zapotec Zulu and Zuni.

The concept of the Baroque Roman type face is something which is remote from us. Ungrateful theorists gave Baroque type faces the ill-sounding attribute "Transitional", as if the Baroque Roman type face wilfully diverted from the tradition and at the same time did not manage to mature. This "transition" was originally meant as an intermediate stage between the Aldine/Garamond Roman face of the Renaissance, and its modern counterpart, as represented by Bodoni or Didot. Otherwise there was also a "transition" from a slanted axis of the shadow to a perpendicular one. What a petty detail led to the pejorative designation of Baroque type faces! If a bookseller were to tell his customers that they are about to choose a book which is set in some sort of transitional type face, he would probably go bust. After all, a reader, for his money, would not put up with some typographical experimentation. He wants to read a book without losing his eyesight while doing so. Nevertheless, it was Baroque typography which gave the world the most legible type faces. In those days the craft of punch-cutting was gradually separating itself from that of book-printing, but also from publishing and bookselling. Previously all these activities could be performed by a single person. The punch-cutter, who at that time was already fully occupied with the production of letters, achieved better results than he would have achieved if his creative talents were to be diffused in a printing office or a bookseller's shop. Thus it was possible that for example the printer John Baskerville did not cut a single letter in his entire lifetime, for he used the services of the accomplished punch-cutter John Handy. It became the custom that one type founder supplied type to multiple printing offices, so that the same type faces appeared in various parts of the world. The type face was losing its national character. In the Renaissance period it is still quite easy to distinguish for example a French Roman type face from a Venetian one; in the Baroque period this could be achieved only with great difficulties. Imagination and variety of shapes, which so far have been reserved only to the fine arts, now come into play. Thanks to technological progress, book printers are now able to reproduce hairstrokes and imitate calligraphic type faces. Scripts and elaborate ornaments are no longer the privilege of copper-engravers. Also the appearance of the basic, body design is slowly undergoing a change. The Renaissance canonical stiffness is now replaced with colour and contrast. The page of the book is suddenly darker, its lay-out more varied and its lines more compact. For Baroque type designers made a simple, yet ingenious discovery - they enlarged the x-height and reduced the ascenders to the cap-height. The type face thus became seemingly larger, and hence more legible, but at the same time more economical in composition; the type area was increasing to the detriment of the margins. Paper was expensive, and the aim of all the publishers was, therefore, to sell as many ideas in as small a book block as possible. A narrowed, bold majuscule, designed for use on the title page, appeared for the first time in the Late Baroque period. Also the title page was laid out with the highest possible economy. It comprised as a rule the brief contents of the book and the address of the bookseller, i.e. roughly that which is now placed on the flaps and in the imprint lines. Bold upper-case letters in the first line dramatically give way to the more subtle italics, the third line is highlighted with vermilion; a few words set in lower-case letters are scattered in-between, and then vermilion appears again. Somewhere in the middle there is an ornament, a monogram or an engraving as a kind of climax of the drama, while at the foot of the title-page all this din is quietened by a line with the name of the printer and the year expressed in Roman numerals, set in 8-point body size. Every Baroque title-page could well pass muster as a striking poster. The pride of every book printer was the publication of a type specimen book - a typographical manual. Among these manuals the one published by Fournier stands out - also as regards the selection of the texts for the specimen type matter. It reveals the scope of knowledge and education of the master typographers of that period. The same Fournier established a system of typographical measurement which, revised by Didot, is still used today. Baskerville introduced the smoothing of paper by a hot steel roller, in order that he could print astonishingly sharp letters, etc. ... In other words - Baroque typography deserves anything else but the attribute "transitional". In the first half of the 18th century, besides persons whose names are prominent and well-known up to the present, as was Caslon, there were many type founders who did not manage to publish their manuals or forgot to become famous in some other way. They often imitated the type faces of their more experienced contemporaries, but many of them arrived at a quite strange, even weird originality, which ran completely outside the mainstream of typographical art. The prints from which we have drawn inspiration for these six digital designs come from Paris, Vienna and Prague, from the period around 1750. The transcription of letters in their intact form is our firm principle. Does it mean, therefore, that the task of the digital restorer is to copy meticulously the outline of the letter with all inadequacies of the particular imprint? No. The type face should not to evoke the rustic atmosphere of letterpress after printing, but to analyze the appearance of the punches before they are imprinted. It is also necessary to take account of the size of the type face and to avoid excessive enlargement or reduction. Let us keep in mind that every size requires its own design. The longer we work on the computer where a change in size is child's play, the more we are convinced that the appearance of a letter is tied to its proportions, and therefore, to a fixed size. We are also aware of the fact that the computer is a straightjacket of the type face and that the dictate of mathematical vectors effectively kills any hint of naturalness. That is why we strive to preserve in these six alphabets the numerous anomalies to which later no type designer ever returned due to their obvious eccentricity. Please accept this PostScript study as an attempt (possibly futile, possibly inspirational) to brush up the warm magic of Baroque prints. Hopefully it will give pleasure in today's modern type designer's nihilism.