Before ink jet and laser printers; before copy machines, the main way to make multiples of anything not provided by printing press was by a mimeograph machine or spirit duplicator. 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. Based on a plastic lettering guide once manufactured by the A.B. Dick Company of Chicago, Mimeograph Template JNL is available in regular and oblique versions. Albert Blake Dick, the company’s founder, coined the term ‘mimeography’. The font’s character shapes follow the routed letters of the template, complete with rounded terminals. An earlier font release [designed with flat terminals and some alternate characters] is available as Interoffice Memo JNL.

Pasto is a fun and charming display type family of two styles with four weights each. 'Print' is a textured irregular stamp style, and 'Sharp' is a straightforward soft-edged type with clean strokes. It is clean, playful, and expressive, with a lightweight structure and fairly aired inner space. Pasto is perfect for display use and intended for medium and large settings. Still, it can be used in smaller point sizes for short sentences or words, providing a softer, delicate look. Pasto has three alternating alphabets that slightly differ from one another. Thanks to the Contextual Alternates, these alphabets are automatically replaced to avoid the same letterforms and textures appearing next to each other, creating a more spontaneous look when typing. This OT Feature is available for all the Sharp and Print styles. Some of Pasto's features are ligatures, stylistic alternates, numerators, fractions, special characters, currency symbols, and a glyph coverage that ensures extended language support.

Italic type was invented by Aldus Manutius in 1499 or 1501, first, before to be a style name, it was a plain font familly name. This Italique style font was inspired from these who was used by Jean de Tournes in Lyon (France) to print La mÈtamorphose d'Ovide figurÈe, a splendid book with numerous gothic style wood carved pictures. The original font contains almost all modern usual characters except accented ones, no longer in use on that time. They have been added, with some others, with respect for the original design. . A render sheet, enclosed in file, help to identify various others unusual letters on keyboard. It is used as successfuly as web-site titles, posters and fliers design, editing ancien texts or greeting cards, invitations, gastronomic menus... and much more, as a very decorative and elegant font... It supports easily as enlargement as small size, remaining clear and easy to read from 8 or 9 points to 72 and more, particularly on prints.

Jessie's Letter is based on an old typed letter by Kerrie's great step grandmother. This letter was undated, but we think it must have been from the 1920s or so. Jessie wasn't much for punctuation, so there aren't any of those pesky question marks and exclamation points. But, she did make mistakes in her typing, so we've included cross outs and strange resulting characters to make up for the lack of everyday punctuation. Maybe Jessie wanted to visit Paris, or maybe she secretly made paintings in her back yard, or maybe she dreamed of painting her house bright pink. Well, maybe not, but it's fun to dream...

You may recognize the looks of Retroxoid - if not, then let me help you out: Retroxoid is actually a font I made back in 2007. I ran prints of the font, through a very bad copymachine, used a wet cloth to make the print look worn, scanned the prints and voila! Retrozoid, my very first Open Type font, was born! Now in 2010, Retroxoid has risen from the past, and is ready to burst your designs with clean, round and futuristic shapes!

This font gets its inspiration from the typography of the Manuale ad Usum (1721), printed by Jesuit missionaries who worked at the beginning of the XVIII century with communities of "Guarani" native indians from the Northeast region of Argentina. It is a manual of sacraments published by Paulo Restivo and some collaborators among the native population. This manual features the peculiarity of being the first printed piece where there is a record of the place where it was printed: at the Loreto mission.

This typeface was inspired by Gering and Remboldt's work during the late 1490s. Their printing concern, the Soleil d'or in Paris, was one of the printing business to engage in the use of blackletter printing, when the rest of the Parisian printers where using humanist influenced roman typefaces. This peculiar backwards trend was really one of the original examples of "retro", taking advantage of the desires of the more conservative northern Europe that had not yet embraced the newer roman types.

HT Qays Sans New Arabic Font performs equally well in print and on-screen and the designs can be used at very small sizes in packaging and catalogs, while massive print headlines – even complicated way-finding projects pose no stumbling blocks to the family’s typographic dexterity.

