Tony Wenman designed the display typeface Bottleneck in the early 1970s and its figures reflect the spirit of the times. Its distinguishing characteristic is the extreme heaviness of the serifs in the lower third of the characters, a trait which the viewer could associate with the plateau shoes of the 1970s. Bottleneck is a carefree, playful typeface which can be found even today on entertainment fliers and retro advertisements. When used sparingly in headlines and slogans, it is a real eye-catcher. Similar typefaces are Julia Script, by David Harris, and Candice, by Alan Meeks.

ITC Stenberg was designed by Tagir Safeyev based on the forms characteristic of the Constructivism in the early days of the USSR. The brothers Vladimir and Georgii Stenberg were two of the creative artists of this movement who were turning older forms to revolutionary use. ITC Stenberg has a caps and small caps alphabet and is available in a bold and an inline version.

Some words from the designer, Frantisek Storm... Designed by Josef Tyfa in 1959, digitalized by F. Storm in 1996. This Roman and Italic are well-known perhaps to all Czech graphic artists and typographers ever since their release. Although this type face in some details is under the sway of the period of its rise, its importance is timeless, in contradistinction to other famous types dating from the turn of the sixties which were found, after some time, to be trite. The italics live their own life, only their upper-case letters have the same expression as the basic design. Thin and fragile, they work excellently, emphasizing certain parts in the text by their perfect contrast of expression. When seen from a distance they are a little bit darker than the Roman face. Tyfa Roman was released in 1960 by Grafotechna in Prague for hot setting. Later on, Berthold produced letter matrices - "rulers" for Staromat devices, used for manual photosetting of display alphabets. In the eighties it was available on dry transfers of Transotype and today it is offered also by ITC. The meticulously executed designs of the individual letters in the 288 point size are arranged into a set of signs on a cardboard of about B2 in size. The yellowed paper reveals retouches by white paint on the ink. Blue lines mark the baseline, the capital line, the ascender and descender lines and the central verticals of the letters. With regard to the format of the flat scanner, the designs had to be reduced, with the use of a camera, to the format A4, i.e. to the upper-case letter height of about 30 mm. These were then scanned in 600 dpi resolution and read as a bitmap template to the FontStudio programme. The newly created bold type faces derive from Tyfa's designs of the letters "a", "n", "p", the darkness of which was increased further, approximately by 3%, to enhance their emphasizing function. The text designs have hairstrokes thickened by one third; the contrast between thin and thick strokes has been modified, in order to improve legibility, in sizes under 12 points. We have used electronic interpolation to produce the semi-bold designs. Josef Tyfa himself recommends to choose a somewhat darker design than the basic one for printing of books.

The ITC Franklin™ typeface design marks the next phase in the evolution of one of the most important American gothic typefaces. Morris Fuller Benton drew the original design in 1902 for American Type Founders (ATF); it was the first significant modernization of a nineteenth-century grotesque. Named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, the design not only became a best seller, it also served as a model for several other sans serif typefaces that followed it. Originally issued in just one weight, the ATF Franklin Gothic family was expanded over several years to include an italic, a condensed, a condensed shaded, an extra condensed and, finally, a wide. No light or intermediate weights were ever created for the metal type family. In 1980, under license from American Type Founders, ITC commissioned Victor Caruso to create four new weights in roman and italic - book, medium, demi and heavy - while preserving the characteristics of the original ATF design. This series was followed in 1991 by a suite of twelve condensed and compressed designs drawn by David Berlow. ITC Franklin Gothic was originally released as two designs: one for display type and one for text. However, in early digital interpretations, a combined text and display solution meant the same fonts were used to set type in any size, from tiny six-point text to billboard-size letters. The problem was that the typeface design was almost always compromised and this hampered its performance at any size. David Berlow, president of Font Bureau, approached ITC with a proposal to solve this problem that would be mutually beneficial. Font Bureau would rework the ITC Franklin Gothic family, enlarge and separate it into distinct text and display designs, then offer it as part of its library as well. ITC saw the obvious value in the collaboration, and work began in early 2004. The project was supposed to end with the release of new text and display designs the following year. But, like so many design projects, the ITC Franklin venture became more extensive, more complicated and more time consuming than originally intended. The 22-font ITC Franklin Gothic family has now grown to 48 designs and is called simply ITC Franklin. The new designs range from the very willowy Thin to the robust Ultra -- with Light, Medium, Bold and Black weights in between. Each weight is also available in Narrow, Condensed and Compressed variants, and each design has a complementary Italic. In addition to a suite of new biform characters (lowercase characters drawn with the height and weight of capitals), the new ITC Franklin Pro fonts also offer an extended character set that supports most Central European and many Eastern European languages. ITC Franklin Text is currently under development.

