Bucintoro is a modern version of the rotunda blackletter, the Gothic book hand of Italy and Spain in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. As the name implies, it's more "rotund" than the tall, angular Textur blackletter used in Germany that Gutenberg imitated. While the use of blackletter continued far into the 20th century in Germany and Scandinavia, the rotunda gave way to roman (and later also italic) letterforms in Italy, France, and Spain. It's less well known these days. Bucintoro has upper- and lowercase alphabets, numerals, punctuation, diacritics but lacks such modern characters as currency symbols. Has light, medium, and black weights.

Tradition meets tomorrow in Mexborough. Mexborough owes its origins to a challenge from a client of ours- they wanted a clear and easily readable typeface to use for signage in public spaces, but with enough flair and style to be suitable for use in heritage precincts. The result is a family of six Roman faces in a single weight, encompassing Regular, Text, Flamboyant, Small Capitals, Capitals and Title forms. These faces combine legibilty with traditional character, ideal for signage and poster work, where dignity and character are required. Mexborough's simple clean lines also lend themselves readily to web and online use.

Cerulea is a unicase from the world of the sky. Drawing inspirations from Art Nouveau, Classical Roman, and Uncial styles, Cerulea's wide, spacious bowls, sharp points, and subtle wandering curves evoke airiness, flight, and fantasy. Seven weights, and true italics for each, range from zephyrous to thunderous. Vary the mood every time you choose between the serious capital form of a letter, the more fanciful lowercase form, or another variant in the stylistic sets. The more than 800 glyphs cover pan-European Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, fractions, circled numbers, planet and zodiac symbols, card suits, chess pieces, ornaments, and more.

The gifted Hungarian punch-cutter and printer Miklós Kis was active in Amsterdam in the 1680s. Among the many fonts that he cut during those years were a ‘mediaen’ (pica-sized) roman and italic, and the digital Miklós fonts are an interpretation of these ‘mediaen’ types. The character set has been extended to cover all the European languages that use the Latin alphabet, and the fonts offer OpenType features such as small capitals; old-style and lining figures, both proportional and tabular; fractions; superior and inferior numbers; superior alphabet; contextual and stylistic alternates; and intelligent application of long ‘s’.

The titles struck me as handsome -- the titles and captions and place labels on a page I have of Henri Abraham Chatelain's Atlas Historique. I'd already modeled Antiquarian Scribe after the neat, slanted penmanship used in the body text of Chatelain's famous old world atlas; now I felt compelled to digitize this legible roman handlettering, as well. The letterforms are strong and handsome. They've got a certain deft, organic character. A personality. I can't fully explain it. But this antique alphabet seems suitable for many applications. Antiquarian is a full-featured font that works well with Antiquarian Scribe.

Maestrale is a paradigm-breaking new take on calligraphy, built around a compact, serif-style core and outrageously long, flamboyant extenders. At large sizes, its confident, charismatic lettershapes are ideally suited for branding and decorative uses, whereas longer texts at smaller sizes naturally weave themselves into a flowing texture. The font comprises 1299 glyphs, including many stylistic alternates, ligatures, small capitals, and initial, terminal, and linking forms, and offers extensive OpenType programming to support them. The calligraphic form of Maestrale is complemented by a matching text font (Maestrale Text) with short extenders, available in three cuts (a serif-style Roman, an upright Cursive, and a tilted Italic). Maestrale is all about the lowercase; its capitals are deliberately understated so as not to steal the limelight. In fact, the font works very well when set exclusively in lowercase. Maestrale�s small capitals are fitted into the core space of the lowercase, allowing them to be freely interspersed with lowercase characters. Alternately, an OpenType feature is available to replace a and e in small-caps text with their lowercase equivalents for a fresh unicase look. Since alternates and ligatures play such an important role, Maestrale offers three different modes of use. The most straightforward approach is simply to start typing using Maestrale Pro � the extensive OpenType programming will ensure that collisions between extenders are avoided and attractive ligatures are substituted for common glyph combinations. A more interactive approach is provided by the font Maestrale Manual, which allows the user to manually select alternate forms and ligatures even in typographically unsavvy applications, such as PowerPoint (as long as standard ligatures are supported). Stylistic alternates are simply represented as ligatures of their base forms with one or more instances of the rarely-used by easily-accessed characters "~" (ASCII tilde) and "`" (spacing grave accent); linking forms are built with �_� (underscore), multi-character ligatures with "|" (pipe), and initial and terminal forms with the �less than� and �greater than� characters. For instance, the Maestrale wordmark in the posters above was simply typeset with the string (`ma`est|r_a```l```e)| in Maestrale Manual (The parentheses represent �less than� and �greater than� characters here.) Feel free to type this string into the test line below and see what happens! Make sure Standard Ligatures are enabled. An instruction sheet listing all alternate forms and their accessibility is available from the Gallery tab on this page. The third mode of usage is aimed at professional designers, who make use of sophisticated software with extensive OpenType support. These power users are advised to use the font Maestrale Pro again, where all glyphs are accessible as stylistic alternates. Maestrale Text is a less extravagant but more versatile variation on the design of Maestrale, replacing Maestrale�s swashes with efficiently compact extenders. It is intended to serve as a perfectly matching text companion to Maestrale calligraphy, but constitutes a full-fledged typeface in its own right. It is equally at home at display sizes as it is in pull quotes, titles, and high-impact blocks of text. Maestrale Text comes in three complementary faces: A serif-style Roman, an upright Cursive, and a tilted Italic. Maestrale is the Italian word for �masterful�. It is also the traditional Italian name for the northwesterly mediterranean wind, better known by its French name, Mistral. Acknowledgements: I am grateful to the helpful souls on the Typophile forums for extensive feedback and encouragement on Maestrale, and to the TypeDrawers forum for feedback on Maestrale Text. This font is dedicated to Simone.