Sonder is a smooth brush Script and condensed Sans family of three weights on both. Both Script and Sans work as standalone fonts but they’re designed to go nicely together. Combine with Sonder Extras for smooth brush strokes for ambitious headlines, logos & posters. Sonder comes with a clean version and a “Print” version of each cut. Print versions have delicately rugged outlines and print texture inside. Sonder Script is packed with several OpenType features: Contextual Alternates and Standard Ligatures are automatically on to keep the text vibrant. If you need even more sparkly letters try Swash, Stylistic or Titling Alternates. The Scripts are PUA encoded and you can access extras from character map in most design softwares. For the best price Sonder can be purchased as “clean” Family - or as Print Family that has all cuts as printed versions. For the absolutely best price get the whole Complete Family pack that has all fourteen fonts and go wild with it!

Beach Please Vintage Is a font family designed with pointed brush and watercolours adding a grunge-rough texture.After the success of Beach Please, we release a new version, keeping the relaxed and tender brush, a bit inspired by sign painting. The caps have a bizarre look because of the reversed contrast on some letters. We have a slanted, wide version for each weight. More about Opentype Features: https://bit.ly/opentype-rsz

There are two “personalities” in this font. Jacques’ persona comes to life when typing in all lowercase letters. And Gilles’: when using all uppercase. And the best part is Jacques and Gilles were made for each other. J&G features 300+ glyphs including terminal letters, alternates, ordinals, roman numerals (I,V,X) and 2 sets of ornaments - 1 outline & 1 solid so you can create a cool, modern painted effect.

Ice Creamery is a new variation of our Saloon Girl font family complete with italics and fill fonts which may be used to layer different colors into the open parts of each glyph. We don’t recommend using the fill fonts for Ice Creamery as stand alone solid fonts, Ice Creamery Chocolate was designed as a the stand alone solid font for this font family. Fill fonts go back to the 1850's where they would design matched sets of printing blocks and the layering of colors took place on the printing press, they would print a page in black then on a second printing they would print a solid letter in red or blue over the letters with open spaces to fill them in. Most of the time the second printing didn't line up exactly to the open faced font and it created a misprinted look. With the fill fonts in Ice Creamery and other FontMesa fonts you have the option to perfectly align the fill fonts with the open faced fonts or shift it a little to create a misprinted look which looks pretty cool in some projects such as t-shirt designs. I have some ice cream making history in my family, my Grandfather Fred Hagemann was the manager of the ice cream plant for thirty years at Cock Robin Ice Cream and Burgers in Naperville IL. In the images above I've included an old 1960's photo of the Cock Robin Naperville location, the ice cream plant was behind the restaurant as seen by the chimney stack which was part of the plant. If you were to travel 2000 feet directly behind the Cock Robin sign in the photo, that's where I started the FontMesa type foundry at my home in Naperville. My favorite ice cream flavor was their green pistachio ice cream with black cherries, they called it Spumoni even though it wasn't a true Spumoni recipe. Their butter pecan ice cream was also incredibly good, the pecans were super fresh, their Tin Roof Sundae ice cream was chocolate fudge, caramel and peanuts swirled into vanilla ice cream. One unique thing about Cock Robin and Prince Castle was they used a square ice cream scoop for their sundaes.

For decades, the soft glow of a neon sign beckoned weary travelers to roadside rest courts, told the hungry individual where to eat; let enthusiastic revelers know where the night life was happening. There is something special about a neon sign, yet changing times, city ordinances and even technology itself is turning this staple of urban life for over a hundred years into a museum piece. Night Sign JNL emulates the craft of hand-formed neon signage and it (along with a few added special effects) can really add some good-old-fashioned pizzazz to a print or web project.

AEONUS is a gothic font, an attempt to combine a wide-edged and pointed pen, while giving the font a readability that many gothic fonts lack. Angular shapes made strictly in 45 degrees and straight lines give the font a touch of futurism. A gothic, futuristic font that retains readability and makes a unique impression is the goal that was followed when creating the font. Aeonus also conveys the spirit of the occult and something dark. Aeonus is good for prints on clothes, posters, packaging, tattoo, merchandising, large headlines, logos, product design, and any other large font compositions.

