The Bitstream version of Monotype Rockwell, 1934. Twentieth-century design influence is revealed in strokes of more even weight than in the original nineteenth-century Egyptians or Slab Serifs. Rockwell is a prime example of this twentieth-century approach. It seems to be a simple Constructivist geometric sans with strong square slab serifs added to. Angular terminals make its sturdy design particular sparkling. It is a strong face for headlines and posters, and is legible in very short text blocks. Cyrillic version was developed at ParaType in 2000 by Isay Slutsker and Manvel Shmavonyan.

Stubby is a display type family with 11 styles, was made for titles, headlines and also packages, posters and everything that provide space for a rude, fat and widish type. You should try Stubby in your text blocks if you're looking for an informal shape with some handwriting taste, there are eleven styles mixing from a narrowed thin to a sloppy ultrabold. Stubby has a tight spacing made to fit in squeeze places, not so elegant or clean but definitely an original choice for your real life project.

Velour is an elegant display typeface, with thin, bracketed serifs. The typeface’s main features are the curved crossbar on ‘A’ and ‘H’, the long, sophisticated legs of ‘K’ and ‘R’ including an alternative ‘k’ automatically substituted in appropriate places, providing a consistent flow of text and a romantic feel. The typeface comes with a beautiful set of both standard and old-style numerals, two different ampersands and alternates with less complicated letterforms. Velour is available in 6 weights, from Thin to Bold, and supports Western, Central and South Eastern European languages.

Chunkie is a simple serif experiment going for minimal width and maximum height. I made it into my display version of OpenType Pro, but mainly it was a vehicle for me to try out some more extreme serif ideas and glyph shapes. The solutions for the lowercase a and e are unique, for example. The double g ligature is a fun solution. I like the solution for the @, but I’m not sure how it will be received. That being said, it turned into a useful dark display face with a small x-height.

MVB Peccadillo is an interpreted revival of a metal typeface popular in the 19th Century, then known as Skeleton Antique. Highly condensed with extra short descenders, the face makes a big impact in a narrow space. Holly Goldsmith worked from letterpress-printed specimens of 96-point, antique metal type, deliberately retaining subtle distortions due to type wear and letterpress impression. Alan Dague-Greene, referring to printed samples of Skeleton Antique, adapted the design to create two additional optical sizes: “Eight” for smaller text and “Twenty-four” for subheads.

Leksa is an oldstyle, even a bit old-fashioned text family in 12 faces, including six upright and six italic ones, from Light to Black, with both oldstyle and tabular digits and true small caps. The typeface works best in the books of classical style, and looks good in both small and large point sizes. One of the main features of the typeface is its professionally-designed Cyrillic which (together with sans-serif companion Leksa Sans) was awarded for excellence in type design at Modern Cyrillic competition in Superfamilies category.

Backwash AOE is a typeface I drew up back in 2000 inspired by various graffiti artists. Coming across all of my sketches recently and seeing a trend lately in graffiti inspired styles, I finally came around to finishing it up digitally for release. I love the break the rules, wildchild aspect, of graffiti lettering. And while this typeface is nothing like the wilder inspirations that I spawned this typeface from, it has a more legible direction to it, retaining just the flavor of the originals. I hope you enjoy it.

The hand lettered sans serif title on the1931 sheet music for “(Potatoes are Cheaper-Tomatoes are Cheaper) Now’s the Time to Fall in Love” presented another opportunity to create a typeface from the wealth of unusual alphabets found on the covers of vintage and antique song sheets. However, it seems that even as late as the 1930s, song writers had the urge to pen long-worded titles for their musical compositions. This thirteen word verbal excursion became the model for Casual Deco JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

A book in the library of University of Wisconsin caught David Berlow’s attention. It was set in a clear text face - a predecessor of Bookman, cast by the Western Type Foundry who called it Custer. Upon noting how well the typeface worked in 6 and 7 points, he developed it into a member of the Reading Edge series specifically designed for small text on screen. Custer RE was a broad and approachable typeface drawn large on the body with a tall x-height to maximize its size when set very small.

Architype Ingenieur was inspired by Wim Crouwel’s late 1950s exhibition catalogues and posters, for which he had created a few geometrically constructed, simplified letterforms. In the 1960 Venice Biennale Dutch entry poster, he drew grid-based letters with 45-degree angles for ‘olanda’, the style influenced by his boyhood fascination with naval lettering. A subtle variation appeared in the Stedelijk Museum catalogue for painter Jean Brusselmans. Several dot matrix versions followed. The themes and systems in these early letterforms are encapsulated in this new four weight family Architype Ingenieur.

