Handmade Signs

Challenge is the work of English designer Martin Wait. The brush lettering gives the typeface a unique, spontaneous quality. Capitals should be set closely and lowercase letters overlapped to produce the look of authentic handwriting. Challenge is at the same time informal and authoritative and good for a variety of display applications.

FF Sale is Tony Booth’s sign-written script typeface in three weights: Bold, Medium, and Light. It also includes a set of dingbats made to be used alongside the script. Although he first thought that FF Sale would be used mainly by design studios in press advertising, exhibition and display work, the designer discovered after its release that it had a much wider potential market. FF Sale is... Read More

Cabarga Cursiva is the work of the father and son team of Demetrio E. Cabarga and Leslie Cabarga, both New York designers. The details of the sharp strokes almost give the impression of a knife blade, whether straight or curved like a scimitar. The capitals should be used only as initials and are complemented by a robust lower case alphabet as well as alternate forms and ligatures.

The FF Moderne Gothics are three font variations of a mid-twentieth century geometric sans serif used widely by lettering artists for both print and signage. FF Golden Gate Gothic, FF Motel Gothic and FF Matinee Gothic are loosely related, but stylistic touches vary from font to font. The FF Catch Words are also designed in a mid-twentieth century style, and while they work well with the FF... Read More

Willow is an Adobe Originals typeface designed in 1990 by Joy Redick for the Adobe Wood Type series. Willow is a condensed typeface modeled on nineteenth-century wood types known as Clarendons (wood type Clarendons do not resemble the English metal types of that name). Clarendon condensed faces were originally so well-designed that words or a line of display type have an even color that is... Read More

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... Read More

Cottonwood is a group effort of the typeface artists K.B. Chansler, B. Lind and J. Redick and displays the unmistakable look of the Wild West. It is stylistically modelled on the typefaces used in advertisements and signage toward the end of the 19th century. Typical for these capital alphabets are the split serifs which emphasize the markedly decorative character. Cottonwood is a kind of... Read More

Brophy Script is a bold connecting brush alphabet. Use the Brophy Script font on packaging and for promotional materials. Brophy Script is not suitable at text sizes as it loses legibility.

PL Benguiat Frisky is a script face designed by Ed Benguiat in 1960. It has an irregular x-height adding to its informal appeal. The PL Benguiat Frisky font is useful for books and posters and invitations for fun or informal events and also works well for packaging.

Madrone is an Adobe Originals typeface designed by Barbara Lind in 1991. Madrone was digitized from proofs of the woodtype collection in the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. A fat face roman, Madrone is typical of popular early nineteenth-century styles. Fat face types are characterized by their squatness and extreme letter width. One... Read More

Figaro is a very condensed slab serif design of the kind associated with nineteenth century advertising. The Figaro font has considerable weight contrast in the strokes, with a marked weight emphasis on the horizontal elements, including the serifs. Use the Figaro font for display and advertising and for 'Wild West' style posters.

Branding Iron is similar to Barnum Block. Use the Branding Iron font for headlines, signs, menus and posters, especially where an American Western quality is desired.

Arab Brushstroke is a graceful, upright German calligraphic script. At first glance, Arab Brushstroke does not seem to have much in common with Arabic calligraphy. Yet the gracefulness of its letterforms remind the viewer that calligraphy is a global passion, one that can be seen in the Arab world as well. Perhaps that feeling was the inspiration behind this typeface's name? In any case, Arab... Read More

Kaufmann font was designed in 1936 for the American Type Founders by Max R. Kaufmann, a letterer, typographer, and one-time art director for McCalls magazine. Kaufmann is a connecting script typeface with a smooth, slightly whimsical look. Its monoweight is unusual in a script type but allows for a nice texture on the page when it is combined with sans serif text type. The bold Kaufmann is fine... Read More

Ironwood is an Adobe Originals typeface designed by Joy Redick in 1990. Ironwood font is a homage to the old woodtypes made popular by the wanted posters in Western films. Adrian Frutiger designed his typeface Westside with the same idea in mind. Ironwood font is reminiscent of the Wild West and its shoot-out heroes, and its robust figures are particularly good for headlines.

