DF-Stromboli doesn’t look like it but in fact it is a script typeface. It was written with a coffee spoon, acting like a broad pen, in the ashes of the Stromboli volcano right on top of a scanner. This typeface evokes orientation and fear, the dichotomy of Stromboli’s personification. A tribute to il faro del mediterraneo: the mediterranean lighthouse.

Baissano is an all-caps display typeface that is inspired by the Mediterranean culture, environment and typographical landscape. Its letterforms have been directly inspired by the many alphabets found all around the Mediterranean. For instance, the E is inspired by the Caucasian Albanian alphabet and the Y is inspired by the Greek psi letter (ψ), and that’s just to cite a few examples. Baissano also expresses the interconnection between nature and culture that has profoundly shaped the Mediterranean history and civilization. The letters have powerful and geometric stems, man-made elements, that express the notion of culture. Those are combined with smooth and curved nature-like loops and bowls that refer to the organic world. The combination of these two elements creates a poetic and unique typeface, that captures the Mediterranean spirit, its cultural heritage and its natural environment. Baissano is a titling typeface that is designed specifically for use at larger sizes, in titles and headlines, for example. Features : Uppercase Numbers and punctuation Alternates & ligatures Supported languages: English, French You can learn more about the Baissano typeface here.

A handwriting font with a decidedly sexy, Mediterranean flair. Perfect for restaurant signage, menus, party invitations and more. Sangre includes a plethora of European characters.

Costa Brava and Costa Dorada are devoted unforgettable days on beaches of tender Mediterranean sea in Catalonia. Enjoy! Both fonts were originally created in the summer 2003. The OpenType version, with extended Latin characters, was released in 2009.

Costa Brava and Costa Dorada are devoted unforgettable days on beaches of tender Mediterranean sea in Catalonia. Enjoy! Both fonts were originally created in the summer 2003. The OpenType version, with extended Latin characters, was released in 2009.

Zellige is a modular typeface inspired by the tiles that can be found in Southern Europe and North Africa. Made of ornamental geometric shapes, with two layers for improved legibility, Zellige reflects the luxurious and sophisticated flare of the mediterranean spirit of architectonical composition, employing the latin script into very baroque shapes.

British designer Tim Donaldson created the lively typeface Etruscan in 1995. Based on Etruscan letters from ancient Italy, this unusual and condensed sans serif face whimsically mixes soft lowercase characters with more angular capitals. Etruscan brings light and airy classical form into contemporary documents, and a sunny Mediterranean flair and jollity into your projects.

This unusual headline font is based on lettering found on a travel poster, advertising passage to Morocco on the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée line, designer unknown, circa 1930. Both versions of this font include the complete Unicode Latin 1252 and Central European 1250 character sets.

Zaatar is a dynamic Arabic typeface abstracted from a mixture of Arabic Ruq’ah and Nastaliq, the slanted baseline with a geometrical contemporary touch, manifest a strong contrast between thick and thin strokes, present a retro-futuristic impression yet an Arabic calligraphic seriousness. and it comes with five stylistic sets giving it a variety of typographic possibilities. Zaatar means thyme, which was first cultivated in Mediterranean Levant, then used by ancient Egyptians for embalming. That's why we found it a perfect name for the first collaboration between Boharat (Cairo) and Hey Porter! (Jordan).

Ersatz has its vibrant roots in the Mediterranean climate of Spain. Tired of the functional monoline sanserif fonts used throughout Europe from road signage to corporate identity, Richard Dawson and Dave Farey, British type designers who crave color and sunlight, created a style that is refreshing and lively. The basic constructions are simple and attractive, mixing lower case shapes into the capitals - and unique letterforms into the lower case. There's a raunchy feel to Ersatz, soft curves and back kicks, if you listen very carefully you can hear the sharp guitars and the soft tambourine of the Flamenco.

