Carta Marina is based on the titling found on the famous map drawn by Olaus Magnus in 1539. The map of northern Europe took 12 years to complete, and the total size is a huge 1.7 meters tall by 1.25 meters wide. More information about the map, as well as the high resolution reference document used to create the typeface and illustration set can be found at the James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota. The titling is slightly aged, very sturdy and elegant. Carta Marina includes a full set of OpenType alternates for every character in the English alphabet, oldstyle figures, historical forms, small caps and 64 discretionary ligatures. These ligatures are used to alter the appearance of the type so that the printing appears realistic and without any duplicate letters to detract from the antique appearance. The Carta Marina family also includes some of the unique illustrations that gave the map its character. It includes depictions of fanciful sea creatures, land animals and some of the inhabitants of the lands pictured.
While researching the history of Onitsuka Tiger's branding and graphic design, I came across an odd, yet highly appealing piece of custom lettering on the company's ONICK ski boots from the 1970s. Reminiscent of aspects of the typeface Black-Out by Eli Carrico (released by my type foundry Wordshape), yet vertically compressed with razor-sliced counters and odd stencil element that makes up one of the legs of the "K", the ONICK lettering is a potential source for an intriguing modular font. I immediately thought of Ryoichi Tsunekawa as a potential collaborator to bring this piece of lettering to full-fledged life in the contemporary context. Based in Nagoya, Tsunekawa runs an independent type foundry called Dharma Type, including three specialized foundry sub-labels: Flat-It, devoted to display lettering; Prop-A-Ganda, a series of fonts inspired by and based on retro propaganda posters, movie posters, retail sign lettering & advertisements in the early 20th century; and Holiday Type, a series of decorative and retro scripts for holiday use. The past year has seen a flurry of notice of his work abroad, having been featured in both MyFonts' "Creative Characters" and YouWorkForThem's newsletter. As the work of most Japanese type designers is almost wholly unnoticed abroad, for Tsunekawa to be interviewed by two of the most popular type distribution companies in the world is definitely something beyond the norm. Perhaps it is because he works independently, or perhaps it is due to the charm and friendliness with which his typefaces are infused. Either way, this attention is both welcome and appreciated. Beyond mere charm, Tsunekawa's work is nuanced, detailed, and accessible due to its high level of finish. His fonts stand apart from his contemporaries in Latin typeface design in Japan due to his fascination with pop, vernacular and historical lettering from "non-pure" sources- whereas type designers like Kunihiko Okano and Akira Kobayashi have spent years analyzing the essence of Western letterform construction and unlocking the essence of Latin forms, Tsunekawa views surface and the awkward nature of his sources as being of value, as well. His irreverence for the formal doctrines of history imbue his typeface designs with a rugged inventiveness that would be missed by most- glyphs without source designs are guessed at and approximated, often in a manner wildly divergent from what Western eyes would assume. It is in these moments that I find sheer delight in Tsunekawa’s work and what make me most pleased to invite him aboard Neojaponisme and Onitsuka Tiger’s type development project. His assorted typefaces show an eclecticism in finish and as holistic systems- Tsunekawa's return email to me about the proposed type project showed a digital sketch of how a completed typeface family from the source lettering might look, rendered with an effortlessness and dedication to detail that belies a skilled craftsperson. Further development showed Tsunekawa’s rigor- the typeface in development rapidly featured glyphs ignored by many: a full set of fractions, Eastern European diacritics and accents, superior and inferior numerals, alternate characters, and custom ligatures - all designed with regulated, detailed spacing. ONICK is a typeface Tsunekawa should be proud of- an homage to a moment in history rendered in the absolute best fashion. We are proud to present it to the world! --Ian Lynam
Cunaeus is intended primarily for use in running text. It brings together the types of two renowned sixteenth-century punchcutters: the roman is an interpretation of a pica font cut by Ameet Tavernier (c.1522–1570), and the italic that of a pica font of Robert Granjon (1513–1589/90). Granjon’s italics have inspired a number of revivals in the past, but usually of his more slanted styles; the present digitization features the lesser slant of his so-called ‘droit’ style typical of the mid 1560s. Cunaeus provides wide support for west, central, and east European languages that use the roman alphabet. Among its OpenType features are ligatures, small caps, several sets of numerals, contextual alternates, intelligent implementation of long ‘s’, and fractions. For more detail, please see the pdf available in the Gallery.
