In January of 2006, Jeff Levine fonts debuted with ten releases. Many of those first fonts were based on vintage lettering stencils, which were the "school years" catalyst for Jeff's interest in lettering and type design. Eight years later, his collection of fonts has become a giant catalog of display type ranging from Wood Type revivals to Art Nouveau, Art Deco to stencil, reinterpretations of old favorites, experimental fonts, dingbat fonts and typefaces reflecting a particular decade's styles of cultural popularity. Designs from old lettering books, type catalogs and advertising have also been fodder for many alphabets not previously available in a digital format. Along the way, many unusual lettering sources were also mined for type ideas. Vintage packaging, hand-lettered signage, sign making kits, rubber stamp type, water applied decals and at times just a singular letter example inspired many of the releases within this collection. It was a source of pride for Jeff Levine Fonts to reach 500 releases and a determined goal to grow the type library as far as possible. With this in mind, February 2014 brings forth many new releases. This one in particular, Ornery Polecat JNL, is the 800th typeface release from Jeff.

Diamond Jim JNL was inspired [in part] by an image of a 1970s Letraset® dry transfer typeface made entirely of small stars. By creating his own layout using tiny diamond shapes, Jeff Levine has produced a font that takes on multiple appearances. At 24 point it resembles dot matrix printing; at 48 point the diamonds are clearly visible; and overall, the design has a distinctive 70s retro feel. Limited character set.

This whimsical wonder is based on the lettering of Laurence Schall, as presented in Lewis F. Day's 1910 classic, Alphabets Old and New. The typeface radiates a charm reminiscent of the works of many talented artists (including Howard Pyle and Arthur Rackham) who illustrated children's books around the turn of the twentieth century. The Opentype version of this font supports Unicode 1250 (Central European) languages, as well as Unicode 1252 (Latin) languages.

Eckhardt Signwriter JNL is based on a casual display lettering face popular with many sign painters and show card writers of yesteryear, best suited for large print projects. Jeff Levine has named this font (along with others in a series) after the late Albert Eckhardt, Jr. (1929-2005) who had owned Allied Signs in Miami, Florida from 1959 until his passing. Al was a talented lettering artist and a good friend to Jeff.

Trencher JNL is based on hand-cut stencils spray-painted onto a vintage 1947 Cleveland Trencher acquired by the Marine Corps Mechanized Museum at Camp Pendleton, California. Restoration volunteer Brian Platzer supplied to Jeff Levine the images of the stencil markings - and they were quickly re-drawn and turned into a digital type face.

Jeff Levine took Crown Heights JNL [named after his childhood neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY] and gave it a make-over; transforming it into a Western-style all-caps display face called Homesteader JNL. The point of interest being the rounded characters: C, G, O and Q - usually not as geometric in Old West typography.

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.

The wealth of vintage hand-lettering styles found in a 1941 edition of the Speedball® Lettering Pen instruction book has allowed Jeff Levine to re-draw a number of them in digital format for today's designers. As with other fonts in the Eckhardt Series of sign painter-inspired styles, this font is named in honor of Jeff's good friend Albert Eckhardt, Jr. Al was quite the talented sign writer, and ran Allied Signs in Miami, Florida from 1959 until his passing.

The pages of a vintage sign painter's manual yields many interesting typefaces that reflect on the design styles of years gone by. Eckhardt Display Serif JNL is a distinctive, hand-lettered serif face that has a hint of Art Noveau. Part of a series of sign painter's fonts named in honor of the late Albert Eckhardt, Jr. who owned Allied Signs in Miami, Florida, Jeff Levine continues this series of fonts in tribute to his friend and the art of sign lettering.