Born into a world of serif fonts, where beautiful styling and script-like italics abound, Alexandar has neither. His appearance is, dare we say it, Spartan. Alexandar’s styling is minimal, it is stark—with uniform strokes and a high x-height. Alexandar’s goal is to conquer the world of legibility—to be readable in even 4 point text. We think he has succeeded and we are prepared to proclaim him The World’s Most Legible Serif Font. Of course, you may not want your clients to be able to read the small print—in that case, Alexandar is not for you!

Unlike previous dingbat fonts released from Lanston Type Co., Archive Ornaments derives from a unique collection of brass ornament plates that were originally used in creating the matrices for casting metal type. Using the plates as a reference point allowed for a more precise rendering of the ornaments. Letterpress prints were made directly from the brass plates, which were then re-drawn and digitized. Each character has been optimized for the combination of decorative borders and patterns as well as individual accentuation. The completed digitized font contains over 100 glyphs, ranging in style from geometric to organic designs.

The Mingler fonts have a great big smile and a crisp clear voice. They were originally created as a branding font for a restaurant chain to use in coupons, print ads and tv commercials. More recently this font is picking up popularity as a multi-purpose headline font for screens. It looks good on the web, in games and on-screen apps. Inspired by the subtle bends and flow of hand-painted signage, each stroke bends a bit in the middle and flairs out a bit on the ends. And look at that "e" —it is smiling!

MVB Gryphius is a digitization of uncommon type from an era normally associated with the work of Nicolas Jenson. Produced by Otto Trace, the fonts come from types used by Sebastian Gryphius in Lyon in the early 16th century. The italic appears in a book from 1524 and the roman and small caps appear with the same italic in another book printed by Gryphius in 1541. Retaining the rough contours and uneven texture of its source, MVB Gryphius is best used at text sizes from 12- to 15-point, but its old world character can work in display settings too.

This font is for parents and educators that want to easily be able to print out the alphabet in order to have their child or student then trace them. This eliminates the need for creating the dotted lines by hand and lets the user type out exactly what letters they need instead of relying on pre-made charts. The font is upper and lowercase letters and numbers only - no punctuation. Comes in Regular and Guides (get both for the same price as one) which draws guidelines with the letters. Best when used at a large point size.

Thulth font (Thulth Tharwat Emara Golden) distinguished by beautiful artistic structures and ready-made sentences to help you design the designer designs and paintings easily. It also retains the beauty of its original Arabic calligraphy. This font can be used in titles of books, magazines and Quranic verses. Also specialized in printing on clothes, Najaf and antiques. It is the first font that you can write complete sentences and Ayat of Quran by beautiful artistic structure like as those written by the calligrapher. It also simulates the handwriting and no need to calligraphy it when you have this font.

Introducing Wakatobi, our newest font creation that exudes power and beauty through its condensed sans serif display. With a distinctive character and unique form, Wakatobi is a formidable typeface designed to captivate attention. Ideal for magazine spreads, covers, and posters in large print, this massive font is tailored for titles and wide spaces. Specifically crafted for covers and posters, Wakatobi ensures it doesn't go unnoticed, making a bold impact without compromising style or legibility. Whether in large-scale designs or smaller point sizes, Wakatobi stands out, delivering a visual punch that resonates with both impact and elegance.

Take your design game to the next level with a bold, thick and expressive font that truly looks hand painted. The Fest uses authentic looking fonts and is sure to grab the attention of customers and designers alike. We made 2 styles for The Fest, it lets you explore and improve the personality of your design works. This version is also great for blocks of text and small print. Slanted - With a little improvement for the slanted version, The Fest Slanted is fit for the any size. These style is alternative of your choices for the look.