Et Cetera is a beautiful, hand-lettered script. It abounds in OpenType features such as terminal swashes and ligatures and is best used with OpenType savvy software with the “standard ligatures” and “contextual alternates” features turned ON. Et Cetera is comprehensive and vigorous. Most letters in the font are connected, but, as in typical handwriting fonts, not all are connected. Most characters have a consistent shape within the font, but not all. Some characters in Et Cetera are sensitive to their position in the text and change depending on the adjoining characters. This contributes to the casual and relaxed style of Et Cetera; not allowing the features of the font to get between the reader and the message. A wealth of OpenType features lie beneath the mellow exterior of Et Cetera. These Open Type features make few demands on the user which makes for a versatile script font that requires no expertise from the user, performs well at larger sizes, and remains legible even when setting copy at very small sizes. Et Cetera comes in three styles, Black, Regular & Line. Et Cetera Black is dramatic and bold, making a powerful statement. Et Cetera Regular is elegant and romantic, perfect for wedding stationery and clothing brands. Et Cetera Line is delicate and feminine, portraying a smooth, flowing effect. Et Cetera is a breezy, light, yet expressive font that is perfect for titling work, product packaging and romantic stationery.

In the late 1990s Gerard Unger won the assignment to design the signage system for the Holy Year celebrations to be held in Rome in 2000. The system he developed in cooperation with the design agency n|p|k used a classically inspired serif typeface, but the earlier proposals included a sans-serif, which became Vesta (2001). Vesta is a versatile family that can be used as a display face alongside Unger's serif faces Gulliver, Capitolium or Coranto; it can also be used on its own, even in longer texts. Vesta is narrower and therefore more economical than some commonly used sans serifs such as Arial and Helvetica; there is also a noticeable contrast between thick and thin parts, which makes it more lively. Vesta is to be extended with narrow versions, small capitals and old style numerals, along with some special versions for headlines.

Frederic W. Goudy designed three weights of this friendly-looking sans serif font from 1922-1929 for Lanston Monotype in the United States. Goudy was attempting to impart freedom and personality to the sans serif form at a time when geometric sans serifs, such as Futura, were gaining rapid world-wide popularity. To achieve this challenging goal, he looked to lapidary inscriptions and manuscript writing for inspiration. He included elements such as slight swellings of terminal strokes, slab serifs on a few of the caps, alternate uncial forms, and a few swash strokes. The result is uniquely Goudy: charming, instinctive, and just right for adding warmth to magazine or advertising layouts. The design staff at ITC updated and filled out the family for a total of eight styles in ITC Goudy Sans. ITC Goudy Sans® font field guide including best practices, font pairings and alternatives.

George Ryan's ITC Migrate is a highly condensed sans serif display face that effectively complements ITC Adderville. Migrate represents what Ryan calls a “more highly evolved version” of a typeface he designed for Bitstream in 1991 called Oz Handicraft. “Both faces,“ says Ryan, “are based on designs of the popular early 20th-century type designer Oswald Cooper.” His inspiration came from drawing samples found in the Book of Oz Cooper, published in 1949 by the Society of Typographic Arts in Chicago. “Oz worked extensively with the sans serif form long before it became popular in the States, eschewing a popular belief of the time that sans serifs were only skeletons of letters.” Where Oz Handicraft was informal and quirky, ITC Migrate has a more restrained feel. “The uppercase characters and figures, in particular, have been reworked,” says Ryan, ”resulting in a more formal and traditional, compressed sans serif typeface.”