In the collection of vintage and historic images available online from the Library of Congress is one of the exterior of the Town Talk Diner in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Regrettably, on May 28, 2020, the Town Talk Diner was damaged by vandalism, and subsequently destroyed by a fire that engulfed the building early on the morning of May 29th due to civil unrest following the death of George Floyd. The restaurant first opened in 1946, closed in 2011 and subsequently re-opened under new ownership in 2014 with French cuisine, then from 2016 until its demise as an American bistro. While this was not known at the time of selecting the image for a typographic model, subsequent research on the diner turned up these facts. The large vintage sign above the entrance was in big, bold Art Deco letters with rows and rows of bulbs for illuminating the name at night. Coffee and Danish JNL, modeled from the image of that sign, is available in both regular and oblique versions. Perhaps, in a way, the type design will serve as a bit of historic recognition for a popular eating spot.
Modern LED Board-7, designed by Style-7, embodies the essence and aesthetic of contemporary digital displays reminiscent of LED (Light Emitting Diode) panels. This font, meticulously crafted to mimic...
Imagine strolling through a bustling vintage marketplace on a sunny afternoon; each step takes you past stalls bursting with vinyl records, hand-painted signs, and rustic wooden crates. As you meande...
Many sport publications missed typefaces designed especially for sport communication conditions. We usually see only mechanically slanted or other synthetically destroyed standard typefaces. I want to fill in this space and create a system of fonts, that will be used primarily in sport. It is usable for many prints - logotypes, magazines, catalogues, posters etc. Elasticity of glyphs reflected an adrenalinous shapes of latest bikeframes, skies or sportcars. Maximum open arches guaranteed good readability in very small sizes and prevented interchanges of glyphs „o, c, e“ per poor reading conditions. Softness of lowercase is at uppercase balanced in bottom arches, that are subtly kicked-up. Numerals are an important component of sport communication, so this font offers expressive design, different from numerals of book typefaces. Every font has 9 kinds of numerals. Character case contains over 1000 glyphs, sport icons and othes signs creating the sport feeling. The font name, Akceler, represents acceleration, which is characteristic attribute of this typeface. It’s suitable for display and text usage, too. To see more please visit the PDF specimen. ■24 styles (2 alternatives, 3 grades of dynamics, 4 weights) ■over 1 000 glyphs per font ■9 kinds of numerals ■icons of sport equipment ■8 stylistic sets ■8 kinds of arrows ■23 OT features ■support of latin languages
Farfa by Eurotypo, $44.00
The Farfa fonts were designed for institutional use, commissioned by the City of Fara in Sabina, Italy. This project started from the study of the manuscripts found in the Abbey of Farfa, penned in a variant of the lower case of “Carolingian” typical style of that area. The Capital, ligatures and Small Caps, however, are based on the uncial writing that often appears in those codes and manuscripts. Farfa Abbey is a territorial abbey in northern Lazio, central Italy. It is one of the most famous abbeys of Europe. It belongs to the Benedictine Order and is located about 60 km from Rome, in the commune of Fara Sabina The origin of the Abbey is still unknown. Archaeological discoveries seem to prove that the first monastic establishment was built on the ruins of a pagan temple. The Vandals destroyed the first monastery in the fifth century. Only a few documents from the sixth-century prove the early presence of the monastic community. It had the heritage of Charlemagne (S VIII), the Lombard chiefs, and later the Carolingians, succeeded in withdrawing Farfa from obedience to the Bishops of Rieti, and in securing many immunities and privileges for the monastery. Farfa was at this period the most important monastery in Italy both from the point of view of worldly possession and ecclesiastical dignity.
