In 1937, Morris Fuller Benton designed Empire, titling capitals that became the headline style for Vogue magazine. In 1989, David Berlow revived it for Publish magazine, adding an italic and a lowercase, both unavailable in the original. He revisited Empire in 1994 with Kelly Ehrgott Milligan, adding two heavier weights, small caps, and an elegant set of Art Deco–flavored oldstyle figures, ultimately expanding it to a seven-part series; FB 1989–94

Westside was designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1989 and is a kind of wood type. It is reminiscent of dusty streets, Wild West heroes and swinging saloon doors. The origins of this kind of typeface can be found in the early 19th century. Called Italian or Italienne, these typefaces quickly became very popular. They are distinguished by square serifs whose width is larger than the stroke width of the characters. When the letters are set together, the heavy serifs build dark horizontal bands. Westside is a particularly decorative typeface which will have a marked effect when used expertly. It is perfect for headlines in larger point sizes, which will highlight its special character.

Basika is a Display proto-typeface, a bridge from the past into the future of experimental typeface design. It’s a powerful communication tool for designers who want to create unique projects. The concept of Basika has been developed over many years and became a typeface throughout 2019. Basika was released in December of the same year. Basika comes in three styles, includes discretionary ligatures and stylistic alternates. Don't hesitate to get in touch at nos.ink. Basika current version: 1.2 - released in April 2022.

The first slab serif fonts appeared at the beginning of industrialization in Great Britain in 1820. Clarendon and Ionic became the names for this new development in England, known as English Egyptienne elsewhere in Europe. Clarendon is also the name of a particular font of this style, which, thanks to its clear, objective and timeless forms, never lost its contemporary feel. In small point sizes Clarendon is still a legible font and in larger print, its individual style attracts attention.

Typeface in 70s and 80s became the inspiration for Biago. soft and bold are the characteristics of Biago. The large and rounded legs make Biago unique and different from other serif fonts. Biago brings a warm, friendly, unique, and simple impression. Biago is intended for display purposes, such as large headlines, titles, logos, or anything that requires special characteristics and attention. Biago's five width, will give you the flexibility to express your interface and design. Italic and alternate versions are also included.

The first slab serif fonts appeared at the beginning of industrialization in Great Britain in 1820. Clarendon and Ionic became the names for this new development in England, known as English Egyptienne elsewhere in Europe. Clarendon is also the name of a particular font of this style, which, thanks to its clear, objective and timeless forms, never lost its contemporary feel. In small point sizes Clarendon is still a legible font and in larger print, its individual style attracts attention.

A heavy blackletter; Rudolf Koch’s first type from 1909. On an old page full of type specimen from the 1930s, the type is described as ”Schwabacher (used by the Deutsche Reichsbahn [German Imperial Railway]).“ As a matter of fact, it is the first print of the Offenbach script master Rudolf Koch, who came out with this typeface in 1909. At that time, it was given the name ”Neudeutsch“ (New German). Later, it became very popular under the name Koch-Schrift, and was at times the official typeface of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (German Imperial Railway).

Here's what I said about the original Ginza: Sometimes you get an idea stuck in your head and the only way to get rid of that demon is to put something down on paper. A year later the doodles became a skeleton, and then the skeleton had a body, then the body had a name, then the name got a personality. What was left was a clean set of fonts that encompass a very simple skeleton with a lot of visual appeal. And now with Ginza Narrow: Once Ginza was released, I immediately wanted to commit the time to create a narrower version—if for nothing else but to add additional versatility to the skeleton, but my schedule just would not allow it until a client recently asked me to. There was no need to ask twice as I had already started and then shelved the initial builds. I also had the opportunity to expand the localization of the fonts by adding Cyrillic.