Scirocco is a hot and humid wind that blows from the Sahara over to France and Italy. It crosses the mediterranean sea and carries lots of fine desert dust with it. Once it hits the coast of Provençe one can feel it grinding ones teeth and see it as fine dust covering every car. It makes people go nuts! Scirocco, the typeface has that same hot moving character and the finer hairlines giving it a kind of Arabic touch. If you use it too much, it will make you go nuts. Your pretty crazy Gert Wiescher

Pseudographia is a lighthearted, loving pastiche of “Greek-Style” type inspired by J.M. Bergling’s 1917 “Society Greek” lettering. Happily living in the world of kitschy cross-cultural fonts of the kind found on restaurant awnings around the US, Pseudos is blithely unconcerned with legibility. Instead, it embraces its own benign exoticism and revels in its own chicanery! Pseudographia’s standard letterforms are angular Roman forms. Its Stylistic Set One contains a simplified Small Caps version of the kind commonly seen at Mediterranean eateries. Its Stylistic Set Two contains a full set of outlined Ornamental caps. Opa! Part of The Ampersand Forest's Sondheim Series.

Xaloc was designed for editorial use in books, magazines and newspapers. This typeface family contains different font versions for different optical sizes; Caption, Text, Subhead and Display, all of them with different x-height proportions and contrast. Its serifs are asymmetrical and its letterforms have geometric modulated strokes that emulate the calligraphic variations. Its design approach enhances text flow and continuous reading. Xaloc was based on Ricado Santos’ Tramuntana, which has the same skeleton, proportions and serifs with a more mechanical design. Xaloc is the Catalonian name from the Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe.

Mijas Ultra font was designed specially as a headlines and caption text for advertising, packaging and Publishing design. It has strong visual impact, a persuasive personality and seduction appeal throughout its organic shapes. This versatile typeface is quite useful for creating logotypes, a variety of alternates and swash tails in three different styles and length were drawn for most letters, plenty of vowel-focused ligatures, it covers all Latin-based languages. Please refer to quick reference manual included. Mijas is a little white town located at a mountainside above the blue Mediterranean Sea, in the heart of the Costa del Sol. It has high contrast, small counterforms and friendly climate.

Aceituna means ‘olive’ in Spanish. It comes from the Arabic Al-Zeitoun. I am multi-tasking today: finishing this font and thinking about what to cook for my family tonight (yes, I am the one who cooks!). We normally eat Asian food, but I was toying with the idea of serving something Mediterranean and realised we had run out of olives. So there you have it: the super simple trick of naming a new font! But enough of cooking: Aceituna font was made with a Japanese brush pen. It is a very versatile font: tall and thin, elegant and a little messy. A hint of texture and, like olives, it goes with almost anything.

Sitting inside our offline vault and print catalogs for several years but still available for purchase, PF Signskript is part of a valuable triad of typographic gems which are finally re-released, fully updated and upgraded. Designed by Vladimir Radibratović, a foremost calligrapher, type designer and illustrator, this trilogy of script typefaces was recently revamped by our design team with full support for Latin, Greek and Cyrillic. Initially released between 2000 and 2003 these typefaces manifest a human, hand-crafted feel. Designed to excel particularly within casual and natural contexts, their names reveal their exact identity. The nostalgic charm of PF Signskript, the unique vintage and rough appeal of PF Rafskript or the organic Mediterranean essence of PF Mediterra have all attracted attention to these popular typefaces for brands on the supermarket shelves, wine labels, packaging, quotes, stationery and vintage lettering.

Sitting inside our offline vault and print catalogs for several years but still available for purchase, PF Rafskript is part of a valuable triad of typographic gems which are finally re-released, fully updated and upgraded. Designed by Vladimir Radibratović, a foremost calligrapher, type designer and illustrator, this trilogy of script typefaces was recently revamped by our design team with full support for Latin, Greek and Cyrillic. Initially released between 2000 and 2003 these typefaces manifest a human, hand-crafted feel. Designed to excel particularly within casual and natural contexts, their names reveal their exact identity. The nostalgic charm of PF Signskript, the unique vintage and rough appeal of PF Rafskript or the organic Mediterranean essence of PF Mediterra have all attracted attention to these popular typefaces for brands on the supermarket shelves, wine labels, packaging, quotes, stationery and vintage lettering.

