People are always asking us for chiseled-stone style fonts, so we thought we'd give them what they want, but with a slightly different spin. Stonecross has the look of classic Celtic uncial lettering as it would look if it was cut in stone, with some fanciful variant character forms and the nicks and chips which give it the look of stone.

Engraved display typeface.

Engraved display typeface.

Engraved display typeface.

Engraved display typeface.

Engraved display typeface.

Engraved display typeface.

Engraved blackletter typeface.

Engraved display typeface.

Engraved display typeface.

Engraved display typeface.

Engraved display typeface.

Fashion Compressed and Engraved are the works of British designer Alan Meeks. Fashion Compressed is an elegant modern roman typeface suitable for a variety of advertising styles. The capitals can be used as initials or combined with the lower case letters. Fashion Engraved was produced when Meeks reworked Fashion Compressed, resulting in a beautiful, engraved typeface.

Sweet Upright Script is the first release for Sweet Fonts Collection, published by MVB Fonts. It is an interpreted revival of a vintage, social engraving lettering style that was popular during the 20th Century. It is probably the first digital version of the design. With the advent of the engraving machine (a pantograph device) around 1900, commercial engraving moved from the use of hand-cut plates to the use of masterplates (lettering patterns). Lettering was traced from the masterplate using the engraving machine, letter by letter, onto a coated steel plate, that would then be etched in a chemical bath. The resulting plate was used to print engraved stationery with the raised print distinctive to the process. Many of these lettering styles were used for decades for commercial and social applications (letterheads, wedding invitations, etc.), but as they were merely traced alphabets, were not "fonts". Many remain unavailable in digital form. Over time, a number of the most popular styles were adapted to phototype, which sped up the process of plating for engraving, avoiding the need to trace each letter by hand with the engraving machine. Later, when type went digital, these phototype fonts were revived as digital fonts. As a result, the styles offered by engravers narrowed over time, as has the range of engraving styles revived in digital form.

Blackletter engraved display typeface.

Engraved shaded display typeface.

Blackletter engraved display typeface.

Harri –“stone” in Basque language– is a display font based on the peculiar letter forms used in signs and fascias all over the Basque Country. This idiosyncratic lettering style, very often used as an identity signifier, evolved from ancient inscriptions carved on gravestones which can still be found in the French part of the Basque Country (Behe Nafarroa, Lapurdi and Zuberoa).Harri takes some of its more significant features from those engraved letter forms, but also from the current overemphasized shapes derived from them, while keeping in sight their antecessors: the Romanesque inscriptions and ultimately the Roman Capitals. Gerard Unger once said “the black version of a font is a caricature of the regular”. This may explain how the odd heavy shapes in use in the Basque Country today might have evolved from their engraved roots, which are already an interpretation of Romanesque and Roman letter forms. This evolution is echoed in Harri through its weights, from the clean formal Roman-inspired light to the extreme expressive Basque-style extra bold.

The English roundhand has always occupied the central position in the group of faces appropriate to the social printing handled by engravers, and their contemporary imitators, thermographers. At the end of the nineteenth century when engraving was mechanised by the pantographic engraving machine, the traditional roundhands found their way onto pantographic pattern plates. Embassy is a traditional roundhand of vigorous contrast with straightforward capitals with ball terminals; it was transferred from such an engravers’ pattern plate to the Fotosetter at Intertype about 1955. Alphatype’s Yorktown is similar, but appears to have less contrast.

Rusticana is a part of the 1990 program Type before Gutenberg, which included the work of twelve contemporary font designers and represented styles from across the ages. Linotype offers a package including all these fonts on its web page, www.fonts.de. Rusticana was designed by Adrian Frutiger and appeared with Linotype in 1993. Its historical roots go back to the Roman Capitalis, the all caps engraved writing of ancient Rome which reached its peak in the first century. From this style evolved other Roman forms, and one, Rustica, proved particularly good for text on bronze, as opposed to in stone. The Rusticana of Frutiger has open, seemingly irregular forms which lend a distinctive rhythm to text.

The font Wappenstein was inspired by the carving on a memorial stone located in Paderborn, Germany. The stone was an Epitaph of the Brenkener family, and the carver is known as the “Meister des Brenkener Familienepitaphs”. The carving, dating to 1562, currently is curated by the Erzbischöfliches Diözesanmuseum in the city of Paderborn and was originally in the Brenkener Pfarr Kirche. A Wappenstein is a stone that contains a carving of the heraldic achievement of a person.

Based on script handwriting and engraving used in formal announcements and invitations, Riviera Script lends itself to typesetting in which an elegant mood is desired. The Riviera Script font is an upright script with an engraved appearance and decorative capitals.

inspired in a old time roman chiseled inscription in a stone wall

A bold engraver type style with a Wall Street look.

Sweet Titling No. 11 is a 2009 addition to the Sweet Collection of engraved lettering styles from the 20th Century. This obscure, art deco design would have been used for engraved letterhead, business cards, etc., and likely first appeared in the 1920s or ’30s.

A script font of broad nib style, both plain and engraved.

