Once, Blackletter was a calligraphy style. Full of ligatures, with letters bumping into each other to create an unapologetic picket-fence pattern. Some even claimed that the regularity improved legibility! But then Blackletter was cast into metal, and only a handful of established ligatures survived, while most interletter connections were disentangled. Everyone since followed suit, and hundreds of years later, digital Blackletter fonts were modelled mostly on the metal fonts that prevailed rather than the original handwriting. Up until now! AJ Quadrata is an authentic revival of the textura quadrata hand, and its major inspiration is a 15th-century Latin manuscript of the Bible from Zwolle, the Netherlands. The typeface is delivered in two flavors. The default cut is a modern take on textura quadrata that can be useful for today and tomorrow. The standard ligatures feature employs nearly all letters. The tittle of i retains its original, hasty squiggle form (except for the Turkish localization). Discretionary ligatures include medieval ligatures da, de, do, pa, pe, po (and their mixed-case counterparts!). Stylistic sets allow to use historic letter variants such as long s and rotunda r, closed-counter a, and alternate capitals. AJ Quadrata Medieval is perfect for setting Latin. Default forms of capital F, H and O are swapped with the alternates. The squiggles above i only appear for disamibiguation nearby m, n or u, as in original manuscripts. Discretionary ligatures and historic variants are promoted to the standard ligatures feature to make room in the discretionary ligatures feature for a variety of scribal abbreviations. Dedicated stylistic sets include medieval punctuation and justification alternates — glyphs with elongated terminals used for lengthening lines that end up too short. The Rubrum styles can be layered and colored to create the illuminated effect on the capital letters. Besides a faithful rendition of extended Latin including Vietnamese, numerous synthetic additions are included: polytonic Greek, Armenian, and Cyrillic (with Bulgarian and Serbian/Macedonian localizations). Both flavors of the typeface can be considered a starting point that can be further customized using OpenType features, including Stylistic Sets (some features differ between AJ Quadrata and AJ Quadrata Medieval): ss01 Alt E ss02 Descending F / Roman F ss03 Uncial H / Roman H ss04 Angular O / Round O ss05 Contextual closed-counter a ss06 Diamond-dot i j / Always dotted i, j ss07 Contextual rotunda r / No r rotunda ss08 Contextual long s / No long s ss09 Dotless y ss10 Serbian Cyrillic ss11 Alt Cyrillic de ss12 Alt Cyrillic zhe ss13 Alt Cyrillic sha ss14-ss17 [reserved for future use] ss18 Scribal punctuation ss19 Alt linking hyphen ss20 Justification alternates

A very expanded sans serif font in capital letters inspired by the inscription on a bank note Old bank notes tend to have a very typical typography. Usually they carry decorative and elaborately designed markings. For one thing, they must be practically impossible to forge and for another, they should make a respectable and legitimate impression. And in the days of copper and steel engravings, that meant nothing less than creating ornate, shaded or otherwise complicated scripts. Designing the appropriate script was literally in the hands of the engraver. That’s why I noticed this bank note from 1948. It is the first 20 mark bill in the then newly created currency ”Deutsche Mark.“ All other bank notes of the 1948 series show daintier forms of typography with an obvious tendency toward modern face. The 1949 series which followed shortly thereafter reveals the more complicated script as well. For whatever reason, only this 20 mark bill displays this extremely expanded sans serif variation of the otherwise Roman form applied. This peculiarity led me in the year 2010 to create a complete font from the single word ”Banknote.“ Back to those days in the 40’s, the initial edition of DM bank notes was carried out by a special US-American printer who was under pressure of completing on time and whose engravers not only engraved but also designed. So that’s why the bank notes resemble dollars and don’t even look like European currency. That also explains some of the uniquely designed characters when looked at in detail. Especially the almost serif type form on the letters C, G, S and Z, but also L and T owe their look to the ”American touch.“ The ingoFont Banknote 1948 comprises all characters of the Latin typeface according to ISO 8859 for all European languages including Turkish and Baltic languages. In order to maintain the character of the original, the ”creation“ of lower case letters was waived. This factor doesn’t contribute to legibility, but this kind of type is not intended for long texts anyway; rather, it unfolds its entire attraction when used as a display font, for example on posters. Banknote 1948 is also very suitable for distortion and other alien techniques, without too much harm being done to the characteristic forms. With Banknote 1948 ingoFonts discloses a font like scripts which were used in advertising of the 1940’s and 50’s and were popular around the world. But even today the use of this kind of font can be expedient, especially considering how Banknote 1948, for its time of origin, impresses with amazingly modern detail.

