Orkhon inscriptions (Orkhon inscriptions, Orkhon inscriptions, Khöshöö Tsaidam monuments (also known as Khoshoo Tsaidam, Koshu-Tsaidam or Höshöö Caidam) or Kul Tigin steles (simplified Chinese: 阙特勤碑; traditional Chinese: 闕特勤碑; pinyin: Què tèqín bēi )) They are two monumental installations written by the Göktürks in the Old Turkic alphabet in the Orkhon Valley in Mongolia at the beginning of the 8th century. They were erected in honor of two Turkish princes Kül Tigin and his brother Bilge Kagan. Both Chinese and Old Turkish inscriptions describe the legendary origins of the Turks, the golden age of their history, their subjugation by the Chinese and their liberation by İlteriş Kağan. According to one source, the inscriptions contain "rhythmic and parallel passages" similar to those of epics. In the Old Turkish Alphabet, 38 letters are accepted academically and this pattern is generally used in the books. But there are more than 38 letters in this alphabet, these special letters are included in this font.

The Dalecarlian runes, or dalrunes, was a late version of the runic script that was in use in the Swedish province of Dalarna until the 20th century.The province has consequently been called the "last stronghold of the Germanic script. When Carl Linnaeus visited Älvdalen in Dalarna in 1734, he made the following note in his diary: The peasants in the community here, apart from using rune staves, still today write their names and ownership marks with runic letters, as is seen on walls, corner stones, bowls, etc. Which one does not know to be still continued anywhere else in Sweden. The Dalecarlian runes were derived from the medieval runes, but the runic letters were combined with Latin ones, and Latin letters would progressively replace the runes. At the end of the 16th century, the Dalecarlian runic inventory was almost exclusively runic, but during the following centuries more and more individual runes were replaced with Latin characters. In its last stage almost every rune had been replaced with a Latin letter, or with special versions that were influenced by Latin characters.

A gentle breeze on a warm summer's day. A cozy gathering of friends and family around a crackling fire. The sweet aroma of freshly baked cinnamon bread. A slow walk in the autumn woods, light sparkling down through the multi-colored leaves. Billowing white clouds against a stark azur sky, leisurely floating past the tops of palm trees. What do these idyllic scenes all have in common? A: Most people can never find the time to enjoy any of them. B: These are just some of the things you would never try to describe using a crankish font like Spleeny Decaf GD. Just as ITC Fontoon was designed to be used with the many critters that populate the "Toonie" series of fonts, Spleeny Decaf GD was created by Steve Zafarana for use in the balloned dialogue portions of a new panel cartoon feature currently under development. Spleeny Decaf GD is the first completed font in a family that ranges from the jittery san serif Spleeny Espresso GD to the sedate and serifed Spleeny Asleep GD. Each font in the series appears a little more relaxed and staid than its predecessor. None of them however, will find themselves being used for the text of any legal documents. Spleeny Decaf GD is the perfect font to use when the weight of the message is leaning towards the light and jocular side of things. So remember, if your documents are starting to put you on edge, it may be time to switch to decaf. Spleeny Decaf GD that is.

It all started with a simple idea back in 1998: do a digital version of a "lost" 70's typeface, and make up the missing letters that were not present in the only available example Jeff Levine had to work with. Jeff wasn't yet doing his own digital font creation, so he hooked up with Brad Nelson who owns a small foundry called Brain Eaters Fonts. Together, they collaborated on "Action Is"- a freeware font named after the source of the type example. This was a title page for a commemorative photo album of images from the 60's TV music show "Where the Action Is", formerly hosted by Jeff's employer at the time, singer-writer-producer Steve Alaimo. The free font took off like a rocket, being released just at the peak of the 60’s/70’s retro craze in the late 1990’s, and it was EVERYWHERE! It showed up on TV shows, packaging and web design -- and was even spotted on signage used on the side of a major amusement resort’s retro-themed hotel. From that point on, Jeff kept getting requests for a version with a lower case. Although they shared the copyright in the freeware version, Brad Nelson gave Jeff his blessing to re-work and take Action Is into the realm of commercial type. Newly improved and re-released as Groovy Happening JNL, it became one of Jeff's better selling type designs. A simplified, yet similar font was issued called Groovy Summer JNL. Now, after about a decade, Jeff had decided to clean up the 3-D (drop shadow) version that was originally freeware with many minute design flaws and re-release it commercially. Groovy 3D Caps JNL is an all-caps, limited character set font which ties in well with the previous releases, yet retains itís 1960s-1970s era charm. The font flag art is courtesy of Barbara D. Berney and is used by permission.