ITC Musclehead is the work of type designer Timothy Donaldson, a robust, densely packed handwriting typeface. It almost looks like brushwork but was in fact made with a ruling pen which Donaldson had bought from a company in Salem, Massachusetts. He says, The world's gone ruling-pen mad at the moment [late 1990s] and I was beginning to tire of all the skinny splashiness of the letters that most people were making with them. I wanted to do something heavy and robust with the tool, so that's what I did.""

Part of the first typeface release package from ITC in 1970, Busorama melds Art Deco and 70s flower-power into a delightful sans serif design. Designed by Tom Carnase, this three-weight sans serif family still turns heads.

Tom Carnase and Ronne Bonder’s freewheeling ITC adaptation of ATF’s turn-of-the-century Caslon boldfaces.

It's been said that creativity requires ten parts to perspiration to one part inspiration. But not always. According to its creator, Mira Vucko, ITC Needlescript was designed in one breath." An accomplished lettering artist, Vucko was sketching letters one afternoon. "I was using a calligraphy nib and was drawing the alphabet without much thought," she recalls. "When I allowed the down strokes of a couple of letters to fall below the baseline, I realized that I had created the impression of movement. I kept drawing letters in this fashion and did the same with horizontal lines. I added a firm ending to the descenders. Instead of dots above the 'i' and 'j,' I placed strokes in the opposite direction." In this way, the first characters that were to become ITC Needlescript emerged. The finished design is a lively, distinctive alphabet that produces a striking texture on the page. Letters intertwine and overlap to create a sense of movement and graphic intensity, especially when reversed out of a dark background. Vucko lives, works and was educated in Zagreb, Croatia. She lived in France and Sweden while in her twenties, but then returned to Croatia to work as a graphic designer for the country's largest newspaper. It was here that her passion for type and typography was born. Vucko has since gone on to become one of Croatia's leading graphic designers, and has won many awards for her advertising and packaging design. Vucko recommends that ITC Needlescript be used for "titling, lively but 'thorny' content, and anywhere that a little typographic drama is called for.""

Some words from the designer... Like a tree rooted in ancient philosophy with branches reaching into the new age, ITC Holistics encompasses 82 pictographs of astrology, healing, magic, nature and spirituality. In an illustration style that originates from hand-carved rubber stamps, west coast designer Teri Kahan shines new light on these timeless symbols. ITC Holistics is functional collectively and individually for graphics and logos. As with Teri's companion font ITC Connectivities, ITC Holistics can also be used as a divining tool. Just type your name in caps and lower case and see what the images tell you!

ITC Belter was designed by Andreu Balius in 1996. Out of a purposely limited form repertoire Balius created a constructed typeface with a cool and technical character. A distinguishing characteristic of this font is the cross at the ends of many strokes. The figures seem to be products of mass production, which heightens the mechanical feel of the font. Belter is meant for point sizes of 10 and larger in headlines and shorter texts and must be set with generous spacing.

