-Revivals-

LA Marker and LA Crayon are big friendly handwriting fonts. They were inspired by the Apple Classic bitmap font “Los Angeles” which disappeared with the transition to TrueType fonts. Marker has a smooth edge, Crayon is rougher, suggestive of the original bitmap jagged edge. Includes caps, numbers, punctuation, numbers, and international characters.

KOCH RIVOLI is my digital version of Rudolf Koch’s original. Although now known as Rivoli, in other references it is called simply “Zierbuchstaben” (decorative book initials), intended as a companion font to Koch Antiqua, which is also known as Locarno, Eve, and Lilith. Try it with one of those (or Bernhard Modern) if you need a number or a bit of punctuation. Very clean and elegant. If you like Koch, see also Koch Quadrat and Bride of the Monster. Caps only, A-Z, with an alternate B, D, E and H.

JIM DANDY is my interpretation of a font that originated in the 1850’s as Gothic Shade from the Dickinson Type Foundry. It boldly suggests a political broadside, a circus poster, or a Western sign. Later this font would be known as Tombstone and Jim Crow as it was subsequently issued by other foundries in other formats. Jeff Levine jogged my memory with a scan of this gem from a 1970s dry-transfer catalog; thanks, Jeff. The Regular font is equivalent to the original. I’ve also created component fonts for the shading, shadows, and other elements that can be used separately or… continued

Jest was inspired by a “lost” analog font, Jet, available in the 70s as dry-transfer lettering. Jet was bold and gestural as if painted with a brush, with a white inline. I completely redrew the original and created a solid version. Now, inspired by other signpainters’ tricks, I’ve expanded the set to include Outline, Dotted, TwoTone, and Shadow varieties, all of which can be layered in different colors.

JANUARY is my digital interpretation of the analog font Jana. The concave shapes of most characters and the notches on many give this sans-serif an elegant sparkle. There’s another digital version of Jana out there, but mine has been entirely redrawn and is very smooth. I’ve added two weights, Demi and Bold. People send me wonderful suggestions and information; the Jana story is no exception. Janet got me started with a scan which jogged my memory. Bill suggested it was released by Visual Graphic Corp. Now Philippe has confirmed that Jana was created by Richard D. Juenger (b. 1928, Illinois)… continued

This ornamental, calligraphic font was suggested to me by Bruce Baryla, who also proposed the name GRACEFUL GHOST. Here is all the information I have about the original:  Completely redrawn–not traced–for very smooth lines. Looks great reversed and, of course, BIG. Includes caps, limited punctuation, and international characters.

GALATHEA is my digital interpretation of a classic font of the same name. I’ve seen it in several sources (Dan X. Solo books and Alphabets & other signs by Rothenstein and Gooding), always with this name, but not in digital. A beautiful and graceful italic font, apparently without a matching roman, GALATHEA was named for Pygmalion’s mythical female creation. The only documentation I’ve found for the font is: Originalerzeugnis von J. G. Schelter & Giesecke, Leipzig. Because of the steep incline of the letters, a LOT of kerning is employed to make them fit together neatly. If the program you’re… continued

FORTUNA DOT was suggested by Bruce Baryla, a revival of a “lost” Photo-Lettering Inc. font. The original was called Futura® Dot and it followed the general shapes of Paul Renner’s classic Futura® in a heavy weight. I’ve approximated the regular dot structure and based the forms of missing characters on the Renner. The spaces within each letter make them sort of transparent and nice for layering and reversing. In 3 weights. Each font includes uppercase, numbers, punctuation, and international characters. * Futura® is a registered trademark of Fundicion Tipografica Neufville S.A. The name is used here for reference only; my… continued

The FLORENT fonts are bursting with beautiful, floral detail. The four fonts are designed to be used separately or layered together in different colors and combinations. Florent A (green in the animation at right) is bare branches or vines. Florent B (yellow) has white flowers on the branches. Florent C (blue) is the flowers alone, perfect for use alone or as a “fill” with B or D. Florent D (red) has the branches full of light and dark flowers. Florent was inspired by an analog font called “Garland” in Dan X. Solo’s 100 Ornamental Alphabets. I’ve completely redrawn the font,… continued

FASHION SCRIPTS are fraternal twins. The letterforms of each were inspired by an example of 1940s department store lettering. FASHION BRUSH has a rough, art brush texture; FASHION MARKER has the smooth line of a Sharpie®. The inspiration was this example of wood type formerly used by Thalheimers department stores. From examples in the collection of Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. According to their information, “The type follows handlettering styles of the 1940s and is unique compared to 20th-century script typefaces in metal.” My Pen Script Monograms were also inspired by this wood type. Each font includes upper and lowercase,… continued