Sitting inside our offline vault and print catalogs for several years but still available for purchase, PF Mediterra is part of a valuable triad of typographic gems which are finally re-released, fully updated and upgraded. Designed by Vladimir Radibratović, a foremost calligrapher, type designer and illustrator, this trilogy of script typefaces was recently revamped by our design team with full support for Latin, Greek and Cyrillic. Initially released between 2000 and 2003 these typefaces manifest a human, hand-crafted feel. Designed to excel particularly within casual and natural contexts, their names reveal their exact identity. The nostalgic charm of PF Signskript, the unique vintage and rough appeal of PF Rafskript or the organic Mediterranean essence of PF Mediterra have all attracted attention to these popular typefaces for brands on the supermarket shelves, wine labels, packaging, quotes, stationery and vintage lettering.

Go back to a time when the Mediterranean coastline was truly glamorous, when stylish women and men in wire-framed glasses listened to Domenico Modugno songs on the radio while sipping wine in sidewalk cafes. A relaxing summer’s day, a gentle sea breeze, taking the time to write a postcard to your loved ones in your best handwriting. The 1950’s may have come and gone, but the elegance and simplicity of that classic style has not, Mina keeps the feel of calligraphy, the long connections between letters is elastic, the clean, thin lines, it is a relaxed cursive ideal for logotypes, titles, and lettering. There are eleven Mina font styles and many loops to choose from to customize any letter. Bring the seaside glamour of a bygone era to your projects of today with Mina. Ranging from light to heavy, Mina Calligraphic, and Mina Shadow, this family of fonts work perfectly separately but you can also achieve beautiful results when combining them. Check out also Mina Chic We recommend to combine Mina with: PestoFresco Turquoise

Cosmopolitan Elegance Named after a southerly wind that blows over the Mediterranean Sea, FS Ostro breathes warmth into letterforms with their roots in colder, stark Modern typefaces. FS Ostro is a typeface imbued with balanced and sophisticated elegance. It’s discerning and sensitive, self-assured but understated. One for the well-travelled reader. Thoughtful contrast FS Ostro draws inspiration from a wide range of sources, such as 19th century British Scotch Roman designs, Italian modern style typefaces and highly contrasted display Spanish examples. Its text version offers a consistent rhythm and robust texture that is easy on the eye. This elegant, cosmopolitan typeface is characterised by its thoughtfully modulated contrasts between thick and thin, sharp angles, and sophisticated curves. Exaggerated touches in display “What is more restrained and sober in text, becomes purposefully prominent and more detailed in display,” says Fontsmith designer Alessia Mazzarella. These exaggerated details for the display version can be seen in the letter terminals, such as those in the ‘a’ and ‘g’ and the tail of the ‘Q’, as well as in the set of numerals, fractions, arrows, borders and ornaments, which can be used to build decorative framing elements. Fluid italics The less rigid and curvaceous italics of modern style typefaces were the inspiration for FS Ostro’s own subtle, flowing italic styles. The letterforms are confident and fluid, creating an overall sense of refinement and modernity.

I’m happy to present you the Bohemian initials font family. Regular and Colored styles (Uppercase & Numbers) based on Codex Gigas originated in medieval Bohemia. The manuscript has been dated 1230. The elaborate initials are at the beginning of the main texts and their principal divisions. The painter was aiming to achieve a plastic depiction of the trailing vines of the initials, and he painted with solid colours. He used only four of the primary colours cinnabar red, blue, green and yellow, brightly toned, as well as white accents and contours. The trailing vines of the initial letters are painted in a decorative, advanced Romanesque style, already bordering on naturalism. The plant taken as the starting point is the acanthus, a thistle-like plant which grows wild in the Mediterranean countries. The decoration of the Devil’s Bible is not the work of an amateur. Scholars have concurred: it is book illuminations created in Northeast France and Southern England in the so-called Channel style which provided the starting point for the coiled trailing-vine shapes in the initials of the Devil’s Bible. --- You can use color fonts in PS CC 2017+, AI CC 2018+, ID CC 2019+, macOS 10.14 Mojave+ Please note that the Canva & Corel & Affinity doesn't support color fonts! --- Please feel free to request any help you need: kaer.pro@gmail.com Thank you!

