The idea of a brand-new grotesk is certainly rather foolish – there are already lots of these typefaces in the world and, quite simply, nothing is more beautiful than the original Gill. The sans-serif chapter of typography is now closed by hundreds of technically perfect imitations of Syntax and Frutiger, which are, however, for the most part based on the cool din-aesthetics. The only chance, when looking for inspiration, is to go very far... A grotesk does not afford such a variety as a serif typeface, it is dull and can soon tire the eye. This is why books are not set in sans serif faces. A grotesk is, however, always welcome for expressing different degrees of emphasis, for headings, marginal notes, captions, registers, in short for any service accompaniment of a book, including its titlings. We also often come across a text in which we want to distinguish the individual speaking or writing persons by the use of different typefaces. The condition is that such grotesk should blend in perfectly with the proportions, colour and above all with the expression of the basic, serif typeface. In the area of non-fiction typography, what we appreciate in sans-serif typefaces is that they are clamorous in inscriptions and economic in the setting. John Sans is to be a modest servant and at the same time an original loudspeaker; it wishes to inhabit libraries of educated persons and to shout from billboards. A year ago we completed the transcription of the typefaces of John Baskerville, whose heritage still stands out vividly in our memory. Baskerville cleverly incorporated certain constructional elements in the design of the individual letters of his typeface. These elements include above all the alternation of softand sharp stroke endings. The frequency of these endings in the text and their rhythm produce a balanced impression. The anchoring of the letters on the surface varies and they do not look monotonous when they are read. We attempted to use these tricks also in the creation of a sans-serif typeface. Except that, if we wished to create a genuine “Baroque grotesk”, all the decorativeness of the original would have to be repeated, which would result in a parody. On the contrary, to achieve a mere contrast with the soft Baskerville it is sufficient to choose any other hard grotesk and not to take a great deal of time over designing a new one. Between these two extremes, we chose a path starting with the construction of an almost monolinear skeleton, to which the elements of Baskerville were carefully attached. After many tests of the text, however, some of the flourishes had to be removed again. Anything that is superfluous or ornamental is against the substance of a grotesk typeface. The monolinear character can be impinged upon in those places where any consistency would become a burden. The fine shading and softening is for the benefit of both legibility and aesthetics. The more marked incisions of all crotches are a characteristic feature of this typeface, especially in the bold designs. The colour of the Text, Medium and Bold designs is commensurate with their serif counterparts. The White and X-Black designs already exceed the framework of book graphics and are suitable for use in advertisements and magazines. The original concept of the italics copying faithfully Baskerville’s morphology turned out to be a blind alley. This design would restrict the independent use of the grotesk typeface. We, therefore, began to model the new italics only after the completion of the upright designs. The features which these new italics and Baskerville have in common are the angle of the slope and the softened sloped strokes of the lower case letters. There are also certain reminiscences in the details (K, k). More complicated are the signs & and @, in the case of which regard is paid to distinguishing, in the design, the upright, sloped @ small caps forms. The one-storey lower-case g and the absence of a descender in the lower-case f contributes to the open and simple expression of the design. Also the inclusion of non-aligning figures in the basic designs and of aligning figures in small caps serves the purpose of harmonization of the sans-serif families with the serif families. Non-aligning figures link up better with lower-case letters in the text. If John Sans looks like many other modern typefaces, it is just as well. It certainly is not to the detriment of a Latin typeface as a means of communication, if different typographers in different places of the world arrive in different ways at a similar result.

The Englishman William Caslon punchcut many roman, italic, and non-Latin typefaces from 1720 until his death in 1766. At that time most types were being imported to England from Dutch sources, so Caslon was influenced by the characteristics of Dutch types. He did, however, achieve a level of craft that enabled his recognition as the first great English punchcutter. Caslon's roman became so popular that it was known as the script of kings, although on the other side of the political spectrum (and the ocean), the Americans used it for their Declaration of Independence in 1776. The original Caslon specimen sheets and punches have long provided a fertile source for the range of types bearing his name. Identifying characteristics of most Caslons include a cap A with a scooped-out apex; a cap C with two full serifs; and in the italic, a swashed lowercase v and w. Caslon's types have achieved legendary status among printers and typographers, and are considered safe, solid, and dependable. A few of the many interpretations from the early twentieth century were true to the source, as well as strong enough to last into the digital era. These include two from the American Type Founders Company, Caslon 540 and the slightly heavier Caslon #3. Both fonts are relatively wide, and come complete with small caps, Old style Figures, and italics. Caslon Open Face first appeared in 1915 from the Barnhart Bros & Spindler Foundry, and is not anything like the true Caslon types despite the name. It is intended exclusively for titles, headlines and initials, and looks elegant whether used with the more authentic Caslon types or by itself.

