Zavier Woodward

Matrijs is the Dutch word for mold. It comes from the Latin word for mother or womb and is somewhat similar to the English word Matrix.

Matrijs is a handmade Garamond which can be used for a wide range of projects.

A photo of the now closed [circa-1953] Lowell Municipal Pool (at 1601 N. 28th St.) in Boise, Idaho shows the words “Municipal Pool” formed into the cement of the entrance to the above-ground swimming facility.

Both the lettering and building entrance designs harken back to the Art Deco era and the sign features stencil-like characters. 

This inspired a typeface aptly named Municipal Pool JNL, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Images of ‘lost’ or forgotten signs from the past are on a number of sites all over the web. 

One in particular partially revealed a vintage sign for “J. Yormark Shoes” behind a barbershop sign at 15 – 8th Avenue in New York City.  The sign remained until 2014.

The stencil effect made by the formation of the stained glass letters inspired On Your Mark JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.  The font’s name is a play on the shoe vendor’s name… “Yormark”.

A 1930s advertising poster for the Inman Brothers Flying Circus offered up an interesting hand lettered Art Deco design that’s a cross between both squared and rounded character shapes.

Because of it’s ‘futuristic look’, the resulting type style can also lend itself to 1970s and 1980s retro projects as well as those from the 1930s and 1940s.

Now a digital font, Air Circus JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

A “Flying Circus” is a troupe of ‘barnstormers’ (stunt pilots) who performed aerial tricks either individually or as a team along with selling airplane rides to the general public.

A 1930s WPA (Works Progress Administration) poster advertising an exhibit of New Jersey area posters had its main lettering rendered in a very condensed hand lettered interpretation of the ever-popular Futura Black Art Deco style.

This has now been re-drawn and digitized as Art Event JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.

Back Lot Stencil JNL is a hand lettered slab serif stencil design based on the titles and credits from the 1954 film “Human Desire” and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Sometimes type designs are set aside as one project takes priority over another and occasionally it becomes overlooked.  One such example is a set of extra bold, sans serif stencil characters drawn out in 2017.

Regrettably, as much time has passed, no backstory can be applied to this typeface.  It was checked against existing releases in the Jeff Levine Fonts library and didn’t seem to have been re-worked for any subsequent release.

With this in mind, Baggage Claim JNL makes its belated appearance and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The hand lettered, condensed stencil title on a movie poster for the 1950 film “Customs Agent” inspired both the digital typeface and the font’s name. 

Customs Agent JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Easy Stencil JNL is a simple sans serif stencil design [based on a hand lettered example] from the 1922 publication “Modern Show Card Writing” and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

A hand lettered emulation of a Roman stencil type face on the cover of the folio for the Stenso School Set was the basis for Eutaw Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The Stenso School Set (circa 1940-41) was comprised of three stencils – two lettering guides and a map of the [then] 48 United States. 

Developed and patented by Baltimore school teacher Ruth Libauer Hormats, her stencils were the first to offer a system for accurate letter spacing and ease of use. 

“Eutaw” (as part of the font’s name) is taken from Eutaw Place, the street where Ruth and her husband lived at the time of Stenso’s inception.  To the Cherokee, the name means “Creek Indian”.

The Butterfly Brand [from the UK] manufactured some lettering stencils (circa the 1950s) with a distinctively British look and feel.

These inspired Lancashire Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

In the opening scenes of the 1938 Three Stooges comedy “Tassels in the Air” the Stooges are working as maintenance men inside an office building.  Their immediate job requirement is to paint the tenants’ business names on the corresponding office doors with pre-cut stencils.  Of course, they get it all wrong.

Nonetheless, the stencils appear to be a hand cut sans serif design in a squared or ‘block’ style with rounded corners, and some of the applied lettering made for an interesting challenge to recreate as a typeface.

The end result is Maintenance Stencil JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

The cover title for a 1950s British glamour magazine called “Beauty Parade” was the inspiration and model for Stencil Edition JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.