The Brass Family has a lineage that extends into English history. About five hundred years ago a devout, but anonymous Englishman gave glory to the God he worshipped by designing the capital letters and decorations of these two fonts. Originally recorded in The History Of Mediaeval Alphabets And Devices by Henry Shaw (London 1853), they are described by Alexander Nesbitt in his Decorative Alphabets And Initials (Mineola, NY 1959) as “Initials and stop ornaments from brasses in Westminster Abbey.” I wish I could say I remember seeing them when I was there, but that was forty-two years ago and all I remember was seeing the tomb of Edward the Confessor. One definition of “stop” as a noun is a point of punctuation. I have heard people from the British Isles speak of a “full stop” when referring to a period. Some may remember a 19th century form of communication called a telegram being read aloud in an old movie, with the use of the word “stop” to indicate the end of a sentence or fragment. A full dozen of these stop ornaments are provided. They occupy positions 060, 062, 094, 123, 125, 126, 135, 137, 167, 172, 177 & 190. The Brass Family consists of two fonts: Brass and Brass Too. Both fonts have an identical upper case and ornaments, but paired with different lower cases. Although the typefaces from which the lower cases were drawn are both of modern design, both are interpretations of the textura style of blackletter in use in England when the upper case and ornaments were fashioned for the Abbey. Brass is paired with Morris Gothic, which matches the color of the upper case quite well. Brass Too is paired with Wedding Regular, which is distinctly lighter than the upper case. I find it very interesting how each connects differently. The resulting fonts are unusual and most useful for evoking an historic atmosphere.

When Aldo Novarese designed his “tipo inglese” Juliet typeface, he had a simple objective in mind: Reduce the inclination angle of the traditional 18th and 19th centuries English script in order to make the punchcutter’s job easier and the resulting metal type more durable. But when Juliet was released by Nebiolo in 1955, it was a big surprise to both typesetters and calligraphers all over Europe. Novarese’s idea of working the standard copperplate script within the limited technology of the time proved to be a marvel in optical metal sizing (Juliet was available in sizes ranging from 12 to 60 pt), but also opened the door to new calligraphic possibilities. Easier readability and a very friendly color were obvious side effects of the reduced angle. So soon after its release, calligraphers worldwide began emulating the angle reduction and experimenting with the application of the same concept to other calligraphic genres. Today, more than 50 years later, many professional calligraphers point to Novarese’s Juliet as an opening to fresh ideas and new directions in 20th century elegant calligraphy. Ambassador Script, this digital version of Aldo Novarese’s surprising masterpiece, is the result of more than a thousand hours of work. Going above and beyond its duty as a revival, it was expanded by a great number of alternates, swashes, beginning and ending forms, as well as accompanying flourishes and snap-on strokes for even more ending forms. Ambassador Script also supports almost every known Latin-based language, which makes its name all the more fitting. Ambassador Script is available in all popular font formats. The True Type and Postscript Type 1 versions come in 12 fonts, available in different piecemeal configurations or a full volume. The OpenType version collects more than 2300 characters in a single feature-rich font that can sing mightily in OpenType-supporting applications. Ambassador Script is ideal for weddings, invitations, greeting cards, book and magazine covers, or anywhere a touch of calligraphic elegance is desired.

American graphic designer William Addison Dwiggins' (W.A.D. for short) first typefaces were the Metro family, designed from 1927 onward. The project grew out of Dwiggins' dissatisfaction with the new European sans serif typefaces of the day, such as Futura, Erbar, and Kabel, a feeling he expressed in his seminal book Layout in Advertising. Urged by Mergenthaler Linotype to create a solution for the problem, Dwiggins began a professional relationship that would span over the next few decades. The first Metro family typeface to be released was Metroblack, brought to market by Linotype in 1929 (Metroblack #2™ the only one of the two versions that Mergenthaler Linotype eventually put into production which is available in digital form). With more of a humanist quality than the geometric styles popular in Europe at the time, Dwiggins drew what he believed to be the ideal sans serif for headlines and advertising copy. Metroblack has a warmer character than the Modernists' achievements, and the type is full of mannered curves and angled terminals (Metroblack also has an astoundingly beautiful Q). The other weights of the Metro family, Metromedium #2™ and Metrolite #2™, were designed by Mergenthaler Linotype's design office under Dwiggins' supervision. Despite having been created more than three-quarters of a century ago, the Metro family types have aged well, and remain a popular sans serif family. Although spec'd less often than other bestsellers, like Futura, Metro continues to find many diverse uses. The typeface has appeared throughout Europe and the North America for decades in newspapers and magazines, and can even help create a great brand image when used in logos and corporate identity. Dwiggins ranks among the most influential graphic designers and typeface designers of the 20th Century. He has several other quality fonts in the Linotype Originals, including the serif text faces Electra™ and New Caledonia™, as well as Caravan™, a font of typographic ornaments."

