Remember clear summer days as a kid? Remember open fields that you explored? Sun shining? Simple breezes sweeping past your face as you ran far and free? The feeling was uncomplicated and enjoyable. It was natural. That’s Verao, the simple spirit of summer. Alive and vibrant, Verao takes a turn away from the cold structure of today’s rigid creations and embraces the movement back to the value of things handmade. This artisan creation represents the rare, soul-invested fusion of the craftsman’s tools, materials, and hand movements, which shapes the solid--but beautifully defined--parts, pieces that, when put together, breathe a measure of life into everyday paragraphs and other bodies of text. Verao’s hand-written brush script, with its characters’ imperfect elegance and handmade quality, keeps your work looking organic. Write a word in more than a hundred different ways thanks to the large number of extra letters it offers. Two sets of lowercase alternative letters without connectors are included as is a set of swashed endings. Verao contains stylistic substitutions and ligatures, too, that you can combine however you like. Whichever way you design, the elements continue to appear balanced and separate and will undoubtedly add more personality to your design. So stop switching out cogs in your rigid set of fonts. Take time again to play with a natural face that’s both easy and energetic. Verao’s great temperament makes it a joy to design with. Let this spirit of summer take you away from the mundane. There’s a good chance Verao will lead you where you need to go. Production assistance from Lucas Azevedo.

Linotype Vision is part of the Take Type Library, chosen from the entries of the Linotype-sponsored International Digital Type Design Contests of 1994 and 1997. Created by German designer Dan-André Neimeyer, the font contains five weights. The characters look as though they are constructed of fragments fitted only loosely together. Just enough of each character is put onto paper so that the eye of the reader can complete the conventional form. Based loosely on sans serif forms, the font has a futuristic, mathematical feel. Linotype Vision is exclusively for headlines in point sizes of 18 and larger.

Helena derived her curves from the old Chinese Tangram puzzle. She sure is playful, though sometimes she bites furiously. No worries! Helena may seem to be a tad crazy, but all in good moderation. Don’t go overboard, use her well and I can assure you … she’ll be worth all your effort.

The opening title from the 1943 Abbott and Costello comedy ”It Ain't Hay” shows a park bench with the words “Universal Presents” stenciled on it in a chamfered sans serif style. This served as the design model for Grounds Crew Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.