English Grotesque is based on the proportions of an early 20th century signwriter’s sans, emphasising the characteristic idiosyncrasies of type of the period. Sharing a similar Roman circle-and-square construction as Gill Sans or Johnston Railway, it has a wide T and W, a narrow S, and a long-tailed R. The Roman alphabet did not include a lower-case, and therefore early sans-serifs tended to base theirs on handwritten or cursive models, resulting in more even character widths. English Grotesque, by contrast, carries the more characterful proportions of the capitals through to the lower case. Available in six weights, with optional alternative versions for the Q, &, £ and J.

The inspiration source for Almond Monogram is a highly unusual warped letterset from a vintage embroidery publication combining to create an almond form monogram. Originally intended to adorn handkerchiefs, it has many other possibilities. Numbers and letters can be combined to create one side of the monogram, while the other side is completed by ornament glyphs under the comma, period, braceleft, braceright, bracketleft and bracketright characters. This is one of many monogram designs from the early 1900’s which fall into a two letter format that is either adorned or interwoven with ornamentation. Download and view the “MFC Almond Monogram Guidebook” if you would like to learn a little more.

The hand lettered credits from the 1931 melodrama “Safe in Hell” inspired the typeface Pre Code Movies JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions. The design is strongly influenced by the popular Art Deco style of thick-and-thin characters and also features rounded corners. The font’s name comes from the early era of talking pictures and the short period before the establishment of the Hays Office in 1934 when Hollywood did not self-censor itself. Many then-taboo topics were exploited on film until Will Hays cracked down on such productions. To read more about Pre-Code Hollywood, visit the Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Code_Hollywood

Conceived as an exploration of geometrical type designs of the early twentieth century, Canaro was — in its first design stages — heavily rooted in that time period. During its development and the effort to give it a modern appearance, it turned into a contemporary font with a strong historical background, defined by legibility and functionality. In addition, the lack of spurs provide a unique but unobtrusive character and support the contemporary impression. Typographic features like alternative glyphs, ligatures, oldstyle numbers, arrows, fractions and other special characters, round up the family. Canaro is available in nine weights plus matching italics. Ranging from sharp and elegant thinner cuts to sporty and athletic heavy weights.

Einhorn is a peculiar typeface. Difficult to classify, this upright, bold, script-like semi serif typeface was designed in 1980 by Alan Meeks. Meeks was inspired by the art nouveau period, and may have been trying to liven up the design scene. In 1980, typefaces like Helvetica and Univers were ubiquitous, and the digital revolution was still years away. Experimental faces like Einhorn helped fill the gap for creative designers looking for untraditional choices in which to set headlines and advertising work. The merit of pioneer display faces like Einhorn have never lessened; Einhorn still sets a mean display text, and works great in logos and other corporate ID solutions.