Torus Pro is a rounded monoline typeface. As its name suggests, this is a more professional version of my original Torus family released in 2017. Each glyph has been scrutinised and redrawn where necessary. In addition, there are now italics, small caps, old style figures, and numerous other improvements. Torus Pro includes many new decorative alternates and ligatures that will add distinctive flourishes to your typographic compositions. With up to nine alternates for some glyphs, these additional styles include stencilled, simple dots, looped and smooth swashes, plus a more aggressive angled option for those looking for something a little different. When used subtly, these alternates and glyph combinations will add flair and personality to your own creations. Perfect for titling and branding, Torus Pro also packs a punch without these features activated, as well as being a comfortable read in long runs of text. There are 12 fonts altogether, ranging from Thin to Heavy weights in both roman and italic. The variable font versions of the family allow you to define the weight exactly to your liking. Torus Pro has an extensive character set that covers all Latin European languages. Key features: 6 weights in both roman and italic Variable fonts included with full family 212 Alternates 20 Ligatures Small Caps Full European character set (Latin only) 1450+ glyphs per font.

As a late work the “Meier Kapitalis” forms an arch within the typographic creations of the Swiss type designer Hans Meier who died in 2014. The first sketches of this typeface can be found in the teaching manual “The Development of Script and Type” (German: “Die Schriftentwicklung”; French “Le développement des caractères”) which was published in 1994, however, under the title “Roman Lapidary, 1st Century”. The booklet was first published by the Syntax Press, Cham, Switzerland and contains an introduction by Max Caflisch in which he writes: „The present work, „The Development of Script and Type“ is a concise, authoritative textbook, concentrating on the essentials in a wide survey from ancient Greek inscriptions to the printer’s typefaces of the present day. His (Meier’s) 72 varieties of letterforms enable the student or general reader to understand the history of script and type, while more than 60 of his own calligraphic specimens provide excellent models for all who practice this art.“ Unfortunately, the “Meier Kapitalis” is one of the few typeface families in this publication which has been digitized. It was to be the last type project fully realized by Meier. In cooperation with Elsner+Flake, the typeface family was developed and expanded and now contains the four cuts: Roman, Medium, Demi Bold and Bold with either a complement of characters for 78 Latin-based languages (EL=EuropaPlus) or in West-Layout.

X RUFFIAN Ruffian was a champion thoroughbred horse who won 10 consecutive races. A feat worth mentioning & repeating. Her tenacity & steadfast approach established the basis for this variable based font. The X represents both the Roman numeral 10, but also the X-factor for creating bespoke works of art. It is quite befitting that this font be named after a legendary champion. Which begs the question...Do you champion variety? X Ruffian's design motif uses a broad tipped chiseled marker that was set at an angle for that extra bit of vigor. Identical letter forms defeat that truly "hand rendered" look that we ultimately strive for. Each uppercase letter offers 10 (X) or more stylistic alternatives, the lowercase and number sets have 3+ options and an over under for those special characters that yield a long bottom or top (see images). Ligatures & bonus characters can add that unique offering to your already individual style & can easily be found via the glyphs panel in any open type program. With a gigantic glyph count of 688, you'll never run out of options. As a right of passage, we felt obliged to include a roman numeral set as the name beckons, which differs from the standard letter form in which you would use to create. This is a variable winner. See you at the races!

Another variation on the Renaissance-Baroque Roman face, it extends the selection of text type faces. In comparison with Jannon, the contrast within the letters has been enhanced. The dynamic elements of the Renaissance Roman face have been strengthened in a way which is illustrated best in the letters "a", "b" and "s". These letters contain, in condensed form, the principle of this type face - in round shapes the dark stroke invariably has a round finial at one end and a sharp one at the other. Another typical feature is the lower-case "g"; the upper part of this letter consists of two geometrically exact circles, the inner of which, a negative one, is immersed down on the right, upright to the direction of the lower loop and the upright knob. The vertical strokes slightly splay out upwards. Some details of the upper-case letters may seem to be too daring, but they are less apparent in the text sizes. It has to be admitted that typographers tend to draw letters in exaggerated sizes, as a result of which they stick to details. Serapion Italic are italics inspired partly by the Renaissance Cancelleresca. This is obvious from the drop-shaped finials of its lower-case descenders. The type face is suitable for illustrated books, art posters and short texts. It has a rather ugly name - after St. Serapion.