The famous lettering “Capital Trajana” (inscription at the bottom of the column that bears its name erected in the year114 A.D.) is usually identified as the classic example that defines Imperial Capital forms. However, much earlier, there were already countless examples of Greco-Roman epigraphy of excellent execution, as evidenced by the monumental inscriptions from year 2 b.C. sculpted in the Portico di Gaio e Lucio Cesari in front of the facade of the Basilica Emilia, in the Roman Forum, erected by Augustus, dedicated to his two grandchildren for propaganda and dynastic needs. It has been more than two thousand years and the forms of these letters are still part of our daily life, product of their qualities of readability and beauty. It is probably the added semantic value that have made them an icon full of symbolism that expresses majesty, monumentality, order and universal power. Numerous authors, calligraphers and designers have studied this legacy such as Giovanni Francesco Cresci, Edward Catich, L.C. Evetts, Armando Petrucci, Carol Twombly, John Stevens, Claude Mediavilla, just to name a few. Marcus Traianus font is a fitted version of the two models mentioned, which is accompanied by Small Caps, lowercase (carolingas) and a set of numbers (Indo-Arabics) in addition to the Romans figures and diacritics for Central European languages Marcus Traianus is presented in two weight: Regular, Italic, Bold and ExtraBold.

Jim Rimmer’s first typeface was originally published in 1970 as a basic film type alphabet through a small, independent type house in central California. Its sources of influence (now calligraphic type standards by Dair, Goudy and Zapf) are ones that remained with Jim for the rest of his career. If you squint at Totemic in just the right way, you can see some recognizable themes Jim would later flesh out and make his own in later works throughout his career as a type designer and printer. Totemic is now available for the first time as a digital font, of the refined and expanded kind now expected from Canada Type. It comes with quite a few standard advanced typography features: Small caps, caps-to-small-caps, automatic fractions and standard ligatures, stylistic alternate sets, six kinds of figures, case-sensitive forms, and extended Latin language support. It also comes with a very unique and unprecedented feature: Variably stackable totem poles. Simply enable the discretionary ligatures feature, type any unique three-digit combination using numbers between 1 and 4, and watch the magic happens. With a name like Totemic, we just couldn't help ourselves. Many thanks to Andrew Steeves of Gaspereau Press for finding Jim’s lost gem in a most unexpected place, and for helping us bring it back to life 45 years after its analog birth. 20% of Totemic’s revenues will be donated to the Canada Type Scholarship Fund, supporting higher typography education in Canada.

