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Submit Images to the FontShop Gallery

The Gallery now showcases over 1,300 typeface samples and examples of fonts in use in the real world. These images were added by FontShop staffers as we scouted our favorite typography on the web. You can view the latest additions on the Gallery page and images specific to any font family on its Gallery tab.

Now it’s time to open it up to your favorites. Submit your own work or work you admire using a simple bookmarklet. Just add the bookmarklet to your browser and click it whenever you visit a website with images worthy of submission. You can find the tool on the Gallery page — click “Submit images to the Gallery”.

We welcome your feedback on this new feature. Give it a go and let us know how it’s working for you.

 

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New and Notable

Suomi Hand Script

Suomi Hand Script emulates real handwriting

Suomi Hand ScriptFontShop Exclusive
Finland’s Tomi Haaparanta joins FontShop with a remarkable font that simulates everyday handwriting better than any we’ve seen. It accomplishes the feat not with hi-tech OpenType magic but with hundreds of ligatures, connecting pairs and trios of letters the way most of us do when we write. Suomi Hand Script strikes a balance between legibility and authenticity, readable at nearly any size because it demonstrates the natural rhythm and contrast made by the human hand.

Test Suomi Hand Script for yourself in the custom sampler on FontShop.com »

Loreto

Loreto
From the Latin American foundry, Tipo, comes a sturdy yet elegant text face by Pablo Cosgaya and Eduardo Tunni. Loreto gets its inspiration from the typography of the “Manuale ad Usum” (1721), printed by jesuit missionaries who worked at the beginning of the XVIII century with communities of “Guaraní” native indians from the Northeast region of Argentina.

Solano Gothic

MVB Solano Gothic
Designed for the City of Albany, California, MVB Solano Gothic pays tribute to the 1930s–’50s era main street for which it was named. Yet it can evoke a more contemporary flavor by using the less retro forms.

 

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FontCast

Introducing FontCast
FontShop’s new video podcast series has now reached eight episodes, exploring everything from the founding of the company to the fundamentals of kerning, to the future of fonts on the web. Join us as we talk with the most interesting figures in typography and graphic design.

Watch or subscribe now:

» Vimeo
» YouTube
» iTunes

 

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Typographic Tidbits

Font Aid IV
Designers from around the world are invited to contribute artwork for a typeface to raise relief funds for Haiti. To participate: Submit a black and white “ampersand” icon for the benefit font.

Helvetica and the NYC Subway System
Lettering expert Paul Shaw painstakingly researched the evolution of New York’s Subway signage for this fascinating tome. A great lesson in wayfinding, typography, and design history.

Cookie Cutters
Speaking of Helvetica, Beverly Hsu, a designer for PBS’s “America’s Test Kitchen”, combined her loves for design and baking to create some tasty type. Swell idea, but Helv is pretty stale. May we suggest the more flavorful FF Bau instead?

 

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Bestsellers by Classification and Region

Bestsellers by Classification and Region
Our Bestsellers list has always been a gauge for the most successful and interesting typefaces of the last few months. Now you can break it down by classification (Sans, Serif, Script, etc.) or region (US/Canada, UK, Benelux, Australia, etc.) or both. Get a view of what’s popular in your neck of the woods, and check back often — the lists are always changing.

 

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Featured in

Type Trends 2010: Our Picks for the New Year

FF Yoga In Use

FF Yoga Sample

FF Yoga

This serif/sans combo has all the right ingredients to become a workhorse family for the new decade of design. It draws from the familiar traditions of French (Garalde) and British (Gill) stalwarts, but steps forward confidently with a swing and soul that is typically Xavier Dupré. FF Yoga will lend a progressive credibility to magazine and newspaper design in 2010 and the family will expand with new cuts for display use.

Tempera

Tempera Rose & Tempera Biblio

Despite its narrow stature, Tempera is handsome and readable, allowing more text to fit in today’s shrinking page sizes without sacrificing comprehension. A type system with unusual versatility, Tempera not only shares common proportions across the family, it also includes book styles available in three levels of weight (A, B, C). Tempera Sans, the non-rounded brother of Tempera Rose, will be available soon. Designer Nikola Djurek is acclaimed by the critics but largely unknown to the public. Look for 2010 to be his breakout year.

Dobra

Dobra & Dobra Slab

Dino dos Santos has a knack for delivering new typefaces that hit a nerve with contemporary designers. Dobra is no different. Not only is it stylistically current, this family is extensive (5 weights + italics), professional (small caps, full figure sets), and affordable.

Adelle In Use

Adelle Sample

Adelle

Square serifs have gained favor in recent months and we expect that trend to continue. 2010 will be the year of the slab. Particularly popular are unbracketed slab serifs with humanist and grotesque forms. Adelle capitalizes on both these categories with a sturdy shape that is entirely new and very pleasing to the eye.