Astrid Grotesk is a normalized version of Schizotype Grotesk. Normalized; not neutralized. Where many neo-grotesks appear cold with their harsh neutrality, Astrid has a warmth, eminating from its (for want of a better word) clunkiness. With the latest update, it becomes a true workhorse, with a range of widths and italics for the normal widths. Astrid Grotesk, while being clearly a neo-grotesk in appearance, has a personality all of its own. Standout characters include the f and t, and the default binocular g, unusual in neo-grotesks. And the right angled terminals on c, e and s. Stylistic sets offer up alternate forms of a, g, y, I, @, dutch IJ, german eszett and l. A full complement of numerals is included: proportional and tabular, lining and oldstyle, plus fractions, subscript and superscript. Note also that the tabular figures are duplexed across weights - very useful when highlighting specific entries in tables. The tabular figures feature also substitutes in fixed width (across all weights) comma and period, so your decimals line up perfectly always. Lastly, case sensitive forms of certain glyphs are included for all-cap settings. This typeface will be useful for corporate identities and branding work. It’s spaced more for text settings in the normal width, and gets more display-optimized as the width decreases, but with careful tracking, all styles can sing at display sizes. Bored of those other Swiss style typefaces? Astrid Grotesk could be the face you need to breathe new life into your designs. Coupled with Schizotype Grotesk, its more eccentric cousin, you've got an unorthodox branding system ready to use straight out of the box.

A throwback design reminiscent of 1950s signage and print ads, Merrymakers JNL takes a previous release (Bluesman JNL) and places the letters and numbers inside parallelograms with ‘TV screen’ openings. Merrymakers JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions. The upper case A-Z characters have the taller side of the shape to the left, while the lower case a-z has the taller side to the right. To make a ‘fan fold’ or zig-zag message, simply alternate upper and lower cases as in this example: C-a-R D-e-A-l-E-r-S You can type spaces between words, but if you prefer blank connectors, use the following: Upper case solid black connector – left bracket key Lower case solid black connector – right bracket key Upper case ‘TV screen’ connector – left brace key Lower case ‘TV screen’ connector – right brace key There is a very limited set of punctuation available. The upper case ampersand, question mark, exclamation point, period, comma, single quote and double quote are all on their respective key positions, but to accommodate the lower case [smaller side] versions, those glyphs have been reassigned to other standard keyboard positions: Type @ to get & Type # to get ? Type $ to get ! Type ^ to get . Type * to get , Type - to get ’ Type = to get ” Additionally, to access the lower case [smaller side] versions of the numerals, type the following keys: Type % to get 0 Type ( to get 1 Type ) to get 2 Type + to get 3 Type / to get 4 Type : to get 5 Type ; to get 6 Type < to get 7 Type > to get 8 Type \ to get 9

Minotaur is an original monoline design based on an Oscan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscan_language ) votive inscription from the second century B.C.E. The letterforms immediately caught my eye in the wonderful book, Lettering by Hermann Degering, and I decided to create a typeface based on them with only enough compromises to make it usable as a modern alphabet. Not quite as straightforward as I had hoped. For example, the Oscan language (the predominant language in the Italian peninsula before the ascendance of Latin), has no letter "O", so the distinctive curve of the "D" was used as the model for the rounded letters "C" and "G" and more subtly for "O" and "Q"; this shape is also echoed in the original design of "B", "P" and "R". Also, the Oscan letterforms for A, K, L, M, N, S, and U are rather quaint, so I've included modern forms as alternates. Minotaur offers the best of both worlds: Just as the mythical Minotaur is half man and half bull, the font Minotaur is half modern and half ancient. Thanks to OpenType features (stylistic sets), you can easily switch from ancient letterforms to modern (if you have an OpenType-savvy application such as Adobe InDesign) for Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic alphabets. Minotaur supports all modern European languages, including Modern (monotonic) Greek and those that use the Cyrillic alphabet. And, yes, it supports Oscan, both right-facing and left-facing. Minotaur includes 3 OpenType Stylistic Sets: 1 - converts ancient (default) letterforms (A, K, L, M, N, S, and U) to modern alternates; 2 - converts Latin letterforms to equivalent left-facing (standard) Oscan letterforms; 3 - converts Latin letterforms to equivalent right-facing Oscan letterforms.