Cosmopolitan Elegance Named after a southerly wind that blows over the Mediterranean Sea, FS Ostro breathes warmth into letterforms with their roots in colder, stark Modern typefaces. FS Ostro is a typeface imbued with balanced and sophisticated elegance. It’s discerning and sensitive, self-assured but understated. One for the well-travelled reader. Thoughtful contrast FS Ostro draws inspiration from a wide range of sources, such as 19th century British Scotch Roman designs, Italian modern style typefaces and highly contrasted display Spanish examples. Its text version offers a consistent rhythm and robust texture that is easy on the eye. This elegant, cosmopolitan typeface is characterised by its thoughtfully modulated contrasts between thick and thin, sharp angles, and sophisticated curves. Exaggerated touches in display “What is more restrained and sober in text, becomes purposefully prominent and more detailed in display,” says Fontsmith designer Alessia Mazzarella. These exaggerated details for the display version can be seen in the letter terminals, such as those in the ‘a’ and ‘g’ and the tail of the ‘Q’, as well as in the set of numerals, fractions, arrows, borders and ornaments, which can be used to build decorative framing elements. Fluid italics The less rigid and curvaceous italics of modern style typefaces were the inspiration for FS Ostro’s own subtle, flowing italic styles. The letterforms are confident and fluid, creating an overall sense of refinement and modernity.

A mediterranean style sanserif in 4 styles The original idea of Costa was to create a contemporary mediterranean typeface style. Costa is a synthesis of the purity, as found on Greek capitals, and softness, found in Renaissance scripts. First thing was the design concept that take its roots on the Chancery script. Such writing style appeared during Italian Renaissance. Later few typefaces have been developed from such cursive models. Today most serifed typeface italic take their roots on such triangular structure we can find on gylphs like the n, p, or d. The Costa capitals remains close to pure sanserif models when the lowercases features an ending serif on many letters like the a, n, d, etc. This ending serif being more like a minimal brush effect, creating a visual contrast and referencing the exoticness of the typeface. Knowing that the Costa typeface family began life in the 90s as a bespoke typeface for Costa Crociere, an Italian cruise company — it suddenly makes sense and explains well why Jean François Porchez focused so much on Italian Chancery mixed to a certain exotism. The curvy-pointed terminals of the Costa n can obviously get find on other glyphs, such as the ending of the e, c and some capitals. So, the sanserif looks more soft and appealing, without to be to pudgy or spineless. The general effect, when set for text, remains a sanserif, even not like Rotis Semiserif. Costa is definitly not a classical typeface, or serif typeface which convey past, tradition, historicism as Garamond does beautifully. Because of the Costa crocieres original needs, Costa typeface was designed to be appropriate for any uses. Anytime you’re looking for good mood, qualitative effects, informal tone, cool atmosphere without to be unconvential or blowzy, Costa will convey to your design the required chic and nice atmosphere, from large headlines sizes, brands, to small text sizes. It’s a legible typeface, never boring. A style without neutrality which doesn’t fit comfortably into any typeface classification! Does it proves the novelty of its design and guarantees as well as its originality? Its up to you to be convinced. Barcelona trip Originally not planned, this need appeared because of a trip to Barcelona at the time of the project, where Jean François was giving a lecture. He wanted to pay an homage to that invitation to create something special. So, he designed during his flight some variations of the Spanish Ch, following ideas developed by the Argentinian type designer Rubén Fontana for his typeface called Fontana ND (published by the Barcelona foundry Bauer). Then, he presented during his lecture variations and asked to the audience which design fit the best to their language. They selected the design you can find in the fonts today. Read more about pairing Costa Type Directors Club 2000 Typographica: Our Favourite Typefaces 2004