Heller Sans JNL is based on the main letterforms of an experimental alphabet designed by Steven Heller; noted author of over 170 books on design and visual culture. Some modifications were made in turning his design into a digital font. In his own words, here is the background to this typeface: “I recently recovered this from the junk heap. It is a yellowing photostat of my first and only typeface design (1969-70). Total folly! At the time I was smitten by Art Moderne lettering. I called it “Klaus Boobala Bold” because I liked the K and B. I’ve lost the letters S through Z, which were made. The letters were drawn with compass, Techno pen (that frequently clogged). as well as a triangle and T-square. The inline and outline made no real logical sense. I based the design, in part, on Kabel, Avant Garde and it was a product of whatever I could accomplish with those tools. The caps-only alphabet was photographed and produced as a film negative that was cut in foot-long strips and spliced to fit on a Typositor reel. Sadly, the negatives made for the font were too brittle and the splice snapped apart in the Typositor. I worked on it for well over a month and used the face only once. I realized with this attempt, like so many other times I attempted different challenges, that type design — indeed mechanical drawing — was not my strong suit.” Heller Sans JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Carnero™ is a feisty hybrid of precise geometry and calligraphic flair; a design that walks that fine line between being sensible and a standout. In an increasingly monotone typographic landscape – Carnero has a unique pulse that moves the reader along with a new energy. Carnero gives life to simple utility with kinetic letter shapes, open apertures, and generous counters Drawn by Steve Matteson for the Monotype Studio, Carnero’s versatility is its strength. From digital ads and applications to packaging and branding, Carnero is comfortable and contemporary. The lightest and boldest weights create inviting headlines, while the middle weights read well for body copy. Used together, they build a lively brand and a clear hierarchy. Matteson infused Carnero with a modernist exterior resting on a 10th century calligraphic foundation. Delightful flourishes on the capital R and K, and lowercase a, k and l, give the design a distinctive demeanor; while the alternate italic swash caps are a saucy nod to the scribes. The result is a design that is warm, approachable – and a bit lighthearted. Matteson describes Carnero as, “transcending the static posture of the geometric sans genre.” The Carnero family is a compact collection of six distinct weights, ranging from an engaging light to an authoritative black, each with an italic counterpart. Its extended Latin character set ensures worry-free localization for eastern/western European languages. This is a design that will prove its value many times over. Matteson has drawn over 80 distinctive typeface families for major corporations, branding firms and retail sales. His passions for the outdoors and performing music balances an intense focus on work – and subtly finds its way into typefaces like Carnero. Matteson has designed custom fonts for three generations of the Microsoft Xbox® game console, the original core fonts for the Android® mobile-phone platform, in addition to branding typefaces for Toyota®, Rocket Mortgage®, and Google®. He also drew the Kootenay™ family, Monotype’s proprietary branding typeface. Matteson’s retail designs range from the elegant and utilitarian Open Serif™ (a companion to Google’s Open Sans), to a growing series of Frederic Goudy revivals. Carnero Variables are font files which are featuring one axis and have a preset instance from Light to Black.

Carnero™ is a feisty hybrid of precise geometry and calligraphic flair; a design that walks that fine line between being sensible and a standout. In an increasingly monotone typographic landscape – Carnero has a unique pulse that moves the reader along with a new energy. Carnero gives life to simple utility with kinetic letter shapes, open apertures, and generous counters. Drawn by Steve Matteson for the Monotype Studio, Carnero’s versatility is its strength. From digital ads and applications to packaging and branding, Carnero is comfortable and contemporary. The lightest and boldest weights create inviting headlines, while the middle weights read well for body copy. Used together, they build a lively brand and a clear hierarchy. Matteson infused Carnero with a modernist exterior resting on a 10th century calligraphic foundation. Delightful flourishes on the capital R and K, and lowercase a, k and l, give the design a distinctive demeanor; while the alternate italic swash caps are a saucy nod to the scribes. The result is a design that is warm, approachable – and a bit lighthearted. Matteson describes Carnero as, “transcending the static posture of the geometric sans genre.” The Carnero family is a compact collection of six distinct weights, ranging from an engaging light to an authoritative black, each with an italic counterpart. Its extended Latin character set ensures worry-free localization for eastern/western European languages. This is a design that will prove its value many times over. Matteson has drawn over 80 distinctive typeface families for major corporations, branding firms and retail sales. His passions for the outdoors and performing music balances an intense focus on work – and subtly finds its way into typefaces like Carnero. Matteson has designed custom fonts for three generations of the Microsoft Xbox® game console, the original core fonts for the Android® mobile-phone platform, in addition to branding typefaces for Toyota®, Rocket Mortgage®, and Google®. He also drew the Kootenay™ family, Monotype’s proprietary branding typeface. Matteson’s retail designs range from the elegant and utilitarian Open Serif™ (a companion to Google’s Open Sans), to a growing series of Frederic Goudy revivals. Carnero Variables are font files which are featuring one axis and have a preset instance from Light to Black.