Adi Stern’s Noam Text shows that typographic progress is often in the small things — in the perfecting of familiar traditions and in staying loyal to the spirit of what came before. It can’t really be called progress unless it honours its history. In this way, TypeTogether is happy to introduce Noam Text: A Hebrew and Latin serif font that builds on its heritage with the twin tools of honour and progress. Since 1908, the Frank-Rühl fonts have dominated the Hebrew book and newspaper market. Noam Text’s design goal was to create a coherent family with both Latin and Hebrew serif text typefaces, each authentic to its own script, and which would serve as an alternative to last century’s predecessor. In short order, users will recognise Noam Text as a source of progress in its bilingual abilities. Hebrew and Latin have opposite reading directions, creating many issues: opposing directionality of the open counters; vertical stress in Latin, but horizontal in Hebrew; fewer extenders in Hebrew; and no Hebrew capital letters. All these have been taken into account in Noam Text’s modern design. Of unique importance — all punctuation marks have a Hebrew version, which makes each script complete and uncompromising. Among other technologically advanced details, Noam Text was programmed for all expected scenarios of mixing Hebrew, Latin, figures, and punctuation. Noam Text is intended mostly for setting long texts, so it strives to achieve maximum legibility in minimum space with its large x-height, short and fairly condensed Latin capitals, large and open counters, and low contrast. Originally derived from the Hebrew, the shallow horizontal curves and strong baseline serifs provide dynamism and enhance the reading flow. Noam Text Latin’s italic is rounded and reading friendly, is condensed to generate a lighter texture than the roman, and has a flowing stance. These virtues help it endure harsh printing conditions and subpar inks and paper. Noam Text’s three total weights provide a proper solution for integrating texts in both scripts, as well as a contemporary alternative for use in books, newspapers, and magazine design. Aligned with TypeTogether’s commitment to produce high-quality type for the global market, the complete Noam Text family displays an impressive amount of discretion, applying to wide use-cases by not edging too close to religious motifs or imbibing in secular indulgence. This means Noam Text can be the go-to family across the board and capitalise on the desire for clear typographic progress in this modern age.

Milan-based Leftloft studio developed LFT Iro Sans, an expansive family that solves the significant, wide-ranging challenges of branding, wayfinding, pictographic language, and complex editorial use. LFT Iro Sans began as the clear and welcoming wayfinding project of San Siro stadium in Milan. Over time many other styles and weights have been added. LFT Iro Sans never finds itself outmatched by the task at hand. The primary aim was to design a technical typeface that was readable in any low visibility condition, for instance in a poorly lit area with awkward wall shapes and overhangs. This worked well for stadium and large lettering use, but other problems also needed to be addressed, such as complementary iconography. A location developer was left mixing — clashing, really — one type family with a different family of icons, resulting in a cobbled-together look which diluted the brand and the experience. They set out to radically simplify and clarify each shape and its meaning, accepting uniqueness as part of the final visual language. LFT Iro Sans pictograms answers the need for having a consistent and large group of icons, perfectly suited to the text typeface. As it concerns public spaces, this didn’t exist before. LFT Iro Sans incorporated a branding project too, so they decided to let LFT Iro Sans go out on a limb and created a unicase style that demands attention. Each unicase letter is a combination of the lowercase and capital form, quite noticeable in the ‘i’, ‘m’, ‘t’, and unique ‘d’ and ‘b’, balanced by more restrained forms of ‘a’, ‘s’, ‘c’, and ‘e’. LFT Iro Sans is not only a technical typeface, but, thanks to letters’ proportions, can also be used for editorial purposes. Assertive and economical in stature, the text weights are clear and assured. And a display version for headlines in Ultralight and Heavy (with italics) was developed for stunning headlines. For enthusiasts of every stripe, LFT Iro Sans can be a brand’s rallying cry with its arresting unicase, be a developer’s go-to pictogram choice, or set the most demanding editorial text in digital or print. With its many OpenType features, simplified pictogram commands (even available in Apple’s Pages and Microsoft Word), and a total of 30 targeted family members, LFT Iro Sans is a brilliant, easy choice. As with the rest of the TypeTogether catalogue, the complete LFT Iro Sans family, designed by Lefloft and developed by Octavio Pardo, has been optimised for today’s varied screen uses.