Lycia (Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 Trm̃mis; Greek: Λυκία, Lykia; Turkish: Likya) was a geopolitical region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, and Burdur Province inland. Known to history since the records of ancient Egypt and the Hittite Empire in the Late Bronze Age, it was populated by speakers of the Luwian language group. Written records began to be inscribed in stone in the Lycian language (a later form of Luwian) after Lycia's involuntary incorporation into the Achaemenid Empire in the Iron Age. At that time (546 BC) the Luwian speakers were decimated, and Lycia received an influx of Persian speakers. Ancient sources seem to indicate that an older name of the region was Alope (Ancient Greek: Ἀλόπη, Alópē). Lycia fought for the Persians in the Persian Wars, but on the defeat of the Achaemenid Empire by the Greeks, it became intermittently a free agent. After a brief membership in the Athenian Empire, it seceded and became independent (its treaty with Athens had omitted the usual non-secession clause), was under the Persians again, revolted again, was conquered by Mausolus of Caria, returned to the Persians, and finally fell under Macedonian hegemony upon the defeat of the Persians by Alexander the Great. Due to the influx of Greek speakers and the sparsity of the remaining Lycian speakers, Lycia was rapidly Hellenized under the Macedonians, and the Lycian language disappeared from inscriptions and coinage.

Phoenician/Canaanite The Phoenician alphabet developed from the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, during the 15th century BC. Before then the Phoenicians wrote with a cuneiform script. The earliest known inscriptions in the Phoenician alphabet come from Byblos and date back to 1000 BC. The Phoenician alphabet was perhaps the first alphabetic script to be widely-used - the Phoenicians traded around the Mediterraean and beyond, and set up cities and colonies in parts of southern Europe and North Africa - and the origins of most alphabetic writing systems can be traced back to the Phoenician alphabet, including Greek, Etruscan, Latin, Arabic and Hebrew, as well as the scripts of India and East Asia. Notable features Type of writing system: abjad / consonant alphabet with no vowel indication Writing direction: right to left in hortizontal lines. Sometimes boustrophedon. Script family: Proto-Sinaitic, Phoenician Number of letters: 22 - there was considerable variation in their forms in different regions and at different times. The names of the letters are acrophonic, and their names and shapes can be ultimately traced back to Egyptian Hieroglyphs. For example, the name of the first letter, 'aleph, means ox and developed from a picture of an ox's head. Some of the letter names were changed by the Phoenicians, including gimel, which meant camel in Phoenician, but was originally a picture of a throwing stick (giml).

Many calligraphers agree that Roman Capitals is one of the most beautiful yet difficult hands to master. Its beauty lies in its simplicity of form and structure, yet understanding and applying these skillfully can take years of mindful practice. My goal was to design Roman Capitals that were smoothly designed with a brush, not carved. The main concept was based on the fundamental strokes that are commonly studied when you practice Roman letters. That’s why many Serifs have these unfinished terminal serifs. I created the Turquoise typeface based on my Capitalis Romana practice with a flexible broad edged brush and gouache. During the lowercase process I was still following Foundational calligraphy with a flat brush. My Turquoise Capitals were then adjusted and redesigned at the Tipobrda calligraphy workshop in Slovenia. Turquoise contains small caps, many discretionary ligatures, ornaments, swashes as well as several brushy nature-inspired ornaments, accessible via OpenType. Ideally suited for headlines or body text in advertising, packaging and visual identities, its delicate shapes, curves and endings give projects a harmonious elegance and stylistic feel in unique Turquoise style. My inspiration for this font showcase is one of the richest islands in the Mediterranean, the place where my parents are from, Sicily. This southern Italian region has so many unique spots: Stromboli, part of the Aeolian Islands, and the Pelagie Islands is one of my favorite places in Sicily. The pictures I used were taken there this year. So enjoy the sun, the serifs, the water and its Turquoise colors. The brush is mightier than the sword. Opentype Features: https://www.rsztype.com/article/how-to-use-opentype-features-adobe-microsoft-pages Turquoise works very well with Nautica Check also Turquoise Inline