ITC Aspera is the product of graphic experimentation. Olivera Stojadinovic, who designed the face, recalls, Over the last 15 years, I have made several small prints using Cyrillic characters. Often, I made my first sketches with a special pointed brush which was difficult to manipulate well, but once tamed, gave me interesting results." Stojadinovic decided to see if she could reproduce the unique brush quality in digital form. "The idea was to preserve the look of strokes made by my brush, so I kept the scanned shapes as close as possible to the originals, making interventions just to maintain consistent proportions, slope and weight." While this typeface is not a connecting script, Stojadinovic did create a number of letters, such as the 'o' and 's' that are natural connecting characters. She also drew a set of ligatures and matching ornaments to accompany the design."

ITC Tapioca was designed by Eric Stevens. He developed the typeface for a nightclub, yet its simple forms are reminiscent of childhood writing exercises. This effect is enhanced by rough edges, which in large sizes make the characters look as though they were composed of strings of dots...or tapioca. The basic style is printed handwriting, although some forms take cursive handwritten forms. The varying slants and irregular forms of the characters give ITC Tapioca a sense of energy and playfulness.

ITC Kulukundis is the work of designer Daniel Pelavin, a square, connecting script which looks as though it could have been cast in shiny chrome for the side of a 1950s American roadster. Pelavin based his design very loosely on a vertical French script but the overall look is all his own. Unlike calligraphic scripts, the lower case letters all connect in exactly the same way and the straight diagonal junctures give the typeface its broad, spacious character and keep it locked into a continuous line. ITC Kulukundis could also be used to create a decorative border for special occasions.

ITC Gamma font is the work of designer Jovica Veljović. Named after the third letter of the Greek alphabet, ITC Gamma has almost no sharp corners. Its serifs, stroke endings and terminals are all rounded, a feature best seen in larger point sizes.

ITC Temble was designed by Andreu Balius and draws influences from the European mediaeval period of King Arthur. The characters combine the angular qualities of mediaeval metallurgy with a modern tempo and the symbols included in the font exhibit the same stylistic forms. ITC Temble is perfect for work which should have a mediaeval or mystical appearance.

ITC Minska is the work of Carl Crossgrove, who used a combination of upper and lower case shapes together to create new letter forms. Crossgrove created unconventional yet immediately recognizable variations in two different alphabets, which cannot quite be classifed as upper and lower case in themselves. With opulant curves and sharp angles, ITC Minska projects an unorthodox energy which is ideal for unusual effects and display settings.

ITC Deelirious is the first typeface of Dee Densmore-D'Amico and its name comes from the astounding number of D's packed into her name. The design came from her own handwriting. The differences between capital and lowercase letters are sometimes arbitrary, but this characteristic and the many alternate letterforms give ITC Deelirious the spontaneity and naturalness of true handwriting.

A set of blocky shadowed outline capitals designed by Tom Carnase for ITC.

Some typefaces are staid, somber design tools. Then again, there's ITC Cinderella from Patricia Lillie: a typeface that's light-footed as a ballerina and joyful as a child at play. “There is a group of display faces that I simply love. Type that just seems to dance, type that makes me smile, designs that, when I see them, I say, "Boy, do I wish that was one of mine" says Lillie. “Although I never wanted to imitate these designs, when Cinderella started to emerge, I felt like it was the closest I've come to that quality.” ITC Cinderella projects gaiety and freedom. Capitals harmonize with a lowercase that bounces along with a lively, carefree attitude. Stroke weight stress is, well, all over the place. Curlicues abound. This delightful design is just that: brimming with delight.

ITC Mudville was Christopher Wolff's entry in the 1998 U&lc Type Design Competition, for which he won an Honorable Mention (Display). Mudville evolved from variations on hand-lettering that Wolff had done on a variety of projects over the years. The underlying shapes of the letters are formal roman letterforms, but the actual strokes retain the look of letters sketched casually on a layout. Mudville straddles the line between inline and outline type designs. It recalls some of the styles of popular lettering used in display advertising in the '20s.

ITC Usherwood font was designed by Leslie Usherwood, an informal and personable font which bridges the gap between modernity and tradition. There are hints of Bauer, Goudy and Augustea in this font, but ITC Usherwood remains both classic and contemporary, beautiful in form and functional in design.