Temet Nosce - Serif font family - Multilingual - 6 Styles Temet Nosce Serif font family help you develop your creative projects with its 6 styles and multilingual supports. It was inspired by the famous saying from ancient Greek mythology. The characters that make up its structure were influenced by the carved letters in the old stone inscriptions. According to ancient Greek and Roman authors, there were three maxims prominently inscribed upon the Temple of Apollo at Delphi: "know thyself", "nothing too much" and "give a pledge and trouble is at hand". Their exact location is uncertain; they are variously stated to have been on the wall of the pronaos (forecourt), on a column, on a doorpost, on the temple front, or on the propylaea (gateway). The date of their inscription is also unknown, but they were present at least as early as the 5th century BC. Although the temple was destroyed and rebuilt several times over the years, the maxims appear to have persisted into the Roman era (1st century AD), at which time, according to Pliny the Elder, they were written in letters of gold. This font comes with uppercase, lowercase, punctuation, symbols and numbers, ligatures and multilingual supports. Ideal for books and magazines, editorials, headlines, websites, logos, branding, advertising and more. This font family can meet your needs in all creative projects, modern and classic. With this font you can create your unique designs. Have a good time.
Castile is a central region of Spain that formed the core of the Kingdom of Castile, under which Spain was united in the 15th and 16th centuries. "Castile" is a Kufic modern Arabic typeface. It is suitable for books' covers, advertisement light boards, and titles in magazines and newspapers. It is very distinctive when used in black and white printout. It decorates colored pages and makes artworks more attractive. This font comes in three different weights. I adore Spain and the historical achievements of the Islamic civilization existed there in the past. By designing "Castile" Typeface, I wanted to refer to the Islamic civilization that Muslims had in Spain and especially in Andalusia. Today the name of Castile survives in two autonomous regions of Spain: Castile-La Mancha (capital city is Toledo) and Castile-Leon (capital city is Valladolid). The main characteristic of "Castile" Typeface is in its modern open-end style for some of its Arabic characters such as "Sad", "Dad", "Seen", "Sheen", "Qaf", "Faa", "Yaa" and others. The shape of the characters' "dot", "dots", and "point" is innovative; a triangle with a semi-circle shape. "Castile" Typeface is suitable for books' covers, advertisement light boards, and titles in magazines and newspapers. Its charactersí modern Kufic styles give the typeface more distinction when it is used also in posters, greeting cards, covers, exhibitionsí signboards and external or internal walls of malls or metroís exits and entrances. It can also be used in titles for Arabic news and advertisements appeared in different Arabic and foreign satellite channels.
Very few letter types with the context of grunge style fonts offer hierarchies to differentiate words in sentences or paragraphs. With Navaja I developed a font family that meets this need. This family is useful to organize the information into a hierarchy with an eroded look. Its central idea mixes grotesque, geometric and humanistic letter conventions. This way, Navaja is a grunge-sans with dense proportions to make graphic design with eroded character. Its main purpose appeared when one of my customers asked me for a t-shirt design for a fan club of an important football player. For this reason its starting point were stained and muddy letters characterizing the toughness and coldness of the sport. Over time their glyphs began to imitate the robustness of "wood type & Tuscan Type" widely used in posters in the late nineteenth century. Its purpose was strengthened in a family with 6 members that when mixed they produce mind catching contrast levels ideal for designing T-shirts, stickers, flyers, brochures, posters, billboards, cinema or TV. Therefore its variants are short up and down height X combined with different widths that by working together produce information that radiates outstanding apparently destroyed controlled violence. Navaja Dingbats consists of 52 illustrations useful for frames and textures. In that vein, the origin of each member comes from skeletons of Roman and Italic calligraphy. The low amount of contrast between thick and thin lines matching the contours apparently gnawed but strictly regulated by optical adjustments equating the sum between full and empty areas. Factors such as finishes, shapes and counter internal and external forms are meticulously planned although its scruffy look which strategic arrangements are offset to provide color typographical homogeneous. And in conclusion, I have plans to continue expanding the family with more complete versions in the future.
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."