The word ‘Ghibli’ per se refers to a Saharan hot and dry wind commonly known as the Sirocco. In Arabic language, ‘Ghibli’ is known as ‘Qibli or Kibli’, meaning ‘Southern’ for those Arabic nations who live in the North of Africa. The ‘Ghibli’ wind is most common during spring and autumn, and can blow at almost 60mph; it is this wind which is responsible for the dry, dusty conditions on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. ‘Ghibli’ can last for days making life miserable and is therefore feared by the desert dwellers in that region. It can also have profound effect on the landscape by moving vast quantities of sand and dunes. Inspired by the Studio Ghibli’s unique and magical characters, the ‘Ghibli’ typeface is designed as a Latin free and literary serif typeface. It strongly expresses transition, imagination, sharpness, characterization, and modernization. It is a literary type that can capture the eyesight of readers and other observers with its acute and stylistic letterforms, dots, and numerals. It has transitional serifs and it is generally based upon the Latin printing style of the 18th and 19th centuries, with a pronounced vertical contrast in stroke emphasis (i.e., vertical strokes being heavier than the horizontal strokes). It has more regular forms in which serifs are bracketed and more symmetrical. The main characteristic of ‘Ghibli’ typeface is in its new designed serif letters. Special letters that can be described as having modern designs include small ‘g’, ‘p’ (with their open ends), ‘x’, and capital ‘B’, ‘P’, ‘Q’, and ‘R’ (with their open ends). ‘Ghibli’ typeface has also both of lining and old-style numerals which makes it more suitable for any literary and printing purposes. This gratuitous font comes in only two weights (i.e., Ghibli Regular and Ghibli Bold). It is absolutely preferable to be used in the wide fields related to literature and publication industry. This includes typing titles of diverse literary and academic books, readable texts of novels, novellas, short stories, prose, poetry, textbooks, newspapers, and magazines. It is also notable if chosen for designs that include movies’ titles, logos of academic institutions such as colleges and universities, organizations and associations’ names, medical packages such as those dedicated for tablets and syrups, and also other different educational and social materials. ‘Ghibli’ is simply a free literary typeface dedicated for all who want to write and read using a modern and stylish serif font. Enjoy it.

Phinney Jenson ML is a font with deep historical roots firmly planted in the fertile soil of the Italian Renaissance. Twenty years after Lorenzo Ghiberti finished his famous East Doors, the Gates of Paradise, of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence and about fifteen years before Sandro Botticelli painted his “Birth of Venus,” a French printer by the name of Nicolas Jenson set up a small print shop in the powerful city-state of Venice. The fifteenth century marked the end of the plague and the rise of Venetian power, as the merchants of Venice controlled the lucrative trade of the eastern Mediterranean and sent their ships as far as London and even the Baltic. In 1470, Jenson introduced his Roman type with the printing of De Praeparatio Evangelica by Eusebuis. He continued to use his type for over 150 editions until he died in 1480. In 1890 a leader of the Arts & Crafts movement in England named William Morris founded Kelmscott Press. He was an admirer of Jenson’s Roman and drew his own somewhat darker version called GOLDEN, which he used for the hand-printing of limited editions on homemade paper, initiating the revival of fine printing in England. Morris' efforts came to the attention of Joseph Warren Phinney, manager of the Dickinson Type Foundry of Boston. Phinney requested permission to issue a commercial version, but Morris was philosophically opposed and flatly refused. So Phinney designed a commercial variation of Golden type and released it in 1893 as Jenson Oldstyle. Phinney Jenson is our version of Phinney’s version of Morris' version of Nicolas Jenson’s Roman. We selected a view of the Piazza San Marco in Venice for our gallery illustration of Phinney Jenson ML because most of the principal buildings on the Piazza were already standing when Jenson arrived in Vienna in 1470. The original Campanile was completed in 1173 (the 1912 replacement is partially visible on the left). The Basilica di San Marco was substantially complete by 1300. The Doge’s Palace (not in the photo, but next to the Basilica) was substantially complete by 1450. Even the Torre dell'Orologio (Clock Tower) may have been completed by 1470—certainly by 1500. Phinney Jenson ML has a "rough-and-ready" strength, suitable for headlines and short blocks of text. We have sought to preserve some of the crudeness of the nineteenth-century original. For comparison, see the more refined Centaur, Bruce Rogers's interpretation of Jenson Roman. Phinney Jenson ML has a strong presence that will help your documents stand out from the Times New Roman blizzard that threatens to cover us all. Phinney Jenson ML Features: 1. Glyphs for the 1252 Western Europe, 1250 Central Europe, the 1252 Turkish and the 1257 Baltic Code Pages. Accented glyphs for Cornish and Old Gaelic. Total of 393 glyphs. 400 kerning pairs. 2. OpenType GSUB layout features: onum, pnum, salt, liga, dlig, hisy and ornm. 3. Tabular (std), proportional (opt) & old-style numbers (opt). 5. CcNnOoSsZz-kreska available (salt).