ITC Ozwald was designed by David Farey and is a revival of a little-known typeface of American type designer Oswald Cooper called Cooper Fullface. The original was intended to be a modernized version of Bodoni and Farey captured all the charm, wit and creativity of the original in ITC Ozwald.

ITC Drycut is the work of Vancouver-based designer Serge Pichii and gives a twist to the tradition of heavy, woodcut-like typefaces. The font includes all the realistic features of a true woodcut, sharp edges, white cut marks and black slivers. The slivers around the edges suggest traces left after awkward movements of a knife, which are often visible on old woodcuts...Folk artists often didn't care much about refining their carvings and the slivers would have been left as long as the letters remained readable." The lower case alphabet is actually small caps proportioned to match the capitals. The letters of ITC Drycut have a slight slant to the right which lends the font a dynamic character."

ITC Silvermoon was designed by Akira Kobayashi in the style of the advertisements of the 1920s. Art Deco was the artistic movement which marked the years between the two world wars, combining elements of Jugenstil, futurism and east Asian influences. This font carries on in that tradition. The small, high reaching figures with their elegant forms and reserved but distinguishing loops give Silvermoon its unmistakable look. Kobayashi designed this font in two weights, regular and bold. To retain the elegance of the bold weight, the consistent stroke width of the regular weight was exchanged for contrasting strokes. This gives the weight more weight without detracting from its grace. The nostalgic, romantic ITC Silvermoon is best used for headlines and short texts in point sizes of 12 and larger.

ITC Ludwig has an edge. It's nervous, tense - maybe even a little scary. Drawn by Italian designer Giuseppe Errico, ITC Ludwig refuses to be confined to a traditional baseline. Its twisted lowercase g" and an "e" that could double as an upside-down "a" both add to the design's spooky personality. As a young man, Errico studied to be a fine artist. He became a graphic designer only after a “long reflection period,” he says. His early training is evident in many of ITC Ludwig's suggestive qualities. There is far more to this face than cranking up the “distort” knob in Fontographer. Reflection and personal expression are at its core."

ITC Freemouse was designed by Slobodan Miladinov in 1998. It is a fresh font, with the look of a chancery italic. ITC Freemouse's design displays a lively contrast of stroke and curve, which captures the expressiveness of calligraphic writing, combining it with the modern look of a digital typeface.

ITC Tiepolo font is from the design team at AlphaOmega Typography and named after Italian artist Dominic Tiepolo. The designers describe it as a sans serif with serifs" and it has also been referred to as a calligraphic design. Similar to Asian calligraphy, ITC Tiepolo font has personality yet does not detract from the text."

ITC Tactile is a puzzle of subtle typographic contradictions. Capitals have traditional epigraphic proportions, but the lowercase has a uniform optical width. Light weights are stately and elegant, but bold designs are almost jolly. This paradoxical alphabet even combines two distinctively different serif designs. Designer Joe Stitzlein says, “I wanted to create a modern and dynamic serif face that draws its forms from antiquity. I also wanted to have as much fun as possible with the drawing and architecture of each letter. Hopefully I've created a very legible typeface that grabs the reader's eye in a nice, 'tactile' way.” The apparent inconsistencies of the design are the result of careful consideration. Of the seemingly odd serif design, Stitzlein explains, “The transitional serif is an entry point for the eye into the letterform, and the long slab is an exit, leading to the next letter.” The result is a typeface that's easy to read at text sizes but offers surprising details when enlarged to display sizes, setting ITC Tactile apart from more traditional designs. While this is his first commercial typeface design, Stitzlein has ample experience creating custom typefaces for corporate branding, including companies such as Silicon Graphics and Sempra Energy. His graphic design business has served a wide range of clients, including Apple Computer and the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. The ITC Tactile family is available in three weights, with complementary italic designs and a suite of small caps for each of the roman designs. Stitzlein drew the small caps to match the height of the lowercase x-height, which enables “bi-form” or “unicase” setting in display copy.