Parry

ParryFontShop Exclusive

If it was at all possible to bring the 19th century Clarendon-style slab into the modern age you would count on the foward-thinking OurType foundry to do it. Designed in 2007, Parry isn’t brand new, but it’s definitely picking up steam. We think it looks wonderfully at home in a variety of contexts, classic or contemporary.


Superla In Use

Superla Sample

PTL Superla

Designed behind the Berlin Wall for the state-run foundry Typoart, Superla is a geometric sans seen by few outside the Iron Curtain. Until now. Primetype’s Ole Schäfer worked directly with Typoart veteran Karl-Heinz Lange to digitize this family along with Minimala and Publicala. Those who are fatigued with Futura will find new life in PTL Superla, a large family full of surprises despite its simple geometric basis.

Meadow

Meadow

Alright

Alright Sans

Premiera In Use

Premiera Sample

Premiéra

The most obvious new trend in text typefaces is a move away from the anemic, fragile forms so common with hasty digitizations of classic metal type and towards something meatier. Premiéra is the kind of book face that holds its own at any size or under any circumstance, yet does so with grace. If you’re designing a book, magazine, or annual report in 2010 you would do well to set your copy in Thomas Gabriel’s well-tested type.

Novel

NovelFontShop Exclusive

Lirico

LiricoFontShop Exclusive


Generell In Use

Generell Sample

GenerellFontShop Exclusive

Generell is a prototypical Gestalten release, embracing the banality of everyday design yet spinning something dynamic and new. The aesthetic of the typewriter, both the machine and its marks, is increasingly in vogue. Mika Mischler infused those famililar, generic typewriter forms with a subtle flow between letters. The result is interesting wordshapes for logos, headlines, or brief text.

Sansarah

Sansarah

Bisque

BisqueFontShop Exclusive

 

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Featured in

New Feature: Gallery

FS Gallery

Specimens are nice, but when selecting type it’s often more useful to do a reality check.

Now each font on FontShop.com has a Gallery tab where you’ll find expanded sample graphics and examples of the type in use in the real world. See what designers all over the globe are doing with the fonts and make an informed decision.

FS Gallery

We’re rapidly filling these Galleries with new images and soon FontShop visitors will have the opportunity to submit their own examples. You can find the most recent samples on our new Gallery page. We hope you’ll find it source of inspiration for the new year.

Freight Micro

Freight Micro

FF Dot Matrix

FF Dot Matrix

Nobel

Nobel

Carousel

Carousel

Caslon Graphique

Caslon Graphique

Mrs Eaves

Mrs Eaves

 

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Featured in

Top Type of 2009


SangBleu Title
SangBleu

SangBleuFontShop Exclusive

With gossamer strokes and a classical stature, SangBleu was born to be set at 150 pt. on the pages of a glossy magazine. Read more about the release »

Geogrotesque Title
Geogrotesque

Geogrotesque

At the very moment the design world called for a perfect blend of geometry and legibility, Geogrotesque answered the call. Read more about the release »

Mousse Script Title
Mousse Script

Mousse Script

It’s hard to imagine a more charming tribute to 1930s ad art than this careful revival and expansion of Stephenson Blake’s Glenmoy. Read more about the release »

Effra Title
Effra

EffraFontShop Exclusive

The large, round forms of a comfortable old gothic remodeled with subtle modern touches throughout, Effra is an appealing, versatile family for any subject matter or use.


Heroic Condensed Title
Heroic Condensed

Heroic Condensed

This year we welcomed the new TypeTrust collection and you quickly welcomed Heroic to your hard drives, making it one of their bestselling faces and reminding us how useful a space-efficient headliner can be.

FF Dingbats 2.0 Title
FF Dingbats 2.0

FF Dingbats 2.0

This long-awaited update to the original set of FontFont pictograms is so comprehensive and useful we gave it its own home on the Web.


Axel Title
Axel

Axel

Released in May at a special introductory price, Axel not only saved wallets it also saved space in Excel® tables and on the printed page. It’s still one of the most affordable Spiekermann families available and one of the few fonts you can embed on the web without a special license.


Olicana Title
Olicana

Olicana

Very few handwriting scripts sway across the page with such natural grace. Read more about the release »


Milo Title
Milo

FF Milo & FF Milo Serif

2009 brought us a companion to Mike Abbink’s FF Milo, heralding a truly useful, contemporary text system.

T-Star Title
T-Star

T-Star

FontShop’s exclusive relationship with Berlin-based publisher and foundry Gestalten yielded ten new families this year, including the popular Blender and T-Star.

