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.

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.

The Etalage-script has been drawn for the first time in the year 2000, based on a early 20th century lettering stencil with what farmer Boelema at Lalleweer stenciled his grainsacks. Eventually the script letter was developed as a typeface with a wink to the ‘lost’ displaytypes for the ‘display window’ of graphic designer Ariënne Boelens, who in exchange made the website www.lalleweer.nl. What originated the Ariënne should be evident now.

Houdini was extemporized from the single word "Houdini" on a lithographed poster for the magician. The original was a shaded outline like our Houdini Shaded font, but we felt that a solid version would be worthwhile too. Like the companion font Houdini, the shaded version was created from the single word Houdini on an old lithographed poster for the famous magician. The original was hand-lettered by a litho lettering artist.

Sheet music for the song "Beyond the Blue Horizon" from the motion picture "Monte Carlo" had the movie title in hand-lettering reminiscent of the Futura Black style, but with an inline stripe through each character. These few letter examples were the basis for Gambling Resort JNL and conjure up the Nouveau Riche spending their nights in Monte Carlo packing the roulette wheels, blackjack tables and slot machines.

The Submarine family is based on a custom designed typeface for website navigation and headlining purposes, hence its geometric structure. In contrast to most other typefaces, where increase of boldness of the lighter weights expands externally in the width, the Submarine heavier weights expand internally, leaving the length of words and texts pretty much the same. The open structure of the lighter weights make it reasonable text face as well.

Locarno is the work of British designer Alan Meeks and is his adaptation of Rudolf Koch's original design for the Klingspor type foundry. The unique design of the roman weight features geneous capitals and a reserved lowercase. The italic capitals have an open, engraved decoration that combines perfectly with the lowercase with its tall, elegant ascenders. Locarno is a typeface with the sophisticated look of the 1920s and 30s.

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."

A random scan from a late nineteenth-century German type specimen book, encountered on the internet, provided the pattern for this surprisingly contemporary face. Although all of the characters are parallel to the baseline, the unusual dimensional treatment tends to give the impression that they slant upward to the right. Both versions of this font include the complete Unicode 1252 Latin and Unicode 1250 Central European character sets.

The sixteen styles of Giza bring back the colorful power and variety of the original Egyptian letterforms, a glory of the Victorian era. Designer David Berlow based the family on showings in Vincent Figgins’ specimen of 1845, the triumphant introduction of this thunderous style. The truly unforgettable “Nine” weights were designed for ultimate emphasis in posters, and do their most effective work in the very largest of sizes.

The Federal Art Project of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) employed artists to create posters for various subjects including health, tourism, safety, patriotism, theater and the arts during the Great Depression years of the 1930s on through the early 1940s. One health-related poster had the word “against” in a thin Art Deco monoline which served as the basis for Wellness JNL, which is available in regular and oblique versions.

Renais is a set of Renaissance Initials. The embellished letters are on the keys A through Z. The letters without embellishments are on the lowercase letters a through z. The embellishments without the letters are in alphabetical order on the following keys: 1234567890!§$%&/()=?,.-;:_ You can superimpose the three forms for special effects, they are designed to fit exactly over each other. Have fun! Gert Wiescher - forever discovering old fonts!

Shiver me Timbers and Splice me Mainbrace! There's strange goings on in Smugglers' Cove... A gathering of thieves, brigands, piratefolk and back-stabbing blackguards the likes of which have not been seen since the days of Redbeard! Someone'll be swinging from the yardarm or walking the plank if the map identifying the location of the fonts created for Grim Todd McFarlane's SPAWN: THE DARK AGES doesn't turn up soon!

African Shield is named for the cow-hide shields used by Zulu warriors. The shield was an essential part of the weaponry of the Zulu Nation. In the days of the great King Shaka, every Zulu warrior was armed with a shield, one or more throwing assegais (type of spear) and a stabbing spear. The high-contrast design of the shield has inspired a font that translates into exciting graphic designs.

Swanville developed as part of a train font that eventually became LetterTrain. The letters of Swanville are bold, have a funny “serif” on the top but not on the bottom, and when the letters have interiors, the interior has the shape of the letter. Lower-case letters are smaller versions of the upper-case letters. Because development of this face stopped long ago, it has a limited character set.

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."