Eclectic FS Siena is a typeface with history, and not just in the sense of having its origins in classical Roman lettering. Fontsmith founder Jason Smith first committed it to tracing paper while still at college, instinctively redrawing letterforms based on Hermann Zapf’s Optima according to ‘what felt right’. When Krista Radoeva took up the challenge to edit and extend the typeface, she and Jason were determined to preserve its subtly nonconformist and eclectic spirit. Like a great dish, there are individual components throughout the character set that all add flavour, and need to be balanced in order to work together. The smooth connection of the ‘h’ ‘m’ ‘n’ and ‘r’ contrasts with the corners of the ‘b’ and ‘p’. The instantly recognisable double-storey ‘a’ – the starting point of the design – contrasts with the single-storey ‘g’ and the more cursive ‘y’. And only certain characters – ‘k’, ‘w’, ‘v’ and ‘x’ in the lowercase and ‘K’, ‘V’, ‘W’, ‘X’ and ‘Y’ in the caps – have curved strokes. Transitional FS Siena is a contrasted sans-serif typeface, blending classical elegance and modern simplicity. Its construction and proportions are descended from classical broad-nib calligraphy and humanist typefaces, with a high contrast between the thick and thin strokes. The angle of the contrast, though, is vertical, more in the character of pointed-nib calligraphy and modernist typefaces. This vertical stress helps to give FS Siena a strong, cultured presence on the page. Idiosyncratic italics The italics for FS Siena were developed by Krista to complement the roman upper and lower-case alphabets first drawn by Jason. Many of the letterforms are built differently to their roman counterparts: there’s a single-tier ‘a’, a looped ‘k’ and connections more towards the middle of stems, such as in the ‘m’, ‘n’ and ‘u’. These distinctions, along with generally much narrower forms than the roman, give the italics extra emphasis within body copy, where the two are side-by-side. In editorial, especially, the combination can be powerful. To cap it all… In his original draft of the typeface, Jason found inspiration in Roman square capitals of the kind most famously found on Trajan’s Column in Rome. In keeping with those ancient inscriptions, he intended the capitals of FS Siena to also work in all-upper-case text, in logotypes for luxury consumer brands and property developments, for example. A little added space between the upper-case letters lets the capitals maintain their poise in a caps-only setting, while still allowing them to work alongside the lower-case letterforms. The caps-only setting also triggers a feature called case punctuation, which adapts hyphens, brackets and other punctuation to complement the all-caps text.
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 weights of the Metro family, Metromedium #2™ and Metrolite #2™, were each designed by Mergenthaler Linotype's design office under Dwiggins' supervision. In 2012 Toshi Omagari reworked the Metro family as "Metro Nova" with many weights into a modern type family that even contains the alternate characters from the origin Metro family from Dwiggins. 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 portfolio, including the serif text faces Electra™ and New Caledonia™, as well as Caravan™, a font of typographic ornaments.
High-contrast? High impact? Have Courage? Eye-catching and (extra, extra) bold, Courage balances ultra-high stroke weight, delicate details, and unique letterforms with a self-indulgent passion that will make you feel a little guilty using it. Honestly, use it large and don’t try to force it into a small space, because these fearless letterforms need room to move. Flavored with both upright and italic styles, each font includes an indulgent level of alternates, swashes and titling options, visual elements and more. A backstory with a different name Years ago, I was commissioned to take my Lust typeface and produce something unique to use for large format graphics for an event…cool. It needed to be hyper-contrast with a lot of over-the-top details. With a tight turnaround, I looked for primers within my development catalogue to help me, and settled on some early work on a typeface I had drawn called Hedonist. I used those sketches and its conventions to retrofit and build out Lust Hedonist (only to see the project go bust on the client’s end). I intended to go back shortly after the Lust Hedonist release to finalize a retail version of the OG Hedonist, but I never could settle on the look of the 'g' or the numerals, got distracted with other projects, and never picked it back up… until last year. After randomly doodling a fat, flat ‘g’ with an extremely tilted counter axis, I knew immediately how it could be used and that (re)set things in motion. Only problem was, in the process of refining the letterforms I began truly dissecting the pieces, rediscovering all of the recklessness within Hedonist, and decided on fundamentally rewriting the approach to the typeface… literally flaying it to the bone. I’m much, much happier with this finished typeface now, but the name no longer fit the moniker given to the first, adolescent approach—there’s far more audacity and cleverness in these letterforms, tenacious in their resolution now. As a result, the name Courage fit the mettle of this typeface so much more, so I kept it.