Nerone is a quasi-unicase display type family in four weights, from light to black. In its lighter versions, it's reminiscent of dignified flared serifs like Albertus. In its black version, it's comparable to display faces like Serif Gothic, with a hint of Mostra-like despotism... Inspired by ancient Roman capitals, Nerone takes a whimsical look at how they might turn into a black fatface, and how a matching lowercase might give the whole affair a whimsical feel — specifically when applied to fun branding and marketing uses. Part of The Ampersand Forest's Sondheim Series.

MagMixer, a display typeface, was designed in 2005 for ParaType by Dmitry Kirsanov. During work on Magistral the designer had an idea of creating a more decorative face based on Magistral shapes but reflecting an industrial and mechanichal approach. Each glyph has maximal contrast between strokes and horizontal shift in shape. The result is some strange and enigmatic but legible letterforms with active inner rhythm. Its letters are reminiscent of building construction, chess board, and many other things that corresponding to author's task. For use in advertising and display typography.

Scape is a precisely drawn, contemporary stencil face built from a single weight rounded end stroke. The fine, linear rounded forms create a subtle contrast to the raw utilitarian nature of the stenciled characters. Extremely versatile, Scape is highly legible due to it’s upright, consistently balanced sans letterforms. Stylistically, it exemplifies refinement and clarity with an distinct edge. Features include: Precision kerning Expanded ligature set Alternate characters (O, _, ®) Alternate zero Extended language support (Latin-1 and Latin Extended-A) *Requires an application with OpenType and/or Unicode support.

An online reproduction of a trade ad circa the 1950s for comedian-actor Paul Gilbert featured his name in the hand-drawn lettering that serves as the basis for Stand Up JNL. While the style of the typeface is derivative of the Latin Spur faces used popularly since the 1800s, the playful – almost awkward angles create a casual design that evokes good times. It should be noted that the extremes of such angles might appear ill-spaced unless kerning is turned on within the application where the typeface will be used.

It seems only fitting that Pleasant Valley Sundae JNL, a typeface re-drawn from hand lettering on a piece of vintage sheet music, should take its name as a pun on another song's title from a different era. "Pleasant Valley Sunday" was a 1967 hit for the Monkees and was written by the legendary songwriting team of Carole King and the late Gerry Goffin; inspired in turn by a street they'd lived on named Pleasant Valley Way, in West Orange, New Jersey. The record made it to #3 on the pop charts.

New Alphabet was created as a four weight family in close collaboration with Wim Crouwel. His response in the late 1960s to the first device for electronic typesetting was a radical experiment designed to follow the underlying dot-matrix system. With his strong interest in grids, Crouwel worked within the constraints of existing electronic technology, to produce characters that worked with the mechanical means that conveyed them. His original New Alphabet experiments have now been further developed by The Foundry into a typeface family that also includes the dot version.

Ruffcut is an antique wood type style that evokes the look and feel of type used in the design of poster-sized advertisements for circus, fairground and like events in the late 19th century. It is inspired by the memories of printing letterpress posters on an old cast-iron flatbed press where the oversized posters were usually composed directly on the bed of the press using mostly wood type as large as two feet high. Ruffcut is optimal at large sizes for a wide array of decorative issues.

Foundry Context is a sans serif family designed to be universal in many contexts – hence the name. A ‘no-nonsense’ typeface, reminiscent of 19th century sans serif faces, Foundry Context has very round, pure letterforms, crafted without being over refined, and having minimal stroke contrast in the neo-grotesque style. A hint of personality has emerged from the very drawing of the proportions, strokes, and terminals, yet Foundry Context is still neutral enough to compete in the grotesk arena, and at the same time has something new to say.

Crop is the guy who works till 3am, striving for greatness. Crop is the one in the gym at six in the morning, pushing harder every time. Taking no for an answer, just isn't part of the deal. Crop is the one with fire in his heart and eye intense enough to achieve the unthinkable. If you've never stopped pushing boundaries, if you think second place isn't worth getting out of bed for, if you can stand on the top of the world and ask, 'What's next?' - Crop might just be the one for you!

D Hanna Soft is a sans serif type family of 9 weights plus matching italics. It is inspired by the geometric style sans serif faces with a mix of rounded shapes and a little bit of black in some corners. The medium weights serve very well in body text, while the thinner and bolder styles make an excellent choice for headlines . D Hanna Soft is equipped with a complete set of opentype features including alternative glyphs, fractions, ligatures and many more. It is perfectly suited for highlighting lettering, magazines, web, interaction design, advertising, logotypes, etc.