Our eye is able to join missing parts of worn letters back into undisturbed shapes. We tend to see things better than they really are. Thanks to this ability we ignore faults of those close to us as we can’t accept the fact that every once in a while we convene with an impaired entity. Typography is merely a man’s invention, hence imperfection and transience, albeit overlooked, are its key features. This typeface is based on worn-out letterings on tombstones in the St. Croce basilica in Florence. For hundreds of years, microscopic particles of marble are being taken away on the soles of visitors: the embossed figures become fossilised white clouds, fragments of inscriptions are nearing the limits of legibility. First missing are thin joins and serifs, then the main strokes finally slowly diminish into nothingness over time. Unlike an archaeologist, for whom even completely featureless stele is valuable, the typographer must capture the proper moment of wear, when the type is not too “new” but also not too much decimated. Such typeface is usable for catalogue jackets, invitations and posters. Calligraphy is a natural human trait. To write is to create characters of reasonable beauty and content, according to the nature of the writer. A natural characteristic of architecture is to create an aesthetic message very similar to the alphabet. A doric column, the gabled roof, the circle of the well plan: these are the basic shapes from which all text typeface is derived.

Who haven't heard the phrase that ‘any past time was better’?. Although I sometimes find this phrase a little too pessimistic (because I try to think that the best is yet to come), it may be true regarding my passion, typography. I'm too young (29) unfortunately, and this means I did not have the pleasure of being contemporary with maybe the man who has influenced my work the most (1). The man that showed that letters are more than just letters to be read. Herb Lubalin (1918-1981), also called sometimes as ‘the rule basher’ (2), smashed the taboos and sacred rules of type design and gave it personality. He rejected the functionalist philosophy of europeans in favor of an eclectic and exuberant style. To him, letters were not merely vessels of form, they were objects of meaning. (3). Nowadays, when looking at his portfolio, who dares to deny that the term ‘typography’ and ‘beauty’ may go hand-in-hand without any problem? Ed Benguiat, one of Herb’s partners, still likes making jokes with the phrase “screw legibility, type should be beautiful” and what I understand of this is not to forget the rules, but to know and break them carefully. In an era of pure eclecticism, we, the lovers of flourishes and swashes, can't do nothing but admire all the legacy that Lubalin, this wonderful type-guru, left. My font Lubaline read as “the line of Lubalin” is my humble tribute to him. Those who know his work, may see the influences easily like in his ‘Beards’ (1976) and ‘The Sound of Music’ (1965) posters; the art-deco forms in many of his amazing logos and practically in all his creations where letters seem to be alive just like you and me. I really hope that the future finds me still learning more and more about type-design and letterforms, and like him, always willing to make innovations in my field: Because letters are not just letters to be read. NOTES (1) These are some of my fonts in which some of Lubalin’s influences can be seen (in order of creation): Reina, Aire, Erotica, String, Beatle, Heroe, Selfie, Model, Seventies, and many others that are still in progress. (2) (3) Steven Heller. Herb Lubalin: Rule Basher. U&lc (1998) http://www.printmag.com/imprint/my-favorite-lubalin/