Beyond broadcast Like Truman Burbank, the star of The Truman Show, FS Truman was born for TV. You’ll know it from Sky One’s on-screen trails and announcements, but it’s just as at home in other media. Its starting point was the skeleton of a highly legible, space-saving, corporate font with some of FS Dillon’s geometric discipline built in. Its distinctive tone of voice and “ownability” are in its boxy but friendly shapes, and characters with hybrid features. FS Truman’s weights and widths were honed to work at TV screen resolutions. A face for TV it may have been, but this is a font that works on every level, on screen, in print, in headlines, in listings, in longer text, in tight corners and open spaces. The space-saver Compact, condensed but crystal clear, FS Truman comes into its own where a lot needs to be said in not a lot of space. Its letter spacing allows the type room to breathe, even at small sizes, while its fulsome x-height and diminutive descenders pave the way for tighter leading. A natural for headlines and titles over three or four lines. “Hybrid” features With every font, Fontsmith look for crafty new ways to imbue letterforms with a consistent character. The idea with FS Truman was to introduce “hybrid” features. In open letters such as “c” and “s”, for example, the top terminals have straight, vertical cuts while their lower terminals have a more angular, cursive finish. Boxy, spacious forms with unusual curves and angles create not just highly legible and efficient letters but strongly distinctive ones, too.

Caribe is an expressive typefamily like the blue sky and bright Caribbean sun, designed by CFCG @andinistas. We love to design experimental fonts with a large amount of ligatures and swashes, drawn with special respect and study for what is handmade by ancient artisans. In this context, Caribe is an impressive typefamily of 5 fonts to create logos, posters, book covers, menus, labels, packaging, etc. The 5 Caribbean fonts add up to more than 1500 glyphs that serve to be mixed or independent, functioning as a springboard to encourage your creativity in the design of words, phrases or remarkable headlines of the elements that appear around them. Caribe Script has lowercase letters such as "b d f g h i j k l p q y z" with extremely short ascending and descending strokes achieving generous height x in: "a c e m n o r s u v w x". Caribe Script Produces visual attraction in words and phrases that need lowercase letters with sparing horizontal space width and bold stroke thickness, producing exceptional legibility in headlines or advertising texts. Caribe Script & Caps are based on ancient and multiple letterings from the 40s and 50s that were useful inspiration tools to produce visual pleasure. Caribe Words has more than 60 script words drawn diagonally generating greater intensity within a sentence. Caribe Shields & Digits has more than 50 designs each and they have containers and numbers designed to accompany words, phrases or drawings that serve to harmonize different writings. ENJOY more than 1500 glyphs: + Caribe Script: 743 glyphs + Caribe Caps: 507 glyphs + Caribe Words: 71 glyphs + Caribe Shields: 230 glyphs + Caribe Digits: 40 glyphs

Genovaite Baroniene is former school teacher and a native of Lithuania who loves fancy letters. When she writes, she likes to add extra flourishes to her handwriting and printing. It simply appeals to her to do so. While living in the United States a few years ago and working in the health care field, she put pen to paper to provide a specimen of her writing from which a font could be developed. The process has taken longer than either of us expected. Now we are finally able to present Baroniene ML, a stylishly unique example of what we call Lithuanian Folk Baroque. Baroniene ML has a total of 362 glyphs, including the Unicode Latin Extended-A glyphs (0100 to 017F), covering the more widely-used Central European languages. To resolve the cedilla/undercomma conundrum, we have chosen to design a hybrid disconnected accent for use with C, G, K, L, N, R, S & T. We hope this solution is acceptable to users of Albanian, Catalan, French, Latvian, Portuguese, Romanian and Turkish. Baroniene ML also comes with four ligatures: gh, Th, th and Ch (167, 172, 177 and 181). Baroniene ML is certainly not the polished script of a professional calligrapher. It is very personal. The human source is still visible in its form. The letter spacing is uneven. Some of the curves are not quite perfect. In sum, the individuality has not been refined out of it. That is why it is so charming. If you want for a font that has a very different look, perhaps Baroniene ML is what you need.

