Fonts in Focus, June 2006

Astrotype is available in six different styles. Astrotype N Dot contains mono-line astrological symbols knocked-out of filled-in circles. Astrotype N Dot Outline depicts similar symbols, with added outlines. Astrotype P, the simplest font of the family, contains astrological symbols alone as text-like glyphs, without any borders. These characters are very intriguing; they look like additional letters of the alphabet! Astrotype P Outline depicts these same symbols in outline form. Astrotype P Dot and Astrotype P Dot Outline take these symbols, and place them in unfilled circles.
The Astrotype family’s unique character stems from its clarity, homogeneity and pure form. Based on the same elements, all drawn with consistent proportions, the glyphs display a natural elegance and harmony. These fonts merit notice because of the ease with which they may be integrated into surrounding text, and the many creative possibilities that ensure from the combinations of different weights.
Astrotype is an excellent choice for use in astronomical or astrological books, journals, magazines, or other literature. It may be used effectively both within the text and in accompanying graphics. Using all weights also opens up a number of illustrative possibilities, i.e., posters and tarot cards. The entire Astrotype family is included in the Take Type 5 library.

Finnish designer Tomi Haaparanta created the Teebrush Paint™ family of type in 2002. With these fonts, Haaparanta captures the spontaneity of hand-lettered sign painting. The family has two fonts: Teebrush Paint and Teebrush Paint Alternate. The alternate, like its companion, is a “complete” font. They both contain full character set. Yet, in the two fonts, each character has been drawn slightly differently. Interspersing the two fonts with each other in text will give a better approximation of authentic painted lettering. This technique may also be used with broad calligraphic families like Zapfino. Normally, such variety is not available through typefaces alone.
The “brush strokes” that make up the letterforms in Teebrush Paint are very visible. Most of the letters are made up of two or three quick strokes – when sign painters are at work, they tend to paint very quickly. This movement-like quality is visible in the curves and terminals of Teebrush’s letters.
Teebrush Paint is part of the Take Type 5 collection.

ITC Silvermoon™ was designed by Akira Kobayashi in the style of the advertisements of the 1920s. Art Deco was the artistic movement which marked the years between the two world wars, combining elements of Jugenstil, futurism and east Asian influences. This font carries on in that tradition. The small, high reaching figures with their elegant forms and reserved but distinguishing loops give Silvermoon its unmistakable look. Kobayashi designed this font in two weights, regular and bold. To retain the elegance of the bold weight, the consistent stroke width of the regular weight was exchanged for contrasting strokes. This gives the weight more weight without detracting from its grace. The nostalgic, romantic ITC Silvermoon is best used for headlines and short texts in point sizes of 12 and larger.

Designed by the American type designer, graphic designer, and illustrator Mark Simonson in 1994, Proxima Sans™ is inspired by elements found in other sans serif typefaces. It melds the stylistic details of geometric faces like Futura®, Kabel™, and Erbar™ with the proportions of grotesques such as Franklin Gothic and Helvetica™. The oblique members of the family are optically balanced, not simply slanted geometrically. Proxima Sans is a refreshing alternative to more traditional typefaces. It can be used in a multiple array of sizes and settings.

Linoscript™ was designed by Morris Fuller Benton in 1905 and released by American Type Founders as Typo Upright; when it was integrated into the Linotype technology in 1926, it was renamed Linoscript. Modeled on the then-popular style of upright French scripts, Linoscript has flourished capitals and connected lowercase letters with extravagant loops on the ascenders. It is ideal for greeting cards, invitations, and formal business uses.

Isonorm™ was created in 1980 by the International Standards Organization (ISO). The font’s design is simple, clean, and geometric, with strokes that all have rounded ends. Isonorm is a font whose forms are very legible by both the human eye and machine readers. The font is also a good choice for drafting and architectural purposes, as well as for technical charts and graphics.

Linotype Freytag™ is a display family of sans serif typefaces based on lettering work done at the Bauhaus during the 1920s. Linotype Freytag’s designer, Arne Freytag, was so inspired by these historic letterforms that he developed them into working fonts for the 21st century. But these are not strict digitisations of old forms; instead Arne Freytag redeveloped the forms, making them more legible and up to date. However, Linotype Freytag is still true to the original model, and is one of the best “Bauhaus” fonts available.

Doodle™ is a quick and sloppy display script, originally created by Gerald Gallo in 1995. Reminiscent of the handwriting of young children or artists, Doodle has limited applications. However, when it is used properly, it can create a fascinating impression on small amounts of texts.

Ann Pomeroy designed Corvinus Skyline AP™ in 1992. The typeface is a tightly set modern design, with an industrial, vaguely art deco appearance. Corvinus Skyline AP should be used exclusively for display work, because its forms are so condensed, and its thin strokes are optimized for larger point sizes. Mixing the two fonts of this family together, Corvinus Skyline AP Regular with Corvinus Skyline AP Expert, will lead to pleasing results, as the Expert font contains a number of pleasing, less familiar alternate letters.

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 Linotype 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 sentimental font. The capitals can be used as initials mixed with other fonts, but Linotype Constitution is also good for texts which should give a feeling of nostalgia.
The Linotype Constitution Font Family is part of the TakeType Collection.

E. A. Neukomm designed Chevalier™ in 1946. The Chevalier font family is a set of shaded capitals and figures, modern face or fat face in design. Chevalier is the ideal choice for business cards and classical letterheads.

Inspired by calligraphic styles from 15th century Italy, master Swedish typographer Bo Berndal designed the Byngve™ font family. With four styles – Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic – Byngve proudly shows its process: Berndal wrote out the entire family by hand before digitizing it and converting its beauty into a typeface. Byngve is most suited for advertising uses, and for greeting cards.
The name Byngve comes from Bo Berndal’s two Christian names: Bo Yngve. He just put the two names together and it formed “Byngve”.

Avenida™ was created by architect and designer John Chippindale in 1994 and is a constructed typeface that leaves a cool, sophisticated impression. John Chippindale based Avenida’s design on the lettering styles he found on buildings constructed in the 1930s and 1940s in Spain’s Aldalucian region. The elegant Avenida is reminiscent of the show and movie advertisements from the 1920s, and has a touch of Art Deco about it. Avenida is best suited to headlines and short to middle length texts.
The Avenida Font Family is part of the Linotype ITC Library.

ITC Woodland™ is the work of Japanese designer Akira Kobayashi. It is based on Kobayashi’s hand lettering with a flat brush or square-edged pen. “I wanted to design each weight to act its own part,” says the designer. “The light version tends to look almost fading in small sizes, but the heavy weight is as black as Cooper Black.” The cheerful ITC Woodland is ideal for graphics, greeting cards, correspondence, and other applications requiring a light touch.
The ITC Woodland Font Family is part of the Linotype ITC Library.