The design idea for this condensed sans serif stencil font was inspired by a post-World War II brass stencil spotted in an online auction. The United States was assisting Europe with much-needed goods, and the text in the middle of a “stars and stripes” shield used for marking the shipping containers read “For European Recovery supplied by the United States of America”. It was the first line (“For European Recovery”) that became the working model for Supplier Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Tarocco is a typical book face with good readability and rather tall x-height. The origin for this typeface is found in Nordisk Antikva. A typeface especially constructed with attention for the Swedish language. Waldemar Zachrisson was determined to realize his ideas and in 1906 he began to cooperate with the foundry Genzsch & Heyse, based in Hamburg. Some influences of Jugendt can be found and the typeface were released in 1910. It became rather popular until around 1930. The MRF version includes 7 weights all together.

Experimental lettering Stephen Rapp created in 1999 became the spark that Stephen's imagination transformed into the Tai Chi design. Tai Chi is a display face but it could also be used as a textured calligraphic script. Its delightful sense of movement distinguishes it from other scripts. Individual characters stand poised in a vertical Zen-like balance while at the same time displaying an inner rhythm that makes them appear to dance along the line. Rich in texture and variation, Tai Chi works very well at medium and large point sizes. The font contains several alternate letters that help maintain a hand-lettered look. Tai Chi includes both upper and lowercase letters but works well in all uppercase settings.

Taler is a serif typeface is represented by seven weights. It was conceived as a continuation of the sans-serif Nekst. In the process of design it became clear that it is a completely different typeface. The rectangular, slightly elongated serifs, the plastic stiffness, and the combination of different styles make Taler a true representative of contemporary. It's old-fashioned and modern, it's for a display titles and for plain text, it's rough and elegant — it's all present in design at the same time. The duality of it nature is it peculiarity.

The hand lettered sans serif title on the1931 sheet music for “(Potatoes are Cheaper-Tomatoes are Cheaper) Now’s the Time to Fall in Love” presented another opportunity to create a typeface from the wealth of unusual alphabets found on the covers of vintage and antique song sheets. However, it seems that even as late as the 1930s, song writers had the urge to pen long-worded titles for their musical compositions. This thirteen word verbal excursion became the model for Casual Deco JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Ela Demiserif is the typeface I originally designed for the business of my second wife and mother of my two sons; her name is, of course, Michaela. Ela - the typeface - is suitable for magazines, newspapers, posters, advertiments, books, text, documentation/business reports, business correspondence, multimedia, and corporate design. Because lately this typeface became very popular I decided to extend it to eight weights and I added italic and smallcaps versions to it. So now Ela is a full fledged typeface.

Dan Hardie, a Miami-based graphic artist and creative consultant at Mutiny, Inc. shared an image he’d spotted online of some interesting signage formerly on the front of the Miami Medical Building. Comprised of hand-cut metal characters (with a thoroughly avant-garde “Art Deco meets Modernist” approach), this instantly became a font design idea unusual and quirky enough to develop as a digital typeface. The end result is Office Visit JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The starting point for CA Slalom was the aspiration to create a contemporary interpretation of classics like Gill and Antique Olive in terms of aesthetics, flexibility and usefulness. The outstanding S soon became the visual hook and starting from the extra bold extended weight, CA Slalom evolved into a huge family with four widths. It’s rather round instead of squarely with stroke-ends pulled deep and a relatively low x-height. This gives CA Slalom a taste of its own, and although it is clearly contemporary, it has the potential to become a classic.

The starting point for CA Slalom was the aspiration to create a contemporary interpretation of classics like Gill and Antique Olive in terms of aesthetics, flexibility and usefulness. The outstanding S soon became the visual hook and starting from the extra bold extended weight, CA Slalom evolved into a huge family with four widths. It’s rather round instead of squarely with stroke-ends pulled deep and a relatively low x-height. This gives CA Slalom a taste of its own, and although it is clearly contemporary, it has the potential to become a classic.