The front page headline of the April 6, 1917 edition of the Bemidji Pioneer [from Bemidji, Minnesota] says in extrabold letters: “State of War is Declared”. The subtext underneath reads: “President Signs Resolution 1:13 P.M., Passed by House 3 O’Clock this Morning”. Thus, the United States formally entered into World War I. However… that subtext was set in a sans serif type face which was a perfect addition to the numerous newspaper-inspired type revivals offered by Jeff Levine Fonts. Morning Edition JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The set of vintage brass alphabet stencils that inspired Stencil Mark JNL was manufactured by the Chicago Firm of Meyer and Wenthe. Pete Skoglund of Unadilla, NY was selling a set of these stencils on Ebay, and was nice enough to provide Jeff Levine some images to use as models for the design of this typeface.

Home. Dersima is a stencil display typeface that is a homage to past relatives and ancestors of genocide and oppression. The philosophy of the typefaces missing parts symbolizes the dark and confusing history and the struggle for equality of the Alevi Kurds. The objective of this typeface is to live on and make sure they are not forgotten.

DuBois JNL is based on hand lettering designed by Albert DuBois of New York City, and originally titled "Round Block". His design was found in an old sign painters' design book from the early 1900s and has been translated to digital form by Jeff Levine. All of the quirks and charm of hand lettering have remained.

Jeff Levine acquired a set of original water-applied decals made by the Duro Decal Company of Chicago (now Duro Art Industries) and painstakingly recreated one of the classic hand-drawn typefaces from the Duro line. Named after the street where the company is located, Juneway JNL is an authentic reproduction for the computer-based designer.

While browsing through a Dan Solo type reference book, Jeff Levine fell in love with the multiline stylings of one particular typeface, then sat down and re-drew from scratch his own interpretation of the design. Jeff's version is called Art Lover JNL - offering kudos to art in general, the Art Deco movement and (of course) type design.

Sign Shop JNL was inspired by a set of ceramic titling and display letters similar to those used to model Entitled JNL and made by the Mitten's Display Letter Company of Redlands, California. The distinctive retro feel adds a great touch to any project. Bold, Deco and Oblique versions were created by Jeff Levine for extra visual impact.

Hey, what the hey! You'll have to look twice at this unusual typeface from Jeff Levine. Utilizing the sans serif lettering found in Trade Printer JNL, this novelty font combines two staggered outline versions that are blended together to give a double-image effect. This works best at large point sizes and with minimum word count. Use it for attention-getting phrases such as "You'll See Double" or "You Won't Believe Your Eyes" (or similar ad copy).

Vintage Stencil Borders JNL collects twenty-six decorative vintage and antique stencil border motifs for embellishing word copy set in stencil type or for any other decorative purpose. Please note: Commercial reproduction of these designs as stencils, stickers, decals, transfers, ink stamps or other decorative stand-alone products for resale requires a separate license. Contact Jeff Levine through the email address located in the PDF file provided with the font or from the online EULA text.

The box cover of “Drawing Stencils No. 3 for Use on Slate or Paper” [a children’s drawing set produced by Montgomery, Ward & Company of Chicago circa the 1890s] had its title in an elegant spurred Roman type face. Working from the few letters available, a complete character set was created that resulted in Antique Packaging JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions. To note, this is the 1500th font release from Jeff Levine Fonts since its inception in January of 2006.

A roughened and worn version of Daily Tabloid JNL was originally created as a non-exclusive custom font for a client. The design emulates the look of old letterpress wood type and has now been released commercially as Regional News JNL; available in both regular and oblique versions. A special acknowledgement goes to Michael Hagemann of Font Mesa Fonts who partnered with Jeff Levine Fonts for the original project. His creativity and skill resulted in the textured look needed for the typeface. For some beautiful antique typefaces or fine text face collections, please visit Font Mesa Fonts.

Office Stamps JNL is a collection of twenty-six images recreating the familiar 'stock' rubber stamps used in offices for decades before self-inking stamps and desktop printing made them relics of the past. Modeled from vintage sources, all of the images have been re-drawn by Jeff Levine to have a crisper look than simply utilizing scanned imprints of old marking devices.

The August 11, 1929 issue of “The Film Daily” carried an ad for Tiffany-Stahl Productions’ presentation of a special film release featuring a wrestling match between “Strangler” Lewis and Gus Sonnenburg. The hand lettering for the ad was rendered in an Art Deco sans serif style, and is now available digitally as Film Event JNL in both regular and oblique versions.

