A new font inspired by vintage hand-painted paper signs. The Doorbuster Collection is based on retro hand-painted paper signs primarily seen in grocery stores from the 1920s through the 1970s. We meticulously hand-drew each font, modeling the spacing and uneven baseline found in vintage sign painting. The purposely organic ascenders and descenders, along with a huge set of ligatures/contextual alternates to avoid the same letters repeating when paired, give it a real hand-lettered look. Doorbuster Plug is perfect for both vintage-inspired and contemporary marketing, branding, and packaging designs. It's a classic workhorse font from the 1950s thru 1970s. Check out a few of the samples included in the thumbnails to see what can be done with it.

A 1930s casual Art Deco type style with as much influence in 1970s graphic design as in its day was found within the pages of the 1930s French publication L'Art du Tracé Rationnel de la Lettre. Discotheque JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

ITC Avant Garde Gothic¿ was designed by Herb Lubalin and Tom Carnase in 1970. They based it on Lubalin¿s logo for Avant Garde Magazine - an exciting construction of overlapping and tightly-set geometric capitals. ITC Avant Garde is a geometric sans serif; meaning the basic shapes are constructed from circles and straight lines, much like the work from the 1920s German Bauhaus movement. The early versions of ITC Avant Garde became well-known for their many unique alternates and ligatures that still conjure up the typographic aura of the 1970s. These fonts contain the basic alphabets (without the old unusual ligatures). Still strong and modern looking, ITC Avant Garde has become a solid staple in the repertoire of today's graphic designer. The large, open counters and tall x-heights seem friendly, and help to make this family work well for short texts and headlines. The condensed weights were drawn by Ed Benguiat in 1974, and the obliques were designed by Andr¿ G¿rtler, Erich Gschwind and Christian Mengelt in 1977. ITC Avant Garde¿ Mono is a monospaced version done by Ned Bunnel in 1983.

Record Jacket JNL gives an outline treatment to the popular typeface used on record album covers in the 1960s and 1970s, and is based on Jeff Levine's Album Cover JNL.

My affection for Slab Serifs began in the early 1960s in Kansas City with Rob Roy Kelly and his fabulous collection of wood type. In the 1970s tried to re-create a Nebiolo Egiziano for Roger Black. Again for Roger, in the 1980s I designed a Slab Serif logo for Newsweek Magazine. Finally, in 2003, designed the Sutro Family. There were things I didn't like about it, so when I did Version 2 for Open Type, I changed it around a little, making it a much nicer Sutro.

In the 1970s I was anxious and distressed about the future. I was right. In 1975 Future Imperfect was submitted to, and rejected by, Letraset. I wish I’d kept the rejection slip.

Paying homage to the 1960s and 1970s designs of Tom Carnase and Herb Lubalin, Homage Condensed is a digital revival and recutting of LSC Condensed in two weights along with italics and numerous stylistic alternate characters.

Samuel Welo was a sign painter who had published in the 1920s and again in 1960 his “Studio Handbook – Letter and Design for Artists and Advertisers”, prolifically hand lettering all of the type style examples within the pages of the publication. In 1930 Welo also published “Lettering - Practical and Foreign”. From this book comes a thick-and-thin hand lettered Art Deco alphabet – now available digitally as Sightseeing Tour JNL in both regular and oblique versions.

Ebbets JNL is a variant of Jeff Levine's Base Runner JNL, with more of a 1930s-1940s feel.

Sheet music for the 1910 composition "Good-By Betty Brown" has its title hand lettered in a thick and thin, condensed sans serif design reminiscent of lettering found in later comic strips and books of the 1930s and 1940s. Transcending both the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles, Funny Papers JNL gets its name from the slang reference Americans of the early 20th Century gave the Sunday comics pages in their local newspapers, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Samuel Welo was a sign painter who had published in the 1920s and again in 1960 editions of his “Studio Handbook – Letter and Design for Artists and Advertisers”. In-between, in 1930 Welo also published “Lettering - Practical and Foreign”. Within the pages is an Art Deco outline slab serif design using multiple thin lines to create an “incised” or “engraved” look within the characters. This intriguing type style is now available as Guest Invitation JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.

Looking for a font with that certain... umm... special mojo? Mojodelic might just be the niche font that you need to create that unique statement — one that really pops off the page. While this typeface certainly grooves with the 1960s – 1970s vintage psychedelic and pop art look, it's also a perfect fit with retro 1990s party-way-too-hard youth culture graphics. With its ultra-bold reverse-contrast design and whimsical little curlies, this one's got equal parts silliness and swagger. Try it on skateboard graphics, retro message t-shirts, apparel logos, beverage labeling, candy packaging, teen/tweener marketing, greeting cards... you name it. Enjoy.

Love songs are the perennials of music, outlasting all other popular fads and styles that come and go. The 1920s through the 1940s is considered by some to be the Golden Age of the American love song. Thousands upon thousands of copies of popular sheet music sold, and the cover lettering and art on many titles were from some of the finest illustrators of their time. Love Song JNL recreates the Art Deco-flavored design found on one such piece of sheet music from the 1930s.

The cover of the 1907 sheet music for "I'd Rather Twostep Than Waltz, Bill" was hand lettered in an Art Nouveau sans serif alphabet. During the hippie counter-culture movement of the 1960s, rock posters, album covers and other printed ephemera of the time embraced the styles of lettering and art made popular during the early 1900s. It seemed only fitting to name this type design Nouveau Hippie JNL as an homage to both eras. The font is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Inspired by the typefaces used for company insignia on aircraft in the 1930's and 1940's, Streamliner is light, friendly and open.