The starting point for CA Slalom was the aspiration to create a contemporary interpretation of classics like Gill and Antique Olive in terms of aesthetics, flexibility and usefulness. The outstanding S soon became the visual hook and starting from the extra bold extended weight, CA Slalom evolved into a huge family with four widths. It’s rather round instead of squarely with stroke-ends pulled deep and a relatively low x-height. This gives CA Slalom a taste of its own, and although it is clearly contemporary, it has the potential to become a classic.

The starting point for CA Slalom was the aspiration to create a contemporary interpretation of classics like Gill and Antique Olive in terms of aesthetics, flexibility and usefulness. The outstanding S soon became the visual hook and starting from the extra bold extended weight, CA Slalom evolved into a huge family with four widths. It’s rather round instead of squarely with stroke-ends pulled deep and a relatively low x-height. This gives CA Slalom a taste of its own, and although it is clearly contemporary, it has the potential to become a classic.

Sir Richard Henry Bonnycastle (1791–1847) was an English officer and military engineer who served in the War of 1812 and ultimately settled in Canada. I stumbled upon copies of some of his charts and maps, became infatuated with the hand-lettered titles—and the result is the eponymous Bonnycastle. The font has a bold weight and an italic style but is intended as an eye-catching standalone, evocative of its period in history. Use as a titling face on branding materials, event posters, book covers, presentation graphics, historical illustrations, and the like.

Sans-serif, with clean and fresh Character. "Ye Paradigma" has been established in order to keep its forms as simple as possible - without losing the unique character of each letter, and without simplifying too much. The process was gradual, like the ripening of a sauce that leaves it to be reduced to strengthen flavors, so the letters ripened while reducing unnecessary details, until the taste became more concentrated and uniform. The result is a clean, fresh, remarkably useful 24 fonts typeface, with a clear and stable graphic language.

Wait no more. Meet Lemon Milk Pro™, your new go-to typeface. After a long journey, the widely known Lemon Milk has now became pro fonts. It finally has lowercases, covering extended Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek. Moreover, developed from the original version in 2014, it is now future proof: more opentype features + variable fonts. With such styles, this famous geometric typeface with sharp edges is perfect for every display! Lemon Milk Pro: Beyond a typeface, it's a culture.

Latin music was all the rage in the United States from the 1930s through the 1950s and songs with a “South of the Border” or “Old Mexico” theme were plentiful. The 1940 sheet music for “Make Love with a Guitar” evoked the idea of serenading one’s lovely lady on horseback while strumming the guitar. ..at least if you went by the by the illustration under the song’s name. As the hand lettered title was rendered in an Art Deco design, it became the basis for Jazz Guitar JNL [which seemed a more befitting name], and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Ela Sans is the sister of the typeface I originally designed for the business of my second wife and mother of my two sons, her name is - of course - Michaela. Ela - the typeface - is suitable for magazines, newspapers, posters, advertiments, books, text, documentation/business reports, business correspondence, multimedia, and corporate design. Because lately this typeface became very popular I decided to extend the Ela Sans family to eight weights and I added italic and smallcaps versions to it. So now Ela Sans and Demiserif together is a full fledged typeface family.

Spark a revolution for a better future with Spark Sans. Super clean and geometric, this display typeface is ideal for tech, transportation, electronic music, revolutionary products or other disruptive ideas that move us beyond the present. Spark Sans has a relatively high x-height and squared off curves that give it a distinctive look while still maintaining a minimalist aesthetic. The design originated with custom lettering for the Primitive Spark identity, which became the foundation for the bold style. With 260 glyphs, Spark Sans is a great choice for many languages with Latin characters.

Charter was designed in the mid-1980s by Matthew Carter. The typeface was designed with the limitations of low- and middle-resolution output devices in mind; hence the squared off serifs and the economy of diagonals and curves. The design, however, became an instant success on its own merits. It is an excellent everyday typeface for a wide variety of uses including books and technical manuals. Charter offers small cap, extension and alternate typographer sets that help to make it more versatile and functional. ITC bought the Charter designs in 1993, but Bitstream retained the right to sell the original designs.

