Sohail Orozco

Antique X Condensed is a condensed slab serif font found with the pages of a Rob Roy Kelly book of wood type designs.

It was introduced around 1840 by Wells and Webb, and the example served as the model for General Merchandise JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions. 

A couple of years ago, I walked the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trail in Japan. At the start of the walk, I stayed in a nice guesthouse in Tanabe city, which lies in Wakayama prefecture. I wouldn’t mention all of this, if it didn’t have something to do with the font name: Wakayama prefecture is THE mandarin orange (Mikan) growing area of Japan and the owner of the guesthouse had just picked a bagful of mikan, which he shared with me.

So, I had to think of that when I made this font.

Mikan is a nice, rounded family of fonts. Both styles come with alternative a’s (and accented a’s), which some people prefer for Children’s books.

Display Board JNL is based on Futura Display, which was designed in 1932 by Paul Renner as an extension of his original (1927) Futura family of typefaces. 

According to Wikipedia, the font was developed as a typeface by the Bauer Type Foundry, in competition with Ludwig & Mayer’s seminal Erbar typeface of 1926

Display Board JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Salacious is my soft/rough all-caps font, inspired by both comics and grafitti. The weight and width of the letters varies a bit. Not in a disturbing way, but more in a lively and organic way. I’ve added 5 (slightly) different versions of each letter (which automatically cycles as you type!) The letter shapes are a bit rough, due to the fact that they are handmade, and all corners are rounded, which gives a nice soft look!

County Clerk JNL was modeled after the vintage Hamilton wood type design Gothic Special, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

An early grotesk font, this condensed sans serif lends itself well to short headlines and brief body copy.

Finoteca (on English would be Niceteca) is display font for nice people. Why so? Well, by it’s design, it’s one happy, bouncy font with a lot of charm and positive feeling. Use it on product label, in books for kids, movie posters or as indoor graphic for your restaurant – if will fit anywhere. Available as single weight only – Regular, contains set of stylistic dingbats with interesting faces and persons made out from letter shapes.

Dirty family!

Alderman JNL is a wide slab serif typeface based on the classic wood type Antique Light Face Extended, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Dashiell Bright has more sparkle than Dashiell Text, with subtly finer hairlines and serifs, and is particularly suited to printed books and magazines, where its crisply drawn forms hold the page nicely without being overbearing. While a touch more literary than Dashiell Text, it shares the same six weights, ample counters and x-height, and unbracketed wedge serifs. Like its sister, Dashiell Bright supports over 140 languages and includes proportional and tabular lining and oldstyle figures, small caps, case-sensitive punctuation and delimiters, and a selection of borders and ornaments. Of course, it pairs well with its sister faces, Dashiell Text and Dashiell Fine.

The dramatic contrast and wiry hairlines of Dashiell Fine are best at large sizes, where its bladelike serifs and Caslon-derived forms give it a hard-edged, Didonesque elegance. Its seven weights include an additional Light style for especially delicate work; its Black weight provides a touch of swagger. Dashiell Fine supports over 140 languages and includes lining and oldstyle figures, small caps, case-sensitive punctuation and delimiters, and a selection of borders and ornaments. It’s a natural choice for headlines to complement Dashiell Text or Bright, but equally striking on its own.

Dashiell was made to be read. Designed by a devoted reader with lousy eyesight, it’s an attempt to combine the warmth and frankness of Caslon with the lucid elegance of Garamond. Counters and x-height are ample but not large. Apertures are moderately open, and unbracketed wedge serifs add crispness. The collection includes three families: Dashiell Text, Dashiell Bright, and Dashiell Fine, for a total of 31 styles. Dashiell Text is the anchor: an all-around workhorse with quiet detailing and modest contrast, carefully balanced to work both onscreen and on paper. It’s available in in six weights with matching italics. Regular weights are clear and open, but sturdy enough to perform at small sizes. The Black weights are unusually dark for a classic serif, with a hint of Cooper Black. Named for Dashiell Hammett, whose succinct grace helped modernize twentieth-century American fiction, Dashiell Text supports over 140 languages and includes proportional and tabular lining and oldstyle figures, small caps, case-sensitive punctuation and delimiters, and a selection of borders and ornaments. Of course, it pairs well with its sister faces, Dashiell Bright and Dashiell Fine.