Mesquite is a narrow Tuscan-style typeface designed at Adobe in 1990. Like older Tuscans from the 19th Century, Mesquite has elaborate, creative serif treatments-although the serifs are so unique that it is difficult to call them serifs anymore, they are more like pointy finials. A convex-concave-convex ornamental feature appears on the middle of each vertical and diagonal stroke. Together with... Read More

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... Read More

Old Town No. 536 is a homage to the old woodtypes. These became especially popular through their use on wanted posters in Wild West films. Adrian Frutiger also designed his typeface Westside in this style. Due to its robust figures, Old Town No. 536 is particularly effective when used in headlines. It belongs stylistically to the Italienne typefaces, whose serifs are thicker than the strokes.

Hand Drawn is a faithful adaptation of the original typeface of hte Letraset range by Michael Gills. A set of numerals was added to complete the font. Hand Drawn has all the charisma of the 1950s brush style and should be set closely for the best impact.

Typefaces designated as Latins were popular during the last half of the nineteenth century. One of the styles that continued to be popular into the twentieth century is the bold condensed typeface Latin. Readily identifiable by its triangular serifs and sharp terminals on the strokes of some of the lowercase letters, Latin Condensed makes an interesting display type and its condensed... Read More

A work of art does not have to be beautiful, but it will need to be displayed with some discretion if it is to have the desired impact. Runic condensed should be seen as belonging to this category. Seen at its best when viewed from about thirty degrees above the horizontal it is a design that should not be taken too seriously. Used with care nevertheless, it has considerable merit where... Read More

Pepperwood font is a joint work of the typeface designers K.B. Chansler, C. Crossgrove and C. Twombly. These artists also created the typefaces Rosewood, Zebrawood and Ponderosa together and as the names suggest, all of these typefaces are so-called wood types. The origins of this kind of typeface can be found in the early 19th century. Called Italian or Italienne, these typefaces quickly... Read More

Ponderosa font is a joint work of the typeface designers K.B. Chansler, C. Crossgrove and C. Twombly, who also created Rosewood, Zebrawood and Pepperwood together. As the name suggests, it is so-called wood type. The origins of this kind of typeface can be found in the early 19th century. Called Italian or Italienne, these typefaces quickly became very popular. They are distinguished by... Read More

Rosewood font, like its relatives Zebrawood, Pepperwood and Ponderosa, was created by the designer trio K.B. Chansler, C. Crossgrove and C. Twombly, and has its roots in the slab serif style. The first weight displays the simplicity typical of display typefaces at the end of the 18th century. The other weights are playful variations on this theme. The tendency toward display and ornametal... Read More

Birch was designed in 1990 by Kim Buker Chansler, who based her forms on the designs of the turn of the 20th century. The new age needed new typefaces for an ever-increasing commerce and its advertisements. This time period therefore saw a profusion of new typefaces, all of which were meant first and foremost to catch the eye of consumers. To this end, style elements of past ages were... Read More

Zebrawood font is a joint work of the typeface designers K.B. Chansler, C. Crossgrove and C. Twombly, who also designed Rosewood, Ponderose and Pepperwood together. Like its relatives, Zebrawood also displays a kind of Wild West character. Its style can be traced back to the Toscanienne typefaces which appeared in advertisements and on signs at the end of the 19th century. Typical of this... Read More

Inspired by the large American wood type of the Wild West, Richard Yeend created Italienne Std in 2002. Italienne Std is both very condensed and very decorative. It sports heavy, band like serifs, reminiscent of other italienne-style fonts, like Westside. Italienne-style fonts rose in popularity during the early 19th Century, when designers were first beginning to experiment with extreme... Read More

Designed by Dave West and released in 1960, the name Barnum associates this face with the famous nineteenth-century traveling American circus and showman P.T. Barnum. The wood-cut influence of the letter makes the PL Barnum Block font ideal for posters, signage and creative titling and packaging.

PL Davidson Americana is an all-capital typeface based on woodcut designs from the nineteenth century. The PL Davidson Americana font was designed by M. Davison in 1965, during the revival of American headline faces.

Joy Redick designed Blackoak, a big and heavy Egyptienne-sytle titling slab serif face, in 1990. The extremely robust style of the characters in this typeface was consciously distorted; creating letterforms that appear flattened and stretched, like a rubber band. Blackoak is drawn in the style of old wood tpes, just like those that one envisions when one thinks of the large, decorative posters... Read More