Sydonia Atramentiqua is a strange creation. The inspiration was the first releases of "Malleus Maleficarum" (actually the typography used there). I decided I wanted something strange, so Sydonia came into being. Like a blood of all witches who were being hunted down by Malleus Maleficarum's "fans" for their skills and beliefs. Why Sydonia? Sydonia von Borck was a witch from my area. It was probably the last woman executed for witchcraft. The genesis of the name. Sydonia was THE WITCH, and by the name I added "Atramentiqua". It is a combination of the words "Ink" (polish "ATRAMENT") + "Antiqua". The idea of ​​spilling a font is historical. The former Zecer composition was not perfectly sharp. As it was a "wet job", there were always light exits behind the lines. Who supported me? The GENEALOGIA project has been carried out for several years in cooperation with the Academy of Art in Szczecin and the National Museum in Szczecin. The project's supervisors are prof. Waldemar Wojciechowski and MA Patrycja Makarewicz, who runs the Visual Communication Studio. Some information: Sydonia was like that! This is not an everyday font. It is a stylized font, used to imitate old prints made by Zecer. The first version of Sydonia Atramentiqua was created in 2018 for the purposes of the exhibition at the National Museum in Szczecin. Base inspiration: Malleus Maleficarum & Caslon.

This font is based on an alphabet published by Luca Pacioli in his 1509 mathematical treatise De divina proportione. In this book, Pacioli describes how to build the Roman alphabet geometrically using lines, squares and circles. Pacioli was not the first or the last man in his era to describe the building of letters mathematically. Felice Feliciano did this before Pacioli, and Albrecht Dürer further developed these forms years after. According to Pacioli, the thick strokes should be 1/9th of the height, and the thin strokes should have 1/2 the weight of the thick strokes. I felt that this beautiful alphabet needed to be restored to its full geometric glory and set out to construct an accurate replica using Pacioli's instructions. Included in the font you'll find the letters that have the grid overlay and also the letters without the grid. The letters J, W, U, and Z were not included in the book, so I have created my own versions of these characters that fit into Pacioli's grid. Pacioli shows two different Os in the book, so I have included the second O as well as a second J, Q, and Z as OpenType stylistic alternates. Also included in the font are border patterns and a fleuron taken from the cover of the book.

From the standpoint of calligraphy, a font family of capitals and uncials makes perfect sense. The Roman square capitals, the quadrata, are matched by round capitals of older Greek origin; the word "uncus" means hook-shaped like a beak or talon. Interrelated and often interchangeable, these capital letters served as book hands for both the Latin West and the Greek-speaking East before they evolved into minuscule alphabets. The Testament family is based on the few formal capital manuscripts of the Bible, Virgil and Homer that have survived from the ancient world. Throughout the Middle Ages both uncials and square capitals were used, often together, for headings and initial characters. By their nature the Roman capitals are the voice of Caesar and hold the place of authority, while the uncials speak for the Church in a balanced relationship. In ancient times church and state were not as separate as they are now, and the alphabets were not as different as typographic tradition has made them. In this calligraphic rendering it is clear that they are of the same substance and can be written in the same style, conveying even to the modern eye the eternal and classical quality of epic and scripture. Testament comes in all popular font formats, and includes support for a vaster-than-usual range of Latin-based languages.

Now even more design possibilities with the popular DIN Next. With its technical and neutral character, DIN Next has earned a permanent place in contemporary typography. Now, DIN Next Slab expands the font family further, offering new design potential. Now comes the next step, DIN Next Slab, also produced under the direction of Akira Kobayashi. On a team with Sandra Winter and Tom Grace, Kobayashi is creating the new font variant based on the optimized shapes of DIN Next. The expansion will make the popular font all the more flexible and versatile. Apart from that, the geometric slab serifs underline the technical and formal nature of the font and emphasize a central design element of DIN Next. However, the team did have some challenges to overcome. While it is relatively easy to imagine DIN Next Light with slab serifs, the amount of available space quickly disappears when it comes to the Black styles. Winter explains that many tests and trials were necessary to find a compromise between space, letters and the serif shapes. Experiments with modified contrast in the weight or only one-sided serifs were quickly abandoned. The central, technical and powerful character of the font changed too much. Nevertheless, it was necessary to simplify slightly the shape of some letters, such as the ‘k’ or ‘x’, for example. These changes, first developed in the Black styles, were applied to all weights in order to lend the font a consistent appearance. Like DIN Next, DIN Next Slab also has seven weights, which cover the range from Ultralight to Black, each with matching italic. There are various character sets in all of the styles and the four middle weights have small capitals available. DIN Next Slab harmonizes perfectly with the styles of DIN Next: the basic letterforms and weights are identical. Both versions of the font can work together perfectly, not just in headlines and body text, but also within a text; they complement each other very well as design variations. With the new DIN Next Slab, Monotype expands the DIN Next super family consistently. With DIN Next Slab, you can underscore the technical and formal nature of the understated font not only in headlines, but in texts, as well. In this way, you have new and diverse potential for application, thanks to the way the different styles of DIN Next combine perfectly.