Round, firm, and bursting at the seams with good humor, ITC Mister Chuckles is based on the premise that barrel shapes have pleasant associations. Think: beer-barrel polkas, a barrel of fun, or a barrel of laughs, and you'll get the idea. Designer Nick Curtis has combined sans serif sturdiness, a hint of 1930s deco and a handful of giggles in this remarkably versatile all-cap face. If the typographic occasion calls for mirth and merriment, invite Mister Chuckles to the party. You'll have more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

A circa-1951 toy set called “Kusan Kavalcade of Letters” was comprised of molded plastic letters and numbers a child could play with, trace and arrange to learn their alphabet and numerals. Typographically, the design was all over the place – from sans serif characters to those with some spurred serifs and even some stenciled characters because of the nature of manufacture. As odd as this combination seems, it was novel enough to be turned into a digital typeface called Stencil Playthings JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

ITC Tremor is the work of British designer Alan Dempsey. You might think that it looks like the letters are in a seismically lively geological zone, but Dempsey had other kinds of motion in mind. Most of the faces I design come from trace 'work-outs' for advertising products. In the case of Tremor, it was to reflect a lively teenager," says Dempsey. The result is ITC Tremor, a cartoony slab serif typeface with irregular angles, straight-edged curves, and lines surrounding each character, making them look like they are jittery.

Tiza is a rough take on informal faces and handwriting, brought on by the recent demand for scripts and brush lettering. Its flow leaves traces simulating runny pen ink, which makes it very suitable for handwriting-like paragraphs as well as casual greeting card and invitation setting. The bold weight, Tiza Negra, fits very nicely on book covers as well as large signs. Tiza is the proverbial reminder that typefaces can sometimes be more human than they are normally perceived. Designed by lettering great Angel Koziupa, and digitized and completed for Sudtipos by Alejandro Paul.

Because of the large influx of Irish immigrants during the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was not unusual for songwriters of the day to craft songs around Irish themes, offering a nostalgic link to their homeland. One such 1917 piece entitled "You Brought Ireland Right Over to Me" had the title hand lettered on the sheet music cover in a sans serif design reflecting the popular Art Nouveau movement of the day. This design is now available digitally as Retro Nouveau JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.

Titular is a condensed Sans Serif typeface that works well with headings, subheadings, newspapers, magazines as well as with logotypes, brands and posters. This typeface revives the spirit of old Woodtypes, but adding a contemporary flavour and Latin American seasoning. The family comes with 2 subfamilies: one regular and one alternative. Just like many of our faces, every subfamily includes 7 weights plus italics. Titular is a Latinotype’s typeface designed by Bruno Jara, and produced and supervised by Latinotype Team. Latinotype Team comprises: Luciano Vergara, Daniel Hernández, Bruno Jara, César Araya and Rodrigo Fuenzalida.

Adantine offers the opportunity to bring Victorian Elegance and Character to modern design work. It is inspired by the hand-lettered captions often seen on old sepia-toned postcards, but also has some of the spirit of 19th century advertising cuts. Adantine is offered in regular and text faces, as well as all and small Capitals forms with purpose made swashed capitals, and in a decorative embossed form. It can be used to set small amounts of text, as well as for headings and display purposes. Bring some steam-age elegance to your next project!

A rather narrow and compact design, Monotype Clearface combines both old style and antique characteristics. The lowercase letters are tall, the ascenders and descenders quite short. The intention was to produce a typeface that was easy to read in small sizes, hence the name. Monotype Clearface Bold was first cut for mechanical composition in 1922, and was based on the Clearface Gothic design created by Morris Fuller Benton for ATF in 1910. Although designed as a text face, Monotype Clearface is now more commonly used in advertising and display work.

Monotype Century Schoolbook is another member of the Century family based on the Century Expanded typeface. The Monotype Century Schoolbook family was designed to fulfill the need for a solid, legible face for printing schoolbooks. It is wider and heavier than Century Expanded, there is also less contrast between thick and thin strokes. First cut by Monotype in 1934 and based on versions from ATF and Lanston Monotype, the sturdy nature of Monotype Century Schoolbook, coupled with its inherent legibility, has made it a popular choice for setting books, newspapers and magazines.

The Federal Art Project division of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) employed numerous artists, musicians, actors and other creative sorts in a effort to help many survive the Great Depression of the 1930s. One of the posters created by this project was for a "Card Party and Barter Benefit" with proceeds going toward the Nassau Art Teachers Benefit Fund - taking place at the Coca-Cola plant in Rockville Centre, New York. East Village JNL was derived from this poster, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Goudy Sans Bold was originally designed by Fredric Goudy in 1922 as a less formal "gothic" and finished in 1929. The light was designed in 1930 and the Light Italic in 1931. Alternate letterforms are included in these three Goudy designs which are digitized true to their original design. In 2006, designer Colin Kahn drew "LTC Goudy Sans Regular" which is a medium weight version intended for text purposes. Kahn has also designed an experimental "LTC Goudy Sans Hairline" which has a skeletal almost mono-width stroke and results in a surprisingly elegant display face.