Eckhardt Trilinear JNL was inspired by [and modeled from] a pen-drawn alphabet found in a 1960 edition of the Speedball® lettering textbook. As with many other "sign painter-oriented" typefaces by Jeff Levine, it is named in honor of Jeff's good friend -- the late Albert Eckhardt, Jr. Al ran Allied Signs in Miami, Florida from 1959 until his passing.

The Redikut Letter Company of Hawthorne, California specialized in die-cut cardboard display letters used by sign makers to achieve a three-dimensional effect on show card and display work. A set of these letters purchased by Jeff Levine brought back memories of classic movie houses with their fancy display and lobby cards, and thus was created "Aisle Seats JNL".

Firmin Didot is credited with establishing the Modern genre of serif typefaces, of which Beaux Arts Didots stands as an exemplary model. Like the French neoclassical architecture of its namesake, Beaux Arts has all the hallmarks of the early nineteenth-century style: a clear and confident construction consisting of simple yet strong lines. Use it for elegant and formal settings, or when a direct typographic tone is desired. Mix it with styles of similar sensibilities such as Plinc Hanover and Davison Spencerian. Digitized from the original Photo-Lettering film matrix in 2014 by Jean-Baptiste Levée. BEAUX ARTS DIDOT CREDITS: Typeface Design: Photo-Lettering Staff Typeface Digitization: Jean-Baptiste Levée Typeface Production: Ben Kiel Typeface Direction: Ken Barber Like all good subversives, House Industries hides in plain sight while amplifying the look, feel and style of the world’s most interesting brands, products and people. Based in Delaware, visually influencing the world.

Emporia JNL is a wonderfully decorative and vintage wood type named for a city in Kansas, and modeled from just a dozen images of individual type blocks spotted for auction online. The release of this typeface is also a milestone for Jeff Levine Fonts. The foundry started in January, 2006 with only ten releases, and has now grown to be an impressive library of unique lettering designs from the past. The collection also contains numerous original and novelty creations. Emporia JNL is proudly released as the 500th font design to join this extensive library.

Samuel Welo’s “Studio Handbook for Artists and Advertisers” contained dozens of hand-lettered alphabets used as inspiration for both the sign trade and for graphic designers. Intertitle Nouveau JNL – available in both regular and oblique versions – was originally an alphabet produced by a round lettering nib, and was first shown in the 1927 edition (later reprinted in the 1960 edition). It is reminiscent of the lettering used on intertitle cards of the silent film era. This font marks an amazing milestone - the 2000th release by Jeff Levine Fonts since its inception in January of 2006.

While searching online for vintage type inspirations, an image was spotted of an old letterhead for a steel manufacturing company. The hand lettering of the word 'Ludlum' only offered D,L,M and E as visual examples, but from this Jeff Levine has designed Eckhardt Dualine JNL - a Deco-flavored dual-line type font. As with a number of other releases that emulate hand-lettering or sign painting, Jeff has named this font in honor of his good friend, the late Albert Eckhardt, Jr.; who ran Allied Signs in Miami from 1959 until his passing.

Morris Fuller Benton's Hobo [designed in 1910] is one of a number of fonts which have been so over-used that many designers shy away from it altogether. However, Jeff Levine had often wondered what the design might look like it given a serif treatment. The result is Rail Bum JNL, named for the hobos and transients who hitched along on freight cars to ride the rails across the country during the years when trains were the mainstay of American transportation.

Mailbox Letters Two JNL is the second typeface from Jeff Levine inspired by metal lettering used on mailboxes and homes. Each cast letter or number sat on a lower "rail" which was then slipped into a slot that held them firmly in place. Jeff's Inventory JNL looked close enough to the original type style to use as a model for this font, and for typographic purposes there are certain punctuation and other glyphs that "float" above the rail. Limited character set.