Maestrale is a paradigm-breaking new take on calligraphy, built around a compact, serif-style core and outrageously long, flamboyant extenders. At large sizes, its confident, charismatic lettershapes are ideally suited for branding and decorative uses, whereas longer texts at smaller sizes naturally weave themselves into a flowing texture. The font comprises 1299 glyphs, including many stylistic alternates, ligatures, small capitals, and initial, terminal, and linking forms, and offers extensive OpenType programming to support them. The calligraphic form of Maestrale is complemented by a matching text font (Maestrale Text) with short extenders, available in three cuts (a serif-style Roman, an upright Cursive, and a tilted Italic). Maestrale is all about the lowercase; its capitals are deliberately understated so as not to steal the limelight. In fact, the font works very well when set exclusively in lowercase. Maestrale�s small capitals are fitted into the core space of the lowercase, allowing them to be freely interspersed with lowercase characters. Alternately, an OpenType feature is available to replace a and e in small-caps text with their lowercase equivalents for a fresh unicase look. Since alternates and ligatures play such an important role, Maestrale offers three different modes of use. The most straightforward approach is simply to start typing using Maestrale Pro � the extensive OpenType programming will ensure that collisions between extenders are avoided and attractive ligatures are substituted for common glyph combinations. A more interactive approach is provided by the font Maestrale Manual, which allows the user to manually select alternate forms and ligatures even in typographically unsavvy applications, such as PowerPoint (as long as standard ligatures are supported). Stylistic alternates are simply represented as ligatures of their base forms with one or more instances of the rarely-used by easily-accessed characters "~" (ASCII tilde) and "`" (spacing grave accent); linking forms are built with �_� (underscore), multi-character ligatures with "|" (pipe), and initial and terminal forms with the �less than� and �greater than� characters. For instance, the Maestrale wordmark in the posters above was simply typeset with the string (`ma`est|r_a```l```e)| in Maestrale Manual (The parentheses represent �less than� and �greater than� characters here.) Feel free to type this string into the test line below and see what happens! Make sure Standard Ligatures are enabled. An instruction sheet listing all alternate forms and their accessibility is available from the Gallery tab on this page. The third mode of usage is aimed at professional designers, who make use of sophisticated software with extensive OpenType support. These power users are advised to use the font Maestrale Pro again, where all glyphs are accessible as stylistic alternates. Maestrale Text is a less extravagant but more versatile variation on the design of Maestrale, replacing Maestrale�s swashes with efficiently compact extenders. It is intended to serve as a perfectly matching text companion to Maestrale calligraphy, but constitutes a full-fledged typeface in its own right. It is equally at home at display sizes as it is in pull quotes, titles, and high-impact blocks of text. Maestrale Text comes in three complementary faces: A serif-style Roman, an upright Cursive, and a tilted Italic. Maestrale is the Italian word for �masterful�. It is also the traditional Italian name for the northwesterly mediterranean wind, better known by its French name, Mistral. Acknowledgements: I am grateful to the helpful souls on the Typophile forums for extensive feedback and encouragement on Maestrale, and to the TypeDrawers forum for feedback on Maestrale Text. This font is dedicated to Simone.