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that these letter shapes are familiar. They have the unmistakable color and weight of Cooper Black, Oswald Cooper's most famous typeface from 1921. What should be a surprise is that these letters are actually from George Auriol's Robur Noir (or Robur Black), published in France circa 1909 by the Peignot foundry as a bolder, solid counterpart to its popular Auriol typeface (1901). This face precedes Cooper Black by a dozen of years and a whole Great War. Cooper Black has always been a bit of a strange typographical apparition to anyone who tried to explain its original purpose, instant popularity in the 1920s, and major revival in the late 1960s. BB&S and Oswald Cooper PR aside, it is quite evident that the majority of Cooper Black's forms did not evolve from Cooper Old Style, as its originators claimed. And the claim that it collected various Art Nouveau elements is of course too ambiguous to be questioned. But when compared with Robur Noir, the "elements" in question can hardly be debated. The chronology of this "machine age" ad face in metal is amusing and stands as somewhat of a general index of post-Great War global industrial competition: - 1901: Peignot releases Auriol, based on the handwriting of George Auriol (the "quintessential Art Nouveau designer," according to Steven Heller and Louise Fili), and it becomes very popular. - 1909-1912: Peignot releases the Robur family of faces. The eight styles released are Robur Noir and its italic, a condensed version called Robur Noir Allongée (Elongated) and its italic, an outline version called Clair De Lune and its condensed/elongated, a lined/striped version called Robur Tigre, and its condensed/elongated counterpart. - 1914 to 1918: World War One uses up economies on both sides of the Atlantic, claims Georges Peignot with a bullet to the forehead, and non-war industry stalls for 4 years. - 1921: BB&S releases Cooper Black with a lot of hype to hungry publishing, manufacturing and advertising industries. - 1924: Robert Middleton releases Ludlow Black. - 1924: The Stevens Shanks foundry, the British successor to the Figgins legacy, releases its own exact copies of Robur Noir and Robur Noir Allongée, alongside a lined version called Royal Lining. - 1925: Oswald Cooper releases his Cooper Black Condensed, with similar math to Robur Noir Allongée (20% reduction in width and vectical stroke). - 1925: Monotype releases Frederick Goudy's Goudy Heavy, an "answer to Cooper Black". Type historians gravely note it as the "teacher steals from his student" scandal. Goudy Heavy Condensed follows a few years later. - 1928: Linotype releases Chauncey Griffith's Pabst Extra Bold. The condensed counterpart is released in 1931. When type production technologies changed and it was time to retool the old faces for the Typositor age, Cooper Black was a frontrunning candidate, while Robur Noir was all but erased from history. This was mostly due to its commercial revival by flourishing and media-driven music and advertising industries. By the late 1960s variations and spinoffs of Cooper Black were in every typesetting catalog. In the early- to mid-1970s, VGC, wanting to capitalize on the Art Nouveau onslaught, published an uncredited exact copy of Robur Black under the name Skylark. But that also went with the dust of history and PR when digital tech came around, and Cooper Black was once again a prime retooling candidate. The "old fellows stole all of our best ideas" indeed. So almost a hundred years after its initial fizz, Robur is here in digital form, to reclaim its rightful position as the inspiration for, and the best alternative to, Cooper Black. Given that its forms date back to the turn of the century, a time when foundry output had a closer relationship to calligraphic and humanist craft, its shapes are truer to brush strokes and much more idiosyncratic than Cooper Black in their totality's construct. Robur and Robur Italic come in all popular font formats. Language support includes Western, Central and Eastern European character sets, as well as Baltic, Esperanto, Maltese, Turkish, and Celtic/Welsh languages. A range of complementary f-ligatures and a few alternates letters are included within the fonts.

Steinweiss Script began its journey towards daylight when Michael Doret was asked by Taschen Publishing to do cover lettering for the huge commemorative edition they were putting together on the work of Alex Steinweiss—“The Inventor of the Modern Album Cover”. The lettering was to be created to appear similar to the famous “Steinweiss Scrawl” the calligraphy that Steinweiss had used on countless album covers. While designing this piece of lettering, Michael realized that there was great potential for a font that was designed in the spirit of that famous “scrawl”. Through his contacts at Taschen Publishing, he was fortunate enough to be able to contact the Steinweiss family, and get the official Steinweiss approval to proceed with his “Steinweiss Script” project. Michael decided that in addition to giving the font his name as an homage, that he would donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this font to the man himself: Alex Steinweiss. Read more about the background of Steinweiss Script in Steven Heller’s article in Imprint. Steinweiss Script is a family of fonts in three weights: Light, Medium, and Bold. Additionally, within each weight there are three variations: Simple, Fancy, and Titling. These variations relate to the size/ratio of the caps to the lowercase, the complexity of those caps, and the size of the ascenders/descenders on the lowercase characters. These variations add usefulness to the font, making it accessible not just for headlines, but for longer passages of text as well. For a better understanding of its unique features please download The Steinweiss Script Users Guide from the Gallery section. PLEASE NOTE: the three Steinweiss Script fonts are cross-platform fonts which depend to some extent on certain advanced OpenType features, therefore they can be used to their full potential only with programs that support those features. When setting Steinweiss Script one should almost ALWAYS select the “Standard Ligatures" and “Contextual Alternates” buttons in your OpenType palette. See the “Read Me First!” file in the Gallery section.