Some words from the designer, Frantisek Storm... Designed by Josef Tyfa in 1959, digitalized by F. Storm in 1996. This Roman and Italic are well-known perhaps to all Czech graphic artists and typographers ever since their release. Although this type face in some details is under the sway of the period of its rise, its importance is timeless, in contradistinction to other famous types dating from the turn of the sixties which were found, after some time, to be trite. The italics live their own life, only their upper-case letters have the same expression as the basic design. Thin and fragile, they work excellently, emphasizing certain parts in the text by their perfect contrast of expression. When seen from a distance they are a little bit darker than the Roman face. Tyfa Roman was released in 1960 by Grafotechna in Prague for hot setting. Later on, Berthold produced letter matrices - "rulers" for Staromat devices, used for manual photosetting of display alphabets. In the eighties it was available on dry transfers of Transotype and today it is offered also by ITC. The meticulously executed designs of the individual letters in the 288 point size are arranged into a set of signs on a cardboard of about B2 in size. The yellowed paper reveals retouches by white paint on the ink. Blue lines mark the baseline, the capital line, the ascender and descender lines and the central verticals of the letters. With regard to the format of the flat scanner, the designs had to be reduced, with the use of a camera, to the format A4, i.e. to the upper-case letter height of about 30 mm. These were then scanned in 600 dpi resolution and read as a bitmap template to the FontStudio programme. The newly created bold type faces derive from Tyfa's designs of the letters "a", "n", "p", the darkness of which was increased further, approximately by 3%, to enhance their emphasizing function. The text designs have hairstrokes thickened by one third; the contrast between thin and thick strokes has been modified, in order to improve legibility, in sizes under 12 points. We have used electronic interpolation to produce the semi-bold designs. Josef Tyfa himself recommends to choose a somewhat darker design than the basic one for printing of books.

This is the "Starslang" font, that features a star shape embedded within the letters of the vowels. The theme was designed to enlighten the mood and spirit with a fun mood of urban atmosphere.

Proven in newspapers around the world, Worldwide is a classic news face in the modern idiom, somewhat condensed, especially in the display weights. The Regular font of the Text family is loaded with features.

A typographic treasure, originated at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, had been brought back to life. With its charming touch it makes a wonderful font for poems, bookcovers, reprints and other historically relevant projects. To get access to all ligatures, it is recommended to activate both Standard and Discretionary Ligatures; the round s you find on the # key, and typing the combination N-o-period and activating the OT feature Ordinals gets you the numero sign.

No prizes for guessing this font family was inspired by the 1950s - the sounds (Buddy, Eddie, Elvis), the styles (polka dots, petticoats and Dior's New Look), and the kitsch, from furry dice above the dashboard to plaster ducks over the mantlepiece! A particular point of reference is the furnishings and fabrics of the Fifties (with their distinctive kidney shapes and angular curves) as showcased in the Festival of Britain 1951. See also my other fun fonts Barrowboy, Calypso and Pier Arcade.

Designed by Les Usherwood. Digitally engineered by Steve Jackaman. Originally designed by Frederick Goudy for the original Life magazine, circa 1908. Because of delays in production, the face was never used by the magazine. However, Gimbel Brothers, the famous New York department store, opened in 1910, around the time of the release of the typeface, which was used almost exclusively for its advertising and was often known as Goudy Gimbel, but the typeface was better known by the Monotype series number Goudy 38.

The world may seem cartoonish to you, pilgrim, but the funnies ain't really that funny. The Flintstones are so last century. The Hulks are in, and they're here to stay. Piedra is the rocky, fear-inducing face of galvanized triceps and überchiseled jawlines. Be intimidated, be very intimidated. You don't believe it? Just push the stylistic alternates button and see it disregard the laws and spit pebbles on the sidewalk. Then run to the hills if you want to live.