Cottonwood is a group effort of the typeface artists K.B. Chansler, B. Lind and J. Redick and displays the unmistakable look of the Wild West. It is stylistically modelled on the typefaces used in advertisements and signage toward the end of the 19th century. Typical for these capital alphabets are the split serifs which emphasize the markedly decorative character. Cottonwood is a kind of homage to the Western typefaces (woodtypes) which became popular through their use on Wanted signs in Western films. Cottonwood is best used sparingly in headlines to best emphasize its decorative, 'wild' character.

While watching the 1947 holiday classic “Miracle on 34th Street”, one scene in particular presented a chance to develop a retro type design. ‘Kris Kringle’ suggests to a mother visiting with her child in the Macy’s toy department to try Gimbel’s for a toy she couldn’t find at the store. The news of this behavior reaches Mr. Macy himself, who embraces the practice as a brilliant marketing strategy. A number of departments are then presented with reference books containing competitor ads, and the visual of the cover stating “R.H. Macy & Co. Shopping Guide for the Convenience of Our Customers” shows on screen. The thin, Art Deco sans serif monoline with a few serif-like hooks added onto some characters became the basis for Shopping Guide JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Doublethink was developed from lettering drawn in the 1960s by Vinko Ožić-Pajić and used on the shop fronts of Yugoslavian state-owned clothes company Standard Konfekcija. The original design has been reinterpreted and expanded and is offered as a two weight typeface—Doublethink Medium and Doublethink Bold Inline. Standard Konfekcija was established first as a military fabric company and later became the premier fashion brand outlet in the Communist state of Yugoslavia. It is famous for being the first shop in the country to offer plastic bags (Standard Konfekcija stores ceased trading after the fall of Communism).

Ritz Slab Serif JNL is a bold display face which shares a lot of similar design traits to Stymie and other similar metal type of the 1930s and 1940s, but in actuality was modeled from only four letters. On the sheet music for the 1937 song "Sweet Varsity Sue" [from the 20th Century Fox Film "Life Begins in College"], there is a picture of the Ritz Brothers - a popular comedy team from 1925 through the late 1960s. The hand lettered name "Ritz" became the basis for Ritz Slab Serif JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Sheet music for the tune "Put Your Arms Around Me Honey" (from the 1937 film "Coney Island" starring Betty Grable, George Montgomery and Cesar Romero) has the song title hand lettered in a condensed Art Deco sans serif design. This became the basis for Deco Nights JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions. For trivia buffs, the song was written by Junie McCree and Albert Von Tilzer and was first featured in the Broadway show "Madame Sherry" in 1910 and was revived for a second time in the 1949 Judy Garland -Van Johnson film "In the Good Old Summertime".

Some time ago, I found myself in a clinic with my wife: at the time she was 20 weeks pregnant and had to do an ultrasound. To pass the time, I leafed through some (ladies') magazines which were lying around. Most of them tackled big issues like which shoes to wear and what type of foundation to plaster on, but one glossy featured a photo shoot. The photographer had found an old building with a beautiful art deco tile mural and had placed his skinny model in front of it. Fortunately for me, the mural featured a lot of text in a beautiful frilly style. I re-created the font I saw and it became "Jubileum" - which just means Jubilee in Dutch.

Naming this typeface Troika, the Russian word meaning "group of three", seemed apt because the starting point in this design process was a three sided letter 'O'. This triangular type styling became a template guide for the rest of the character set. Troika is a highly distinctive, ultra modern typeface with idiosyncratic letterforms that make for striking headlines, particularly at large display sizes. Challenging, futuristic and experimental, always unique, and with caps as characterful as the lower case. Troika being derived from the French 'Triangle' and the Latin 'Triangulus' it seemed only fitting to design three weights: Light, Medium & Bold.