William Morris (1834-1896) was probably the most influential figure in the decorative arts and private press movements of the late 19th and early 20th century. In reaction to the increasing lack of quality that the industrial revolution brought on, Morris sought a return to the ideals of the medieval craftsman. Dissatisfied with the commercially available typefaces of the day, he undertook the design of the fonts for his books himself. The P22 Morris font set features new versions of Morris's famous type designs for his Kelmscott Press. The two main fonts include full international character sets for Western European languages. P22 created MORRIS GOLDEN with a rough edge to simulate the look of printing on handmade paper. There is a more "refined" recent version of Golden, but its sterile digitization does not approach the effect that Morris achieved in his Kelmscott books. You'll notice the handmade effect less in the smaller sizes but will find it quite decorative in the larger sizes. (Morris cut his Golden type in only one size for the Kelmscott Press, approximately equal to 14 points.) P22's version of MORRIS TROY is more smooth than Morris Golden and is true to the original Morris design. It is based on the Kelmscott Troy type (an 18 point font) and its smaller counterpart, the Chaucer type (a 12 point font). American Type Founders made an unauthorized version of Troy, "Satanick," 189?, contrary to Morris's wish that it not be made available commercially.(Legend has it that the naming of Satanick comes from William Morris telling the agent inquiring about making copies of his fonts available to go to hell) Several digital versions of Troy (and Satanick) have appeared over the years. The P22 version offers a much more accurate rendering than any previous version. Morris designed the original Troy font to be spaced very tightly; our version reflects and honors his intention. The MORRIS ORNAMENTS are based on those Morris designed and used in his Kelmscott Press books. Characters in the positions of the letters A to Z are decorative drop cap initials. Characters in the number key positions reproduce other Morris embellishments. (See the accompanying key chart.) As with all headline fonts and complex dingbats characters, this font is best used at larger point sizes (e.g., 48, 72, 120). Use in body text or at small point sizes on-screen may not achieve desired results. P22 is grateful to William S. Peterson, Steven O. Saxe and the Lightsey-Offutt Library who gave invaluable research assistance to this project.

One of my dreams as a type-designer was making a good looking chancery cursive. Full of life, like some of the best calligraphers around the world do on their artworks. With Julian Waters, John Stevens and Denis Brown (just to name a few of them) (1) chancery, or italic script, was transformed into a new, exciting and very fresh style of calligraphy mainly at the end of 20th Century. Dream Script may be that dream named above made true. I have been practicing chancery in the way I learnt from those calligraphers for many years now. Making a font out of my ink-sketches was a tough work, since they were closer of -being art- than of -being type-. However, this font rescues many aspects of handmade calligraphy: You have to look at it really close to notice it is actually a font, and that was one of my goals. The secret of a good looking chancery is on its subtle details: pen angle is constantly changing, even on the strokes which seem straight. Capitals and swashes have to be done a little faster than lowercase letters. The rhythm has to be even, in spite of its playful look. The fact that makes Dream look alive is that it has many alternates per glyph. This makes each word look unique like it happens in calligraphy: you will find alternates for the beginning/ending of a word/phrase, some for the middle of it, some interchangeable. Also, to accompany the script, you will find Dream Caps, which was inspired in the eternally beautiful trajan capitals. Place them like I did on the posters and you will have great results for sure. The font works great in small, middle and big sizes and can be a great selection for magazines, wedding invitations, perfumes, and posters. Close your eyes, and Dream with me... TECHNICAL Dream Script Pro is the most complete style, it contains all the alternates and ligatures (OT programmed, better if you use Adobe applications) If you plan to use the font for text, be sure to activate the less decorative capitals, which are placed in the “salt” group of alternates. Dream Script Standard has less glyphs than the Pro one, it contains just some ligatures for a better legibility. (OT programmed, better if you use Adobe applications) NOTES (1) Not only are they great artists, but also good people, who are always willing to share with their students all what they know. I would also like to thank Ricardo Rousselot, whose work inspired me this time to make “The Dream Script” exlibris; and to Alisara Tareekes, a very talented friend which international calligraphy conferences gave me: She kindly helped me with some tips to make this font better.

An ad found within the pages of the Sept. 7, 1939 issue of Motion Picture Daily for "The Man They Could Not Hang" had the film's title hand lettered in a slightly stylized bold sans serif design. This is now available as Criminal Trial JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.