Ed Benguiat drew the PL Bernhardt font which was released in 1970. PL Bernhardt was modeled after a 1930/1931 design by Lucian Bernhard. All terminals on non-vertical strokes are diagonal so that lower and uppercase X looks as though they are dancing.

A solid calligraphic letter designed by John Matt in the middle 1960s. The typeface did not see use until Compugraphic copied a set of the sketches in the late 1970s, naming the result Garth Graphic in honor of Bill Garth, late president and founder.

F.W. Woolworth was once one of the giants of the variety store chains, along with the likes of Kress, S.S. Kresge, McCrory’s, Neisner Brothers, Ben Franklin and others. In 1960, the company brought out a new corporate logo with a type design harking back to the Art Deco style of the 1930s and 1940s. A photo of one of their old store fronts (despite having only eight letters to work with) inspired the digital interpretation of the signage as Bargain Shopping JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

A mid-1950s hand lettered ad for Stenso Lettering Guides provided the inspiration for Stencil Company JNL, now available in both regular and oblique versions. The Stenso Lettering Company of Baltimore, Maryland pioneered easy-to-use and inexpensive lettering devices with guide holes for accurate spacing. Originally designed by a school teacher (Ruth Libauer Hormats) around 1940, the company was family run until it was sold in 1962 to Ottenheimer Publishers. They in turn sold the line to the Dennison Manufacturing Company, and it was discontinued in the 1980s after Dennison merged with Avery.

Although the Art Deco movement is generally attributed to the 1930s and 1940s, a number of design influences were showing up during the late 1920s in what is referred to as the Art Nouveau period. The Dutch illustrator Anton Kurvers’ hand lettering on the front cover of the (1927) magazine “Het Vlaamsche Volstooneel” clearly shows the clean lines and Avant Garde geometrics that foreshadow Art Deco. This attractive pre-Deco lettering has been recreated digitally as Dutch Deco JNL, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The French publication “La Lettre Dans le Decor et La Publicite Modernes” (“The Letter in the Modern Décor and Advertising”) was a 24-page booklet showcasing the then-current trends of the time (circa late 1930s-early 1940s). On one page was found a squared, extra bold sans serif alphabet set with strong Art Nouveau influences, yet it was ahead of its time by taking on the look and feel of 1980s techno typography. They say “everything old is new again”, and Nouveau Techno JNL is now available digitally in both regular and oblique versions.

The range of subtle differences in the many different sized lettering stencils of the 1940s and 1950s allows for a wonderful library of authentic-looking stencil fonts. Storage JNL is another Roman (serif) type design by Jeff Levine and modeled from a 1950s stencil set.

Smena was based on the lettering of the so called 'calligraphic style' that was very popular during the period 1940-1970. The style was used in logos, book and magazine headlines, posters, signage etc. For use in advertising and display typography. Licensed by ParaType in 2006.

Cardboard Cutouts JNL is a blocky sans serif font re-drawn from some old "kiddie" stencils from the 1950s or 1960s acquired by Jeff Levine.

Nouveau Era JNL was adapted from the title of a hand-lettered advertisement found on the back of a 1920s-1930s piece of vintage sheet music.

A new take on the perennial Art Deco favorite, Broadway, interpreted by 1930s lettering artist Harold Holland Day, and named after a 1960s R&B song.

Monoline Deco JNL is a thin, elegant typeface that is reminiscent of the Art Deco Streamline influence of the 1930s and 1940s, complete with angular and truncated characters.

The simple song title "May I", found on the sheet music from the 1934 Bing Crosby-Carole Lombard film "We're Not Dressing" was hand lettered in a blocky, ultra-bold Art Deco design that foreshadowed the techno look of the 1970s and 1980s. This became the basis for Art Techno JNL.

Kings in Disguise is a chunky, balloon font of the sort used extensively during the 1970s. It has a retro, disco feel and is ideal for signs and logos. The name comes from a great comic book series published in the late 1980s. The engraved style has a limited character set.

Fancy Antique Display is a uppercase display font inspired by French decorative alphabets from the 1940's and 1950's. Perfect for headlines, logos and everything above the body.

A classical 20-th century's (1900s to 1980s) typewriter font for both text and large display usage, titles, signage... A new thicker version of Selectric (2016), as if typed using not a thin carbon ribbon but a coarse fabric one. Both are available on a different models of Selectrics. Made after rare enough samples of the same style used during 1980s in the USSR. Based on the actual letter proportions of the original typewriter Selectric (2016) (Cyrillic ball). This time not monospaced as before, but proportional. The single known so far previous typewriter vector typeface with this 'ink blotting' effect (similarly expanded serifs) as in Dodo (2008) is ITC American Typewriter (1974; by Joel Kaden and Tony Stan) and all its hand drawn analogs from 1980s (and perhaps before). Which, in turn, is resembling ATF Bulletin Typewriter's (1925, 1933; by Morris Fuller Benton) overall proportions, geometry, and even had some natural ink expands in its paper sample (but not by design, as I see it).

Books Script — this is a good-hearted font, which was created based on the books of the Soviet period between 1960 and 1970. This font is perfect for illustrators and books which are designed for children. Scope: emotionality, uneven rhythm, display, titles, illustrations, soviet, USSR, poetry, ipad apps, fairy tale, epic poem

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.

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.

Mocombo JNL is a slightly modified version of one of the numerous alphabets created by the late Alf R. Becker for Signs of the Times Magazine during the period of the 1930s through the 1950s. Tod Swormstedt of ST Media—who is also the curator of the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio—supplied Jeff Levine a wealth of source material from which this font is derived. The angular style of this typeface was originally referred to as “German Poster Lettering” by Becker, but it can represent many styles from 1940s night clubs to African safaris and just about anything in-between.