LinoLetter 2006/02

Southern elegance – The prize-winning text family Bohemia™

Argentinean designer Eduardo Manso created the Bohemia™ type family in 2003. Bohemia’s cunning and elegant essence shows off refined letters that evoke the Transitional style typefaces like Baskerville, though most Baskerville-like designs tend not to be as curvaceous as Manso’s! True to form, Bohemia™ shines in smaller text sizes, like 9 point and above, while still maintaining a unique character and spirit. Bohemia™ is a great alternative to better-known text faces.
The critics have been raving. Bohemia™ came to Linotype via its fourth International Type Design Contest (ITDC) in 2003, where it received one of the three top awards. Under the name Argot, this typeface received a "Certificate of Excellence in Type Design" from the Type Directors Club of New York in 2004. Bohemia™ was also selected for inclusion in the 21st International Biennale of Graphic Design 2004 in Brno, Czech Republic, and was later named one of the most relevant works in the Bienal Letras Latinas 2004 exhibition, which traveled through Buenos Aires, San Paolo, Santiago, and Vera Cruz.

Typography, comic-style – Our cartoon special

Cartoon fonts are always popular with Linotype customers. But where in our library should one begin to look? In this cartoon special, we’ll highlight three of our favorite products:
Bertram™ Plain is the perfect font for setting titles in comic strips and similar designs. UK designer Martin Wait created this font 1991, after he was inspired by the casual style of circus graphics. In fact, this jolly and lighthearted font was even named after one circus in particular: the Bertram Mills Circus. Bertram™ Plain is an all-caps font, with capital letters placed on both the upper and lowercase keyboard strokes. Additionally, Bertram™ Plain letters sport a 3D-like drop shadow, a distinctive feature when comparing this to many other display fonts.

Escript™ is well suited for the smaller text that is often found in comics (speech bubbles, captions, etc.), Hans-Jürgen Ellenberger, a prolific German designer, developed Escript™ as a font that would simulate handwriting. Each letter jumps slightly out of the norm, yet this eccentricity makes them all fit well together and adds a spontaneous feeling. To see examples of Escript™ in use, or to purchase and download it, click here

For some time, we have been offering a handful of comic fonts as a package. For the bargain price of USD/EUR 75, you can download five selected comic fonts at once! Linotype’s Comic Value Pack includes one symbol font (Linotype Maenneken), and four display types - including Escript Regular, which is mentioned above. Catch this deal today

Seeking spontaneity? – The script font Bergell™

Inspired by the work of famed Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti, the German designer Thomas Finke created Bergell™, a lively and natural script face. Bergell’s calligraphic style is both dynamic and elegant, like the kind of special, festive handwriting many desire, but few ever manage to achieve. Why spend so much time at your drawing table when there are great fonts like this one?

The new font "bible" – Linotype’s Complete Typeface Catalog, A-Z

Sift through all of the Linotype library’s typeface families by using this simple reference work; hot off the press, this book is the new “bible” of Linotype fonts! The book’s classically designed pages are bound together inside a beautiful hardcover, with light embossing on the front and spine. Linotype’s typeface families are shown grouped together in the following seven categories: Sans Serif, Serif, Script and Brush, Decorative and Display, Uncial and Blackletter, Pi and Symbol, Central European and Non-Latin. A detailed introduction and appendix explain Linotype’s various font formats and character sets in detail. Linotype’s Complete Typeface Catalog, A–Z is the latest release from our in-house publishing unit, the Mergenthaler Edition. All text in in the book is trilingual (English, French, and German). At 584 pages (21 x 28 cm), the total weight is 1,950 g. Just 19 USD/EUR – get one while supplies last!

Fonts in Use

How do graphic designers around the world use Linotype’s fonts? At the moment, our Fonts in Use section contains more than 400 examples taken from real-life applications.

Valentine Fonts

February 14th is the romantic highlight of the year, and Linotype has just the thing for you this Valentine’s Day. Our Valentine Value Pack includes affectionate calligraphic scripts, handwriting, and symbol fonts that should appeal both to young lovers and lovers young at heart. Download them now for your sweetheart or for any personal Valentine’s Day designs before time runs out!