Pseudo-Hellenic is a font based the Greek typeface of Firmin Didot. The original Greek typeface became standard during the Victorian era and remained popular until the last part of the twentieth century. Pseudo-Hellenic seeks to create an environment reminicent of the many Greek texts and is meant to re-create their ethos while communicating with a non-Greek speaking audience. Pseudo-Hellenic with full punctuation, a character 221 glyph character set that allows the user to type in most Western European Latin alphabet languages. Being a decorative font, it works best at larger point sizes.

Vandermark began as a simple daydream of what became the 'n' glyph. I considered the elegant balance of a terminal stroke that would never join its supporting stem. The premise was simple, but further experimentation was required for other parts of the alphabet. Vandermark follows a somewhat flexible array of structural rules and curve arrangements that called for considerable sketching to harmonize. The names I choose for my typefaces have to look decent when set in the signature type. Considering its improvisational development, it was only fitting that the namesake is a jazz musician and fellow Chicagoan, Ken Vandermark.

The earliest form of Ionic was brought out by Vincent Figgins in 1821 and was intended for display work. In 1863 a more refined version appeared which had more contrast between thick and thin strokes and the serifs were bracketed. Further developments were made, however the robustness of the Egyptian style was retained making the face suitable for newspaper text setting. With a large x-height and strong hairlines and serifs, the Ionic font family became widely used by the newspaper industry as a body type and provided a model for many twentieth century newspaper typefaces.

The Metro Office family is designed after the model of the original sans serif family – Metro No.1 – produced by W.A. Dwiggins and Mergenthaler Linotype’s design studio during the late 1920s and 1930s. A distinctly new interpretation of the sans serif idea, Metro was a thoroughly “American” sans serif when it was released. However, over the ensuing decades, it became a favorite the world over. Moreover, it is one of the first “humanist” sans serif typefaces designed. While redesigning Metro in 2006, Linotype’s Type Director Akira Kobayashi drew from his own knowledge of humanistic letterforms. The result is a redefined Metro; a typeface that is finally ready for heavy text setting. The original Linotype Metro No.1 never had italic variants. Kobayashi has created oblique variants, extending its use in document setting. A double-storey a and g, as well as a wider w were features of Dwiggins’ original Metro design that were filtered out by Mergenthaler Linotype in the 1930s. Kobayashi remedied this historical slight, retooling Dwiggins’ original forms and optimizing their legibility. Kobayashi has additionally retooled some of Metro’s more troublesome letters, which has black elements that became too dense. By opening up the troublesome joins (like that on the Q), Kobayashi has given his new Metro a more even color in text, improving its legibility while retaining its original spirit.

The type design for Impecunious JNL comes from the 1939 sheet music for "You Don't Know How Much You Can Suffer (Until You Fall in Love)". The name comes from another piece of sheet music, 1899's "Impecunious Davis" [a piece of late 19th century tripe demeaning Black Americans]. However, the word "impecunious" was intriguing. According to the website Merriam-Webster.com, the simple definition of impecunious means "having little or no money". Since we've all been in that spot at one time or another, it became a perfect font name. Impecunious JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The inspiration for this font came from a wall-writing in Cuba. At first glance we thought: "There is something wrong with the wall-writing." But a closer look revealed, that it just mixed up different stroke-styles. That "feature" became the designing principle behind CA Segundo: Round characters like O, U or C are available either with a fat or a thin stroke, whereas other characters with orthogonal lines come in two different styles – uppercase characters emphasize the vertical strokes, while lower cases emphasize the horizontal strokes. This gives you the opportunity to design just while you type.

Southside Fizz is a cocktail (made with gin, lime, mint and soda). Southside Fizz font was based on a single word in a 1930’s advertisement and my Palembang font. I did not have that many glyphs to work with, so I made most of them up. Southside Fizz became a very elegant all caps Art Deco font, quite useful for wedding invitations, books and posters. It comes with a roaring amount of diacritics as well.