The engraver Jean Jannon ranks among the significant representatives of French typography of the first half of the 17th century. From 1610 he worked in the printing office of the Calvinist Academy in Sedan, where he was awarded the title "Imprimeur de son Excellence et de l'Academie Sédanoise". He began working on his own alphabet in 1615, so that he would not have to order type for his printing office from Paris, Holland and Germany, which at that time was rather difficult. The other reason was that not only the existing type faces, but also the respective punches were rapidly wearing out. Their restoration was extremely painstaking, not to mention the fact that the result would have been just a poor shadow of the original elegance. Thus a new type face came into existence, standing on a traditional basis, but with a life-giving sparkle from its creator. In 1621 Jannon published a Roman type face and italics, derived from the shapes of Garamond's type faces. As late as the start of the 20th century Jannon's type face was mistakenly called Garamond, because it looked like that type face at first sight. Jannon's Early Baroque Roman type face, however, differs from Garamond in contrast and in having grander forms. Jannon's italics rank among the most successful italics of all time – they are brilliantly cut and elegant.

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.

Lettering by an uncredited designer on a French travel poster from 1929 provided the inspiration for this ultrabold headline typeface, a curious blend of symmetry and asymmetry. The font’s small descender height allows tight line spacing while maintaining legibility, even in relatively small sizes. Both versions of this font include the complete Latin 1252 and CE 1250 character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.

This decorative delight is based on a typeface discovered within the pages of "Schriftatlas: Alphabete von A bis Z," and originally named Pygmalion. The swash caps and plain caps in the lowercase positions allow for wide-ranging creativity in the composition of dramatic headlines. Both versions include the complete Latin 1252, Central European 1250 and Turkish 1254 character sets, as well as localization for Moldovan and Romanian.

The 1923 Barnhart Brothers & Spindler specimen book called this typeface "Cardstyle", and suggested its use at small sizes for business cards. It also work quite well in large sizes when a warm, casual antique feeling is called for. Named for a river that flows through Washington, DC. Both versions of the font include the 1252 Latin and 1250 CE character sets (with localization for Romanian and Moldovan).

This distinctive titling face is based on Elegant Lichte, designed by Hans Möhring for D. Stempel in 1928, with the helpful addition of a lowercase not found in the original. It functions equally well as either a period piece or a contemporary masterpiece. Both versions include the complete Latin 1252, Central European 1250 and Turkish 1254 character sets, as wellas localization for Moldovan and Romanian.

This font features a complete uppercase alphabet, including accented characters, as well as numbers and standard punctation. Lowercase characters are an assortment of useful dings and things. To create very low-load GIFs, compose your type in Photoshop (or equivalent) at 8 point (or multiples thereof), with anti-aliasing turned off. Both versions of the font include 1252 Latin, 1250 CE (with localization for Romanian and Moldovan).

A design experiment run amok! To some, the upper case A of this font resembles a diving helmet. If you put same on a guy in a gorilla suit, you have the really cheesy 50s sci-fi movie that gives the font its name. Both versions of this font contain the Unicode 1252 (Latin) and Unicode 1250 (Central European) character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.

This whimsical typeface is based on an untitled work by William Hugh Gordon in his 1931 book, Lettering for Commercial Purposes. If you are looking for a font to add warmth and quirky charm to a project, this is the one. Both versions of this font contain complete Unicode 1252 (Latin) and Unicode 1250 (Central European) character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.

Here's a faithful rendering of the slightly quirky, but thoroughly yeomanlike headline face Basuto, designed by Stanley Baxter and released by the Stephenson Blake Type Foundry in 1927. Bold, brassy and a little sassy, this one will perk up your headlines fer sure. Both versions include the complete Latin 1252, Central European 1250 and Turkish 1254 character sets, as well as localization for Moldovan and Romanian.

A 1928 poster for a café by German artist Karl Bauer informed the creation of this charming and expansive typeface. This font hops, bops, flip-flops and never stops, and is named after a fictitious café which offers cool jazz and fast service. Both versions contain the complete Unicode 1252 (Latin) and Unicode 1250 (Central European) character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.

No mystery here: this typeface is based on the not-often-seen Cooper Black Swash Italic, designed by Oswald Bruce Cooper. Swash variants are the norm with this font, but enabling Contextual Alternates will prevent collisions between the swash “tails” and letters with descenders. Both versions of this font contain the Unicode 1252 (Latin) and Unicode 1250 (Central European) character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.

British poster artist Cecil Wade provided the lowercase for this typeface, and his compatriot T. G. Birtles provided the uppercase. The result is a rollicking, frolicking, bouncy romp through the alphabet, not unlike a ride in the compartment for which it is named. Both versions of this font include the complete Latin 1252 and CE 1250 character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.