This all started with a love for Minister. This is a font designed by Carl Albert Fahrenwaldt in 1929. In the specimen booklet there’s a scan from Linotype’s page many years ago. They no longer carry the font. I’ve gone quite a ways from the original. It was dark and a bit heavy. But I loved the look and the readability. This came to a head when I started my first book on all-digital printing written from 1994-1995, and published early in 1996. I needed fonts to show the typography I was talking about. At that point oldstyle figures, true small caps, and discretionary ligatures were rare. More than that text fonts for book design had lining OR oldstyle figures, lowercase OR small caps—never both. So, I designed the Diaconia family using the Greek word for minister. It was fairly rough. I knew very little. I later redesigned and updated Diaconia into Bergsland Pro—released in 2004. It was still rough (though I impressed myself). Now, with 4-font Biblia Serif family 13 years later, I’ve cleaned up, made the fonts more consistent internally, added more functional OpenType features, and brought the fonts into the 21st century. I used the 2017 set of features: small caps, small cap figures, oldstyle figures, fractions, lining figures, ligatures and discretionary ligatures. These are fonts designed for book production and work well for text or heads. Finally, in 2021, I went over the fonts entirely and remade them in Glyphs.

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

A simple, modern sans serif; clean and elegant, just like its inspiration. The name is a play on Futura.

Authentic and historical Brazilian lettering typeface from early Portuguese community newspapers on Brazil; first years of the 20th Century.

Designed inspired by video technology and meant for the use on television, but never really made it there. Yet...

Exline is yet another experimental display typeface for use on logos and titles and everywhere else you want :D

Another in the series of competent IBM serifed typewriter faces, this one from Howard Kettler in Lexington in 1956.

One of the first and best of the Roman styles, this a condensed, narrow version, with very short descenders.

Letreiro is a nostalgic display font family, a personal view on portuguese hand lettering from the mid 20th century.

For the creation of this font I was inspired by the old fonts created not one hundred years ago.

Based on the 60-point Amati designed by Georg Trump and issued by C. E. Weber (Stuttgart) in 1953.

Rustic Inn JNL comes from hand lettering on a vintage piece of sheet music entitled "My Cabin of Dreams".

Their angular lines are strongly contrasted by sweeping curves, the result: one type with firm character and strong personality.

Another in the series of competent IBM serifed typewriter faces, this one from Howard Kettler in Lexington in 1956.

Based on Lucien Bernhard’s idiosyncratic Schoenschrift, Liberty was designed for ATF two years later, in 1927, by W.T. Sniffin.

Londrina Serif is based on my font Londrina. It's a vernacular typeface with a lot of weights and personality.

Wobbly Boot is the font you use when you need that lipstick-on-the-mirror horror movie vibe. Beware.

Yzerfontein is an angular variation on the classic German blackletter that started with a sketch of a lowercase 'g'.

Based on custom design work by DTP Types Limited in 1992 with associated Small Capitals and Old Style Figures.

Brazil Nut JNL comes from hand lettering on some 1920s sheet music from Florenz Ziegfeld's musical comedy "Rio Rita".

A revival of one of the popular wooden type fonts of the 19th century, suitable for text or display.

Breo is yet another experimental display typeface for use on logos and titles and everywhere else you want :D

Renamed font (was Georgia) and refined outlines to make it stand out on your next book jacket or tatoo.

Designed for ParaType in 1995 by Tagir Safayev. Based on informal handwriting. For use in advertising and display typography.

Collegiate is a full font based on the lettering around an old mosaic tile badge at Liverpool Collegiate School.

Silent Waste is based upon a misspelling on a sign. It's handdrawn, yet digitally manipulated. But you can't tell!

Public Works JNL emulates the hand-made lettering found on older signs printed by silk screen for local governments.

Based on the earliest ATF/M.F. Benton versions of the Bank Gothic typefaces. ‘Fleshed-out’ into a full family.

Designed at ParaType in 1994 by Alexander Tarbeev. Based on informal handwriting. For use in advertising and display typography.

Mun is a experimental script typeface for use on logos, titles, posters, etc. Mun is not intended for text.

A revival of one of the popular wooden type fonts of the 19th century, suitable for display, extra condensed.

The unusual hand lettering found on a piece of 1940s sheet music forms the basis for Pencil Pusher JNL.