Mackay is a powerful transitional serif in 6 weights plus matching italics, designed for screen and print. The eccentric serifs on uppercase letters like E, F, L and T are inspired by Alexander Kay’s “Ronaldson” from 1884, working as the starting point for the family. The lowercase letters follow the traditional Antiqua model with attributes tracing back to drawings from the early 20th century. The “grotesk” lowercase a, as well as the sharp lowercase s, derived from the closed shapes of uppercase letters like C, G or S, create a compact and bold appearance while a large x-height and small descenders add a modern look. In favor of a dynamic and elegant impression, the design of the italic cuts come with a strong calligraphic influence. This results in completely new shapes for letters like lowercase a or g, ensuring a smooth integration into their surrounding letters while maintaining a distinctive appearance when combining with romans. The family comes with a variety of opentype features like case sensitive shapes, old style figures, fractions, ordinals and many more. Additional attention was given to the standard and discretionary ligatures, extending the structure of the basic glyphs with elegantly designed letter combinations for g/i, i/t or s/t. According to their dynamic architecture, the italic weights are equipped with additional initial swash characters to subtle accentuate the calligraphic roots. As a result of a high stroke contrast the family works great in paragraphs with medium to large font sizes like headlines, short paragraphs or logos. With its 12 cuts, the family meets all requirements on high quality typography.

Indulge yourself in a luxurious typography pairing with La Luxes; a classic font duo consisting of an elegant Script & ligature-rich Serif. These fonts are designed to pair harmoniously, and lend themselves to high end branding, logo designs, product packaging & invitation designs. Here’s a run through the fonts in more detail; 1. La Luxes Script • A clean, elegant hand-drawn script font containing upper & lowercase characters, all punctuation and numerals. Also contains 30 ligatures to help the text flow naturally and add a custom-made feel. 2. La Luxes Serif • A stylish & modern all-caps serif containing upper & new lowercase characters, all punctuation & numerals. Also contains 38 ligatures and 11 special characters giving you a variety of layout options. Using Ligatures and Special Characters; Both fonts contain a large range of ligatures (unique double-letter pairings) to provide you with more customisation options; Most programs will automatically have Standard Ligatures switched on for you, if not you will need to enable this OpenType feature. The Serif font contains a number of raised ‘small caps’ (A, E, O, U, C) and characters with elongated tails (L, K, R,). These can be accessed by switching on ‘Stylistic Alternates’ in any OpenType capable software and typing these characters. The star icon can be accessed simply by typing the asterisk key (*) with the Serif font. All Ligatures and Special Characters can also be accessed via a Glyphs panel. This is available on most Adobe software & Affinity Designer. The stylised vertical ‘AND’ and ‘CO’ icons can only be accessed this way. Language Support; Both fonts support English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Indonesian, Malay, Hungarian, Polish, Turkish, Slovenian

The designer of ITC Medea , Silvio Napoleone said: “I've always had an interest in early letter shapes, particularly how they influenced modern typographic designs. While I was on vacation in Greece, I had a chance to see, first-hand, examples of early letterforms and typography. They really made an impression on me.” The idea of combining the ancient and the modern to create something new was the primary inspiration behind ITC Medea. ITC Medea is essentially a careful blending of the modern sans serif with the elegant forms of the uncial. At first glance, Medea appears to be constructed of geometric shapes. However, closer inspection reveals many calligraphic subtleties. Stroke terminals are flared slightly in characters like the 'e' and 'c.' The top curve of the 'd' is more pronounced than the bottom, and characters like the 'o' are elliptical rather than round. “I gravitated towards the simplicity and legibility of the uncial and half-uncial,” Napoleone recalls. “I thought it would make a great titling font, and I was surprised at how attractive ITC Medea looked in a body text.”