After 13 months of hard work, Iza W and Intellecta Design are proud to announce Penabico. This is a free interpretation of the copperplate script styles to be found in the Universal Penman . London, 1741 , the monumental publication of engraved work by George Bickham (along with collaborators Joseph Champion, Wellington Clark, Nathaniel Dove, Gabriel Brooks, William Leckey and many others). This enhanced OpenType version is a complete solution for producing documents and artworks which need this kind of calligraphic script: 100s of stylistic alternates for each letter (upper- and lowercase), accessed with the glyph palette; 250 ornaments and fleurons (mostly in the copperplate roundhand renaissance style) encoded in the dingbats range and accessed with the glyph palette (plus a special set with over 50 of these ornaments accessed with the ornaments feature); an extensive set of ligatures (100s of stylistic and contextual alternates plus discretionary ligatures) providing letterform variations that make your designs really special, resembling real handwriting on the page; complete, intricate, ready-made calligraphic words; abbreviations (in many languages). The principal font contains the complete Latin alphabet, including Central European, Vietnamese, Baltic and Turkish with all diacritic signs, punctuation marks (including interrobang ). The German ‘ß’ (germandbls, eszett, sharp s) even has over six different alternate forms. And we don't forget to add the unconventional germandbls uppercase. In non-OpenType-savvy applications it works well as an English commercial script style font. Because of its high number of alternate letters and combinations (over 1500 glyphs), we suggest the use of the glyph palette to find ideal solutions to specific designs. The sample illustrations will give you an idea of the possibilities. You have full access to this amazing stuff using InDesign, Illustrator, QuarkXpress and similar software. However, we still recommend exploring what this font has to offer using the glyphs palette. Two last things — we have placed some of the ornaments, catch-words and other material in supplementary fonts, for easier access in non-OpenType-savvy programs. They are: Penabico Words (see the pdf user guide in “Gallery”), Penabico Abbreviations (free font), and Penabico Extras (free font). And, when buying Penabico you get the 'Penabico EPS Bonus Set", a gift pack containing various highly intrincated frames in EPS format, easy and ready to work with your preferred vector design software like Corel or Illustrator (see the pdf in the Gallery). Know too our other superscript font : Van den Velde Script at http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/intellecta/van-den-velde-script/

The quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful. An appreciation for the world around us. Gratitude for being a part of it all. No matter what’s happening in our lives, there’s always something to be grateful for. When we have an appreciation for all we have, life gives us more to feel grateful for. It’s a naturally occurring cycle. Some of the most profoundly grateful times in our lives can be felt when we find ourselves surrounded by beauty: in art, nature, music, special places, the seasons, family, loving relationships, a cozy home, meaningful work; in doing what brings us joy, comfort, and feelings of deep love and satisfaction. There is beauty everywhere, and creating beauty is an artist’s mission. We all have the ability to create and experience beauty. In this high-tech, fast paced world of strict, unbending rules, we give you Gratitude Script: A celebratory font that’s deeply rooted in tradition letterforms but with a modern, updated twist; a casual, whimsical, fun look that is also elegant and versatile! Partnering with Ale Paul is seasoned wedding calligrapher Kathy Milici, who is well known for her passionate writing style and highly ornamental pen flourishing. With its signature hand-written look, flowing lines, graceful curves and flourishes, Gratitude Script’s space saving, vertical style is perfect for small printing areas as well as large format presentations. An extended variety of alternates makes it a perfect and versatile addition to your font repertoire.. These are tender times. Long hours and work pressures add to our stress. Time spent with family and friends is more valuable than ever before, as we try to balance it all. It’s important to mark time with special, happy events in our lives that we can all appreciate and enjoy. Let’s be grateful for it all! Hooray for Gratitude, and Gratitude Script! About the font: Gratitude Script is an OpenType font that contains more than 1400 glyphs icluding ligatures, alternates, endings , a wide range of latin languages and a set of ornaments and words specially designed to use in stationery for weddings, birthdays, etc. There is a smooth version of Gratitude Script too. To access to all the extra characters you will need to use software that actually supports OpenType like Adobe CS apps or later where we recommend the use of the Glyph palette. About the presentation: Every time we publish a new typeface we love to invite an artist to collaborate. Vero Scherini, an argentinian and very talented designer and illustrator, fits perfectly with Gratitude.

For much of the world, the last half of December encompasses the beginning of winter and the a season of gift-giving, marked by Hanukkah and Christmas. It is generally accepted that the tradition of giving of gifts at this time was begun by The Three Wisemen. As described in The Gospel According to Matthew, the wisemen, led by a star from a distant land to the east, found the baby Jesus. First, they worshipped him and then, "they presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh." (Matthew 2:11). Thus began the tradition of celebrating the birth of Christ with the giving of gifts. There is a parallel tradition in the Jewish faith of the giving of gelt or gold at Hanakkuh to help support poor students, in keeping with the rich history of scholarship that is fundamental to the rabbinic system. Inevitably, in our secular culture, there has been a blending and a secularization of these traditions. The reasons have gotton lost in the “gimme.” What is often overlooked is what Paul realized when he told Timothy, “Neglect not the gift that is in thee.” The most importent gift is the gift inside of us, the gift of sacrificial love for others. When we let that gift be diminished in our minds amid the clutter of modern day material seeking, we can recall the prophesy of Micah over 2800 years ago, But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel: whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." (Micah 5:2 KJV) Never underestimate the impact you have on others. Words of kindness can change people’s lives. The Talmud says that the highest form of wisdom is kindness. Be wise this holiday season. The font BETHLEHEM STAR was originally designed for the church to which I belong, The Star Bethlehem Church of Ansonia, Connecticut, USA and is based on the typeface Accent with the permission of URW++ of Hamburg, Germany. You might choose BETHLEHEM STAR for your personal greetings as well as for flyers and programs at your church this holiday season. Like most display fonts, it is most effective at 18 points and larger. Like most script fonts, it is most effective when set with both upper and lower case. All caps with this font is like eating two pieces of pecan pie — too much of a good thing.