The Stuyvesant fonts include delicate incline alphabets with an engraved look.

Sweet Titling No. 22 is part of the Sweet Collection of engraved lettering styles from the 20th Century, published by MVB Fonts. This obscure, art deco design would have been used for engraved letterhead, business cards, etc., and likely first appeared in the 1920s or ’30s.

Sweet Gothic is a 2009 addition to the Sweet Collection of engraved lettering styles from the 20th Century.  Sweet Gothic Light is closely based on lettering from an engravers pattern from the early 1900s that was used for tracing letterforms with the engraving machine (pantograph) to make steel engraving plates. The design is related to many similar engravers gothics developed in the early 1900s, but as each engraving house created by hand their own patterns for popular styles of the time, there is variation among the models. Sweet Gothic offers contrast in stroke weight and its unique personality. The bolder weights are new designs, based on the characteristics of the Light. A serif variant (Sweet Gothic Serif) has also been developed to expand the usefulness of the family, offering an alternative to Copperplate Gothic. As such, most of the fonts are new designs, yet may seem familiar and ubiquitous given their model. The fonts offer two sizes of figures and monetary symbols: one set is intended for use with upper- and lowercase settings; the second set is the same height as the small caps.

Sweet Gothic Serif is a 2009 addition to the Sweet Collection of engraved lettering styles from the 20th Century. It is a serif variant of Sweet Gothic. Sweet Gothic Light (without serifs) is closely based on lettering from an engravers pattern from the early 1900s that was used for tracing letterforms with the engraving machine (pantograph) to make steel engraving plates. The design is related to many similar engravers gothics developed in the early 1900s, but as each engraving house created by hand their own patterns for popular styles of the time, there is variation among the models. Sweet Gothic offers contrast in stroke weight and its unique personality. The bolder weights are new designs, based on the characteristics of the Light. Sweet Gothic Serif has been developed to expand the usefulness of the Sweet Gothics, offering an alternative to Copperplate Gothic. As such, most of the fonts are new designs, yet may seem familiar and ubiquitous given their model. The fonts offer two sizes of figures and monetary symbols: one set is intended for use with upper- and lowercase settings; the second set is the same height as the small caps.

Zerno is a glyphic typeface with geometric roots. Its symmetrical flared serifs are reminiscent of stone carving techniques. With weights ranging from Thin to Black, it is versatile enough to be used in any environment - from screen to literal stone carving, as well as from posters to body copy that stands out.

Stonecut JNL is an adaptation of a novelty display face found in one of the Dan X. Solo lettering books. Resembling letters made from cut stone, both the inline and solid black versions are perfect for themes encompassing outdoors, the Stone Age, "macho" events or anything where an unpolished or rustic look can be adapted.

Gitan is a flared sans serif, reminiscent of engraving and stone carving. Sturdy and informal, the design features a moderate contrast that provides durability for text setting. Crisp design details like cuneiform head serifs and deeply cut wedge terminals give Gitan a sculptural appeal – a quality desired for all things display. Gitan’s expressiveness evokes the nuances of forms crafted directly in raw materials. The human touch provides vitality so often absent from purely mechanical designs. Pairing a rhythmic pattern with classic construction makes Gitan shine in text. Its natural look reflects a tangibility that thrives in wooden and rock-solid materials. Gitan’s habitat is at the crossroads of editorial and packaging work, grounded by a feeling of substance, but finished by an artisan’s handicraft. By nature, Gitan is flexible and willing to take risks.

Eingraviert is based on old books capitals, with a wood type engraving style

This family was inspired by an engraved plate from Diderot & Dalembert's Encyclopedia (publication beginning in 1751), illustrating the chapter devoted to letter engraving techniques. The plate bears two engravers names : "Aubin" (may be one of the four St Aubin brothers ?)and "Benard" ( which name is present below all plates of the Encyclopedia printed in Geneva ). It seems to be a transitional type, but different from Fournier or Grandjean. Small caps are included in fonts for TTF and OTF version, separate files are included in the family sets of the Mac TT version.

Evocative of paint on weathered wood, Nelson’s engraved capital letters are as rustic and confident as the Old West. Combine the engraved face with bold and rough versions to create handsome wordmarks, or use Nelson to captivate customers of food packaging, restaurant menus, and roadside attractions. See what’s included! Engraved • Ornaments • Rugged • Bold *NOTE* Basic versions DO NOT include swashes, alternates or ornaments These fonts have been specially coded for access of all the swashes, alternates and ornaments without the need for professional design software! Info and instructions here: http://lauraworthingtontype.com/faqs/

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.

The typeface was designed for ParaType in 2002 by Dmitry Kirsanov. Based on the Mesolithic images on stones were discovered in a prehistoric cave of Mas d’Asil, France. There is a great number of hypotheses explaining the function of the mysterious stones. They have been considered as vessels of souls, computation tools, fortune-telling and magic symbols, relics of prehistoric writing system.

These ornaments are made from plants which grow on Alphabet Farm, the place where Stone Type Foundry is located.