Script: Formal Calligraphy

Voluta Script is the work of Austrian designer Viktor Solt, created for use in a guide to the Austrian Gallery at Castle Belvedere. A volute (Latin "voluta") is a spiral or scroll-shaped ornament used in the Baroque architecture of Castle Belvedere, similar to the swashes in this typeface. The castle was the historic residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy, one of the great military commanders of... Read More

ITC Johann Sparkling is the work of Austrian designer Viktor Solt, a perfect imitation of the handwriting of an educated person of the 18th century. "ITC Johann Sparkling is intended to close the gap between highly formal copperplate scripts and the scribbled look of 'true' handwriting," says Solt. "I am not very interested in highly formal and perfect calligraphy, but rather in quick,... Read More

Young Baroque was designed by Doyald Young, and the font first appeared in the ITC library in 1984. It is a delicate and elegant typeface, whose basic forms are those of baroque script. The generous spirals adorning the capital letters give the font its temperament and contrast beautifully with the small, heavily slanted lower case letters. The flowing, graceful characters create an overall... Read More

Matthew Carter designed the Shelley family 1972 for Mergenthaler Linotype to be used as a new script face for the photo typesetting machines. The basic idea was to create one script face that would offer dfferent elegant letterforms. Matthew designed Shelley in three different versions, Allegro which is in the style of Kuenstler Schreibschrift, Andante where the caps are less flowrish and wide... Read More

In 1994, Edward Benguiat designed ITC Edwardian Script, an emotional, lyrical, even passionate calligraphic typeface. Its appearance was influenced by the look of writing with a steel pointed pen, an instrument which can be pushed as well as pulled, and which produces stroke contrast when pressure upon it is varied. The delicate, sophisticated letterforms of ITC Edwardian Script font were drawn... Read More

Using Franz Kafka’s handwritten literary oeuvre as a source, Julia Sysmäläinen created the FF Mister K family, beginning with “the temptation and challenge” of capturing the writer’s free flowing penmanship as type. Its members, the original FF Mister K, a more relaxed Informal variant, and a Splendid style in two weights capture the lively charm of the author’s characters, whose temperaments... Read More

Citadel Script is based on script handwriting and engraving used in formal announcements and invitations. The Citadel Script font lends itself to typesetting in which an elegant mood is desired. Citadel, Flemish Script, Florentine Script, and Old Fashion Script have similar lowercase letters, but unique flourished capitals.

The Helinda Rook font is a popular choice in advertising, invitations, greeting cards, and wherever a formal hand-lettered or engraved look is desired. Helinda Rook is an elegant connecting alphabet font based on formal handwriting.

Vienna designer Viktor Solt has a love affair with handwriting. “Usually” he says “when I start with a specific calligraphic style I take some historic specimens and try to integrate their main features into my own handwriting.” Although there are hints of various 18th-century calligraphic styles in Ballerino it was not based on any historical model. The swash ascenders and descenders on the... Read More

Frank Marciuliano designed the basic forms of Linotype Constitution around those of the swash alphabets of the 18th century. While the capitals are generously designed, the lower case letters have more reserved forms and are narrower. The characters of Constitution seem to have been set to paper with a feather and ink. The marked stroke contrast and elegant forms makes it a dynamic and... Read More

FF Pepe is an uninhibited typeface with no prejudices. Working out of Valencia, Spain, Pepe Gimeno’s design practice is known for lively, colorful posters and publications. FF Pepe is his own script typeface: both informal and drawn taking great pains to preserve a uniform feeling throughout. The capitals are deformed, giving them a strong personality. A more uniform set of lowercase letters... Read More

Pablo is the work of British designer Trevor Pettit, who based this dramatic typeface on the signature of Pablo Picasso. The chunky lowercase reflects the very essence of Picasso's influence and the initial capitals can also be used on their own. Pablo is excellent for work requiring a vivid, cutting edge appearance.

Renowned British designer Martin Wait designed Balmoral in 1978. Balmoral is an elegant and free-flowing copperplate script style typeface. Generous initial capitals complement the more restrained lowercase letters that join for balanced letter spacing in word settings. Balmoral is excellent for use on certificates, citations, diplomas, and in greeting card applications.

In the early 1970s Ed Benguiat drew the International Typeface Corporation's logo, a flowing script that many have hoped would one day be expanded into a complete font.From 2008, Jim Wasco of Monotype Imaging - with Benguiat's blessing - took up the challenge. After two challenging years, Elegy™ was completed."I knew that developing the typeface would present many challenges, but I felt... Read More

Today's digital font technology allowed the world-renowned typeface designer/calligrapher Hermann Zapf to finally realize a vision he first had more than fifty years ago: creating a typeface that could capture the freedom and liveliness of beautiful handwriting. The basic Zapfino™ font family, released in 1998, consists of four alphabets with many additional stylistic alternates that can be... Read More