Ingeborg Title
Ingeborg

Ingeborg

The result of formal studies at the premier type design school in Reading, UK, Michael Hochleitner’s Ingeborg is a serious text face, but its headline weights are also a helluva lot of fun. Read more about the release »

Typonine Stencil Title
Typonine Stencil

Typonine Stencil

Proof that stencil letters needn’t always come from course industrial signage. Read more about the release »


Head Pro Title
Head Pro

Head Pro

Symbolize the sleek power of sports cars and computer terminals. Read more about the release »

Mr Eaves Title
Mr Eaves

Mr Eaves

Emigre gave us the long awaited sans serif mate for Mrs Eaves and he comes with two different wardrobes: oldstyle and modern.


Mic 32 New Title
Mic 32 New

Mic 32 NewFontShop Exclusive

Three of Chris Dickinson’s contemporary sans serifs were bestsellers this year, but the ultra modern Mic 32 New edged out the others. Read more about the release »


Unit Slab  Title
Unit Slab

FF Unit Slab

Designed to be used with its sans serif sister FF Unit, but also FF Meta and FF Meta Serif, this release by Spiekermann & co. completes a quadfecta of versatile type families for corporate or editorial design.

Dessau Title
Dessau

Dessau

Read more about the release »


Lexia Title
Lexia

Lexia

Lexia was updated in 2009 with an extra bold Advertising weight for headlines, making this readable slab even more versatile.


Perec Title
Perec

PerecFontShop Exclusive

Read more about the release »

Metroscript Title
Metroscript

Metroscript

Read more about the release »

Ludwig Title
Ludwig

LudwigFontShop Exclusive

Pinup Title
Pinup

Pinup

Read more about the release »

Kulturista Title
Kulturista

Kulturista

Read more about the release »

Carmen Title
Carmen

Carmen

Alpine Script Title
Alpine Script

Alpine Script

Read more about the release »

Regime Title
Regime

Regime

Read more about the release »

Perennial Favorites

Thesis

Thesis

FF Scala

FF Scala & FF Scala Sans

Frankie

Frankie

FF DIN

FF DIN

Frutiger Next

Frutiger Next

Sansa

SansaFontShop Exclusive

Interstate

Interstate

Bickham Script

Bickham Script

 

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Featured in

FontShop Metrics

A peek inside our 2009 record books

Tracking the Rise of OpenType

2009 marks the first year that OpenType has finally taken hold as the most popular font format.

Most Popular FontFeed Articles

Bestselling Text Families

Bestselling Scripts & Display Faces

Some of our favorite custom sample phrases used by fontshop.com customers.

“Hello Kitty, I am testing you”

“Spiekermango”

“The dangers of piloting an airship”

See more at FontShop: 20 Years

Onward

Keep an eye out for the next newsletter in which we’ll cover the most exciting past and future FontShop.com improvements, and take a look at the fonts and updates to come for 2010.

Some Bestselling Fonts by Country

We’ve selected a few countries and omitted the most common bestsellers to give a sense of how styles and traditions vary by region.

Bestselling Fonts from FontShop Exclusive Collections

 

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New FontFonts

FF Yoga

In 1990, FontShop followed its launch with FF Scala, a serif typeface which paid homage to traditional serifs, but offered something refreshingly new, a text face for a new era. Twenty years later, FF Yoga takes the same big step for this generation, offering a soulful, contemporary alternative to the overused classics.

The family is a type system by Xavier Dupré conceived for newspapers and magazines thanks to its strong personality and good legibility. FF Yoga, with its sturdy serifs is a good choice for body text, but it also serves as an original headline face with its subtly chiseled counters. The face mixes the dynamic tension of angular cuts with the balanced rhythm and elegant curves of Garalde typefaces. FF Yoga Sans is a contemporary alternative to Gill Sans and a sober companion to the serif FF Yoga.

The family was made to work together, sharing the same proportions, x-height, and relative weight. The design also has much in common with Dupré’s other recent typeface, FF Masala, which could be used to deliver more informal content alongside FF Yoga.

FF Yoga OT and Pro fonts come with standard ligatures, small caps, case-sensitive forms, lining and oldstyle figures in tabular and proportional widths, and arbitrary fractions. FF Yoga Pro fonts add support for Central/Eastern European languages like Polish, Czech, Hungarian, and Turkish. The fonts are also available in Offc format for Office® users.

Yoga Info Guide FF Yoga Info Guide »
Yoga Spec Sheet FF Yoga Spec Sheet »

FF Mister K Dingbats

While creating the letterforms for Mister K, a typeface inspired by manuscripts of Franz Kafka, Julia Sysmäläinen was moved to sketch pictograms in the same personal, hand penned style.

Her imagination — and digital ink — ran wild, resulting in nearly 600 images including animals, plants, stars, famous buildings, faces, food, flags, arrows, and various symbols for sports, hobbies, professions, traffic, and weather.

All the pictograms are available in a single font accessible via keycode or glyph palette.

Mister K PDF Spec Sheet »

 

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