Two typefaces from the 1923 Barnhart Brothers & Spindler specimen book have been combined to produce this gem. Swagger Capitals, designed by Carl S. Junge, for the uppercase and Gothic Novelty Title for the lowercase. Named for a lively dance from the nineteenth century. Both versions of this font contain the Unicode 1252 Latin and Unicode 1250 Central European character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.

An exuberant typeface named "African Queen", designed by Dave West for Photolettering in the 1960s, provided the inspiration for this exercise in typographic minimalism. The result is stark and somewhat raw, with a unique muscular energy...a natural choice for headlines that will attract attention. Both versions of the font include 1252 Latin and 1250 CE (with localization for Romanian and Moldovan) character sets.

Curly Jane is a whimsical typeface combining straight lines with a little curl at the ends. Great for headlines, humorous notes, greetings, whatever hits your whimsy because simply said, it's simply Curly. Curly Jane includes a large assortment of extended characters to support many of Europe's languages, including Czech, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish & Welsh.

Woodtype wizard Rob Roy Kelly identified the inspiration for this typeface in his 100 Wood Type Alphabets simply as "No. 154". Funky, chunky, round and robust, it’s clearly a barrel of fun. Named after a small town in Central Texas, which just happens to be the home of Dell Computer. Both versions of the font include 1252 Latin, 1250 CE (with localization for Romanian and Moldovan).

Twentieth Century Poster, designed by Sol Hess for Lanston Monotype in the 1940s, provided the inspiration for this family of faces. Although, historically, the design falls outside the time period normally considered the Art Deco era, its sensibilities are pure Art Moderne. Both versions of this font contain the Unicode 1252 (Latin) and Unicode 1250 (Central European) character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.

A postcard for a 1952 DeSoto automobile, combined with the (non)sensibilities of legendary British lettering artist Cecil Wade, yielded this slightly tacky and thoroughly wacky gaggle of letters. Use liberally whenever levity, brevity (the soul of wit), or a bit of mischief is called for. Both versions of the font include 1252 Latin and 1250 CE (with localization for Romanian and Moldovan) character sets.

Put the kettle on and break out the biscuits. This no-nonsense stencil face is a faithful recreation of Tea Chest, released by the Stephenson Blake Type Foundry in 1939. Its bold strokes and slender profile retain their freshness, even seventy-plus years on. Both versions include the complete Latin 1252, Central European 1250 and Turkish 1254 character sets, as well as localization for Moldovan and Romanian.

Among many of Alf Becker’s contributions to Signs of the Times magazine was 1 1935 offering named Chicago Modern Thick and Thin, which provided the inspiration for this face. It’s a perfect choice for friendly headlines with an Art Deco vibe. Both versions include the complete Unicode Latin 1252, Central European 1250 and Turkish 1254 character sets, as well as localization for Lithuanian, Moldovan and Romanian.

Another entry in the trusty old "Schriftatlas" named Phoenix—original source and designer unknown—provided the inspiration for this bouncy bit of alphabetical tomfoolery. Its animated typeforms, definitely retro chic, will put some bounce in the step of any headline it graces. Both versions of the font include complete Latin 1252, Central European 1250 and Turkish 1524 character sets, with localization for Moldovan, Romanian and Turkish

An elegant display face influenced by Aldine oldstyle letterforms, Miranda Pro brings the early successful Tim Rolands font Miranda into the OpenType era. Miranda Pro now includes numerous extended ligatures, alternate forms, small capitals and support for a wider range of languages. Use it as a companion display for classic text fonts or on its own as a refined but stylish messenger for all sorts of projects.

The uppercase letters of this magical, mystical face is based on various alchemical symbols used from the thirteenth through the sixteenth century; the lowercase letters are based on those found on a 1935 poster, signed simply “Strekalovsky.” Ideal for adding a little pocus to your hocus, or cadabra to your abra. Both versions of the font include 1252 Latin, 1250 CE (with localization for Romanian and Moldovan).

A new take on the classic font Bodoni, revealing the structural elements of the font, and adding a little sparkle with a pseudo-stencil treatment. The font is named in honor of its original designer and also the undisputed king of the two-chord song. Both versions of the font include the 1252 Latin and 1250 CE character sets (with localization for Romanian and Moldovan).

Propaganda in a poodle skirt? Another gem gleaned from Schrifti Alphabeti, a book of Cyrillic alphabets published in Kiev (now Ukraine, then USSR) in 1979. Flouncy, bouncy, perky and quirky, this typeface will add sass and charm to any project it graces. Both versions of this font contain the Unicode 1252 Latin and Unicode 1250 Central European character sets, with localization for Romanian and Moldovan.