Taxon is a straightlined Sans with a clean, fresh and unsentimental look. Related to classical faces like Optima and Imago, it appears more contemporary and merges the austere linearity of the Grotesk with the elegance of the Antiqua. The Taxon family consists of 12 styles and is well suited for ambitious typography. It comes in OpenType format with extended language support. All weights contain ligatures, superior characters, proportional lining figures, tabular lining figures, proportional old style figures, lining old style figures, matching currency symbols, fraction- and scientific numerals, matching arrows and alternate characters.

Designed at Polygraphmash type design bureau in 1946-51 by Galina Bannikova, inspired by Russian Grazhdansky early- and mid-18th century typefaces as well as Roman Humanist typefaces of the Renaissance. With the archaic features of some characters the face is well recognized because of unique shapes. It is one of the best original typefaces of the Soviet typography. The typeface is useful in text and display composition, in fiction and art books. The revised, improved and completed digital version was designed at ParaType in 2001 by Lyubov Kuznetsova.

Attic Antique by Three Islands Press. Flipping through a friend’s old hardbound collection of John Burroughs nature essays a while back, I thought it'd be fun to try to develop a typeface with the same uneven, imperfect look to it. I picked and chose among various printed characters, enlarged them somewhat with a photocopier, then hand-rendered each. Had to custom-make some of the accents and symbols, then added a couple goofy dingbats just for the heck of it. The result: an amazingly legible serif family akin to the Century faces.

MVB Hotsy Totsy is Akemi Aoki’s first typeface design. Aoki created the letters in cut paper. Once digitized, the design was expanded to offer several weights and styles. Exaggerating the triangular serifs and tapering strokes of “Latin” typefaces, MVB Hotsy Totsy is the perfect party face, appearing frequently on board games, product packaging, and in children’s books. It is named for (what was at the time) a dive bar in Albany, California. The bar has since been renovated but its neon sign was preserved, a local landmark of San Francisco’s East Bay.

Baluarte is a display typeface inspired by fortifications and military buildings used to defend and protect a specific place during war times. Its main characteristics are the irregular trace and the solid presence in all its characters. It has 5 weights + obliques It is perfect for titles in big sizes, video game logos, movie titles or credits, posters, and many other visual graphics. Key features Meticulously designed Comes in 5 weights and obliques for each weight Uppercase and lowercase characters Ligatures and fractions Supports a lot of languages Licensed for Personal or Commercial use (OFL)

The evocative and original Retrofit is based on typefaces of the 1940s and 50s, which extolled the virtues of American products in glossy magazines for the new suburban consumer. Oversized terminal bulbs and occasional slab serifs lend a rhythm and a bouncing baseline provides just the "zing" to spice up that bland typographic treatise. Retrofit's easy familiarity can be seen on children's books, games, food packaging, and other places where a kid friendly note is needed. Retrofit has been adapted by Quickutz for their punched letter cutting tool, and re-named "Maggie".

A display typeface with a muscular character, Doctrine Stencil is the revolutionary comrade of the text typeface Doctrine. Doctrine Stencil was developed from the North Korean national airline livery and, while it retains the idiosyncratic spirit of the original, it has evolved into a more contemporary headline face. Doctrine Stencil draws on elements of neo-grotesque, humanist and geometric styles, and combines them with a playful approach to the stencil model. Doctrine Stencil includes four alternate character sets as well as an array of ligatures and figure styles.

Poplar is an Adobe Originals typeface designed by Barbara Lind in 1990 for the Adobe Wood Type series. Poplar, a Gothic condensed, was designed from photographs taken by Rob Roy Kelly of the one surviving copy of an 1830 William Leavenworth type specimen book. Leavenworth possessed unusual artistic abilities, and his treatment of the letterform counters as narrow slits made it the only wood type of its kind displayed during the nineteenth century. Poplar is an excellent display face, its simplicity making it useful for a broad range of work.

The English roundhand has always occupied the central position in the group of faces appropriate to the social printing handled by engravers, and their contemporary imitators, thermographers. At the end of the nineteenth century when engraving was mechanised by the pantographic engraving machine, the traditional roundhands found their way onto pantographic pattern plates. Embassy is a traditional roundhand of vigorous contrast with straightforward capitals with ball terminals; it was transferred from such an engravers’ pattern plate to the Fotosetter at Intertype about 1955. Alphatype’s Yorktown is similar, but appears to have less contrast.