ITC Ronda, with its constructed forms, was designed by Herb Lubalin in 1970. Behind its figures lie the clear geometric forms of the circle, triangle, and rectangle. The typeface presents a clear, modern look in any application. Distinguishing characteristics are the shapes of the upper right third of the capital B, P and R as well as the half-circle form of the descender of the Q. ITC Ronda is similar to Michael Neugebauer's Litera; both fonts display styles characteristic of the Bauhaus' work. "

ITC Cheltenham font in its present form is the work of designer Tony Stan. Originally designed by architect Bertram Goodhue, it was expanded by Morris Fuller Benton and completed by Stan in 1975 with a larger x-height and improved italic details. ITC Cheltenham font is an example of an up-to-date yet classic typeface. In 1993 Ed Benguiat added the Handtooled weights to this family. ITC Cheltenham® font field guide including best practices, font pairings and alternatives.

Underscript, from designer Claudio Rocha, is an alphabet of capital letters in handwritten style. Each letter has a corresponding alternative form and using both randomly in a text can give it the look of real handwriting. One constant element in the font is its stroke width. The strong figures are even and have rounded corners, lending them a cheerful appearance. All other attributes vary from letter to letter. Wide and narrow, high and low, the figures line themselves up unevenly on the base line. So can Underscript create a dynamic overall image with contrast. Underscript is perfect for cartoons, comics and anything light and carefree.

ITC Malstock is the work of Czech designer Frantisek Storm. The idea is based on a sign painting technique that uses a flat brush and a Maalstok, a long bar with soft padding which is used as a rest for the painter's hand and a guide for vertical lines. The strokes of this font end with a split stem which recalls the traces of the writer's brush. ITC Malstock is a narrow typeface which is ideal for headlines, invitations and advertisements. The designer recommends combining his typeface with others, to create harmony with sans serif typefaces in text sizes or contrast with serif typefaces.

ITC Highlander font is the work of Dave Farey and loosely based on the handwriting of the late American graphic artist and lettering master Oswald Cooper. ITC Highlander is a unique font family, but not so unusual that it is limited only to display applications.

ITC Coventry is the work of American designer Brian Sooy. ITC Coventry is what type would look like if you left a gothic font out in the rain. IF you look close, you'll see the roots of a handsome sans serif font buried under a layer of grime and rust, basically." The low-budget student flyers that Sooy saw in the Coventry section of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, inspired him to design this font and the result is a typeface which looks as though it has been faxed or photocopied many times. "While it looks very irregular in text, it's very carefully spaced to give that effect," says Sooy. ITC Coventry was designed to work just as well in text as in headlines or even on billboards."

ITC Verkehr was designed by Mott Jordan, who based its forms on those of narrow sans serif typefaces but also chose a departure from the tradition to set the font apart from the rest. The upper half of each character is heavier than the lower half, although this is usually the other way around. Diagonal strokes, like the horizontal of the lower case e, relax the otherwise regular, bar-like look of the font. ITC Verkehr is suited exclusively for use in headlines and display in larger point sizes.

ITC Beesknees font is the work of David Farey. He credits a number of sources as inspirations for his work, including Pushpin Studio, Peter Max, Bob Zoell and the Marx Brothers, whose typographic titles he admired as much as their cinematic humor. He was going to name the font 'Horse Feathers' or 'Monkey Business' after Marx Brothers films, then the name got shortened to 'Business', which then got transformed to 'Beesknees'. ITC Beesknees font contains a capital and small caps alphabet.

ITC Outback was designed by Bob Alonso, a contemporary typeface with a distressed" look. It combines the rustic 1920s look of Rudolph Koch's Neuland with the proportions of a 1960s headline typeface, then roughens the edges 1990s style. The crude, rough ITC Outback is clearly intended as a display typeface but reads surprisingly well even in sizes as small as 18 point."

ITC Machine font was created by the design team of Bonder and Carnase, a bold uppcase alphabet whose geometric letters add strength to any presentation. ITC Machine font is excellent for signage and other display applications.

A classic, timeless design by the phenomenal Ed Benguiat! Featured in: Best Fonts for Logos