Rattani the graceful nature of the typeface, along with carefully designed details, allows to use it in large point sizes, for example in magazine layouts, packaging design and in many other ways. Rattani was unapologetically conceived as a display typeface meant to be used large as in magazine openings, drop caps or everywhere there’s a need for elegant impact. Rattani is perfect choice for people looking for clean, modern, minimalist, elegant, beauty design styles. Suitable for almost any graphic designs such as logo, business cards, t-shirt, cover, branding materials, poster, print, photography, thumbnail, gift cards.etc

The font Eckmann is named after its designer, Otto Eckmann, and appeared with the Klingspor font foundry in 1900. The influence of the Jugendstil is clear to see in the flowing floral contours of the letters. This font was made for larger point sizes, like on posters, and while relatively legible, it is not meant for smaller print. The font was often used in book titles and advertisements of the 19th century and today Eckmann is often used to suggest a feeling of nostalgia and is often found on the Jugendstil facades in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Overview: Pixel perfect design. 1 style included. Works on PC & Mac Perfect for both printing and screen display. Usage: Luruh light font family is perfect for both printing and screen display, and is most suitable for modern design, technology, sci-fi, futuristic style, flat design and web design.

Landepz Typefamily includes three normal styles, grunge texture and glitch, Landepz is a family of bold hand-printed types, celebrating the style of the original printing press and all its beautiful imperfections. Its solid, robust shape lends itself to a robust design, while its texture provides an authentic sound.

PM Orchid is a soft, flowing Art Nouveau typeface with tons of ligatures and alternates. It comes in two handy styles - clean and printed. PM Orchid Clean has sharp, clean edges with slightly rounded corners. It is designed to be used with projects that require a clean edge like wedding invitations and modern layouts. PM Orchid Printed has the feeling of vintage letterpress printing. It's slightly rough distressed edges allow it to fit in with vintage style designs that have more tactile design elements.

Van Wyck JNL was inspired by some old printing found in a catalog.

Screentext JNL is a serif bitmap font for both digital and print applications.

FG Alex is perfect for international campaigns, commercials and prints. Supports 123 languages.

The height of various characters was designed by reinterpreting the woodblock print Worinseokbo.

Liam, an oldstyle easy to use typeface, excelent to emulate old printed books...

D^44 Caps represents a sort of inverted creative process: start from the printed element to create the font to print. The esthetic analysis of pression's missprint is the origin of D^44 design. The redesign of this misprint has created 3 versions differentiated by optical weight: Bold, Only and Light.

Hand drawn felt pen font. Vector grunge style design for your posters or prints.

Eqlaser is a histogram-styled typeface. Excellent for party posters and music-related prints.

Kauhuaatos is a writable picture font, ideal for scaring anybody by text or prints.

The design of Montada was inspired by the manual printing of mixed wood types.

This font set was created in collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art to coincide with the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary. This font set includes faithfully reproduced letterforms digitized directly from images of impressions made by Benjamin Franklin and his printing office circa 1750. The printing conditions of the time involved handmade paper with textured surfaces and handmade inks which were hand-applied for each impression. By digitizing the printed type in its real-life state, an authentic look of Franklin's actual work is achieved and, ultimately, has a timeless appeal.

Around the turn of the twentieth-century, Steel and copper plate engraving was the most sophisticated and expensive method for producing business cards, stationery, and formal announcements. In engraved printing, the image is incised, or engraved into a hard, flat plate. Ink is applied to the plate, and then wiped off; leaving only the ink that is trapped below the surface in the incised areas. When the paper is pressed against the flat plate, the ink is drawn out of these areas and transferred to the paper. The results are twofold: printing which sits above the surface of the paper, and the reproduction very delicate lines and shapes. For business and formal printing, engraved printing was, and is, considered the best. The problem is that not everybody can afford the best. Type foundries, in the early 1900s, figured that if they could produce a typeface for traditional printing, which had appearance of engraving, they would be able to satisfy the needs of those forced to live with modest printing budgets. Engravers faces were born. Fredric Goudy’s Copperplate Gothic was one of the most popular. Plate Gothic is a version of this style updated for digital technology. It has all the charm and charisma as the metal type and yet is perfect for today's needs.

Belle Script is the first in a new series of melifonts, created entirely digitally using a pen tablet. A hybrid of script and print, it combines structure and elegance and makes for a stylishly clear typeface. Belle Script is the perfect font for a letter to a friend, printed labels, or graphic logos.