Inspired by the type elements of 17th century Dutch mapmaking, Boncaire Titling provides you with a historic yet adventurous look for your library. This addition from insigne found its muse in a map of Curacao by Dutch cartographer Gerard Van Keulen, a member of the prosperous Van Keulen family from Amsterdam, who were engaged in the manufacture of maps for seafaring. Much thanks on this project goes to The Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, housed at the Boston Public Library. Through the centers kindness, I was able to view a number of period maps in person and to meet with curators, who explained more about the Van Keulen family and the way maps of the period were created. While I studied the maps, I narrowed in on some of the original types unique idiosyncrasies. For instance, the long, exaggerated serifs, which give the forms a sense of stability, aid in the faces legibility--largely a byproduct of the engraving method that was used to create the metal plates for manufacturing these maps. In creating Boncaire Titling, I decided to capture these unique idiosyncrasies, embracing the character of the engravings rather than removing them entirely through over-refining the forms. The result is an elegant family with far more than seafaring potential. This font has a full range of six weights, from thin to black. It also includes a wide variety of OpenType alternates. All insigne fonts are fully loaded with OpenType features. Boncaire Titling is also equipped for complex professional typography, including alternates, smaller titling caps and plenty of alts, including normalized capitals and lowercase letters. There are over 30 autoreplacing ligatures, and the face includes a number of numeral sets, including fractions, old-style and lining figures with superiors and inferiors. OpenType capable applications such as Quark or the Adobe suite can take full advantage of automatically replacing ligatures and alternates. You can find these features demonstrated in the .pdf brochure. Boncaire Titling also includes the glyphs to support a wide range of languages, including Central, Eastern and Western European languages. In all, Boncaire Titling supports over 40 languages that use the extended Latin script, making the new addition a great choice for multi-lingual publications and packaging. Maps are fascinating; they come with the promise of treasure to be uncovered. Examining the map itself, too, you can find great wealth in the details so artfully condensed to that single piece of paper--details carried over into this new insigne font. For your next project, explore the imagination potential in Boncaire Titling.

In B-movie awesomeness, Air began as Grotesk vs. Grotesque. I was trying to unify the prevailing traits of German and English Grotes(que/k)s in order to make something different but familiar. I am NOT trying to reinvent Helvetica (snore), so get that out of your system. From the onset, I intended this typeface to be a true workhorse that offers infinite options and flexibility for the user. At its core, it is the maturation of the Aaux Next skeleton I developed years ago. I worked out Aaux Next to settle my issues and love for Akzidenz. With Aaux Next, I strove to be mechanical, cold and unforgiving with it. I was single, young, cocky and it fit. Now I'm married, kids, dog and have found that I've turned into a big softy. When I look at Aaux Next (and have for the past few years) I see another typeface trying to eek out. I wanted it to avoid the trappings of robotic sans, quick tricks and compromises. The typeface’s DNA needed to be drawn and not just generated on a screen — so I set aside a year. I love type. I love working with type. I hate when my options for a slanted complement is only oblique or italic. I set out to produce both to balance usage — there are more than enough reasons to prepare both and I want the user to feel free to consciously choose (and have the option to choose) the appropriate typeface for print, web, etc. That flexibility was central to my decision-making process. The Oblique is immediate and aggressive. The Italic was redrawn at a less severe angle with far more movement and, as a result, is far more congenial when paired with the Uprights. Condensed and Compressed. Yep, why not? I know I would use them. There are nine weights currently available. The logical progression of weights and the intended flexibility demanded I explore a number of light weights and their potential uses — this has produced a number of ‘light without being too light’ options that really work based on the size. The result is a robust 81-font superfamily that is functional, professional, and highly legible without compromising its personality. Pair that with over 900 characters per font that includes ligatures, discretionary ligatures, stylistic alternates, fractions, proportional/tabular lining and proportional/tabular oldstyle figures, numerators, denominators, ordinals, superiors, inferiors, small caps, case-sensitive functionality and extensive language support and you have a versatile superfamily well-suited for any project.