A thin Roman typeface with slab serifs shown in various editions of the American Type Founders’ Specimen Book as either Lining Antique or Lining Central Antique was the model for Specimen Book JNL which is available in both regular and oblique versions. This is the 1700th design released by Jeff Levine Fonts since its inception in January, 2006 and was named Specimen Book JNL to celebrate the era when metal type and letterpress were the modern technology of their time.

Lewis F. Day, in his Alphabets Old and New, presented these letters as examples of rustic Roman lettering of the first through third centuries, AD. An uppercase-only typeface, most of the lowercase positions are occupied by letterform variants. It should be noted that the name does not refer to a savory dish made from a nocturnal American marsupial; it’s Latin for “I can dance”. Both versions of the font include 1252 Latin, 1250 CE (with localization for Romanian and Moldovan).

Open Case JNL is the distant cousin to the 2009 release by Jeff Levine Fonts called Cold Case JNL, as both were based on sets of lettering stencils designed and manufactured by the Huntington Oil Cured Stencil Company (originally of Huntington, New York and later of Delray Beach, Florida). While sharing similar design traits, there are enough differences to have both type designs work well together in a complimentary setting. Open Case JNL is available in regular and oblique styles.

Sensual Initials JNL is a revamped and cleaned-up version of an old freeware font by Jeff Levine. Redrawn, and now utilizing the typeface French Art Initials JNL

When Ray Larabie donated some font work files to the Stella Roberts font project, he suggested that whenever possible the design get reworked to reflect some update and change. Jeff Levine overhauled the original design and made numerous changes to end up with Seminar SRF and its oblique version. A friendly, clean sanserif with a nod to the classic Optima, this text face can easily fit into word copy or hold its own in headlines. The net profits from my font sales help defer medical expenses for my siblings, who both suffer with Cystic Fibrosis and diabetes. Thank you.

Some vintage 1960s-era packaging for dive gear (masks, swim fins, etc.) manufactured by the Voit division of AMF had various merchandise boxes hand-lettered [with some variation of design] in an interesting sans stencil. These packages formed the inspiration of Dive Gear Stencil JNL. Thanks once again to Gene Gable, whom on many occasions has provided Jeff Levine material for type design inspiration.

Philip Bouwsma’s offbeat mind, always working in mysterious ways, brings us one of the unlikeliest syntheses of historical influences in a perfectly fluid, organic, and highly expressive connected script. Tupelo takes its inspirational roots from the handwritings of two of the most influential men in world history: Elvis Presley and Abraham Lincoln. It took a little research and analysis on Bouwsma’s part to reveal that The King’s and Honest Abe’s methods of writing shared a common ancestor: a writing system they had both learned as youths during their early school years. While Tupelo’s lowercase maintains the slant, color, texture, and flourish of Elvis’s handwriting, its uppercase is the embodiment of Lincoln’s well-versed originality. This is the closest a typeface has ever come, in its timeliness and historic relevance, to making a statement about these modern days' fusion of politics and popular culture. Tupelo comes in two main fonts, plus a set of beginning lowercase, a set of ending lowercase, and plenty of alternates and extras. The non-Pro set consists of five fonts, while Tupelo Pro combines the lot in a single font of over 840 characters, which includes programming for push-button swash caps, stylistic alternates, oldstyle figures, beginning and ending letters. Elvis and Abe would be proud!

Around 2018 or 2019, the State of Florida introduced new letter and number characters on its auto plates. Inspired by this change, Jeff Levine Fonts offers up a digital version of this lettering named New Car Tag JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions (for those who want a more sporty look). Some people prefer a rounded 'zero' to differentiate between the regular zero and the letter 'O'. You can find this alternate character located on both the solid bar and broken bar glyphs.

Around the turn of the 20th Century, the Inland Type Foundry produced a display face named Studley. It was a variation on a design by another foundry called Florentine. A condensed face with a bold, clean look, the design resembled the warmth and feel of a classic wood type. Best applied to headlines and titles, the font reads amazingly well at even 18 point renderings. Jeff Levine had added his own personal touch to his digital version of this old favorite and renamed it Bayview JNL.