Qbicle 2 BRK, crafted by the designer known as AEnigma, is a distinct font that carries a unique presence in the realm of typography. It is part of the broader collection of creative fonts by AEnigma...
The Raslani American Letters font is a distinctive typeface that stands out due to its unique and stylized design. This font captures the essence of traditional American lettering, often associated w...
NATOKit font is a unique and meticulously designed typeface created by Tom Mouat, a figure known for his work that often intersects with military themes and applications. The font is part of a broade...
The font "28 Days Later" crafted by Jens R. Ziehn is an evocative and emotionally resonant typeface that captures a poignant blend of chaos and beauty. It draws its inspiration from the gritty and ra...
"TRASHED" by Last Soundtrack is a captivating display of creative chaos, intricately designed to bring a rugged, edgy feel to the table. At first glance, the font boldly defies traditional typographi...
Sure! Penmanship Print is a typeface that exudes a casual warmth and personal touch, embodying the essence of handwritten notes and personal correspondence. Drawing inspiration from traditional handw...
Kyboshed, a font created by Michael Tension, embodies a balance between playful inventiveness and functional design. Its character set is designed with a rebellious edge, making it stand out amongst ...
"She Paints Me Blue" is a captivating font designed by Kimberly Geswein, a font designer renowned for her wide range of expressive and unique typography. This particular font is an embodiment of crea...
Casa Sans, a typeface designed by Peter Wiegel, is an embodiment of both modernity and simplicity, making it a sleek choice for various design projects. This sans-serif font showcases the designer's ...
The font "BONES" embodies a unique fusion of gothic allure and minimalist design, encapsulating a style that is both stark and evocatively expressive. Its character set is designed to evoke a skeleta...
FirstGrader-Normal is a charming and delightfully playful font that captures the essence and spontaneity of young learners' handwriting. Its whimsical nature lies in its irregular, uneven letter size...
The Captain Podd font, crafted by Uddi Uddi, is a distinctive typeface that carries an aura of adventure and whimsy. This font is a fascinating blend of classic and contemporary design elements, maki...
The Metro font, created by Jovanny Lemonad, presents a unique blend of modernity and functionality, encapsulating the essence of urban dynamics and contemporary design. Its name, "Metro," immediately...
DF667 Chlorine is an intriguing and versatile font that carries a certain audacity and creativity within its design. This font, with its unique blend of contemporary flair and a somewhat nostalgic vi...
Trumania EEN is a font that immediately captures the imagination with its playful yet enigmatic aura. Designed in a style that feels both retro and futuristic, it resonates with a unique personality ...
Fantique Four by Digital Empires can be described as a font that beautifully merges the charm of antique design elements with a dash of modern flair, making it a unique offering in the landscape of d...
The Brannboll Stencil PERSONAL USE font by Måns Grebäck is a unique and captivating typeface that strikes a delicate balance between artistic flair and practical readability, tailored specifically fo...
Hang the DJ by PizzaDude is a strikingly unique and irresistibly edgy font that stands out for its bold and expressive characteristics. Crafted with a strong sense of individuality, it embodies a ble...
DoradoHeadline is a distinctive and engaging font created by the prolific German type designer Manfred Klein. Klein, known for his versatility and creativity in the realm of typography, has a knack f...
KR A Fishing We Go is a whimsical and playful font created by the talented Kat Rakos. True to its name, the font draws significant inspiration from the leisurely and often adventurous activity of fis...
The Blue Highway D Type font, created by the talented Canadian typeface designer Ray Larabie, stands as an iconic example of clarity and functionality blended with unique aesthetics. Its inception wa...
BN-67.9010-03, at first glance, might seem like just another entry in the vast world of typography, but a closer look reveals its unique charm and potential as a creative tool for artists and designe...