Zavier Woodward

The words “Benny Goodman & His Orchestra” on an appearance poster for the band from 1936 were rendered in a beautiful semi-script style of hand lettering.

This unusual Art Deco design is now available as Dance Time JNL in both regular and oblique versions.

The hand lettered title found on the cover of the 1932 sheet music for “Dancing Marathon” inspired the digital revival of this unusual lettering as well as the font’s name.

This eccentric Art Deco design (with a slight bit of Art Nouveau mixed in) is a thin, monoline typeface.

Dancing Marathon JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Dance marathons got their start during the Great Depression as people desperate to earn a few dollars would enter into contests that went on for hours until the last couple remained standing on the dance floor.

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.

The title on the 1925 sheet music for “By the Light of the Stars” was hand lettered in an eccentric Art Nouveau type style with varying character shapes and line widths.

This is now available as Erratic Nouveau JNL 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”.

Inspired by hand lettering on a 1939 World’s Fair Poster, Fair Play JNL is a bold, condensed design with spurred serifs and some flared characters… and is available in both regular and oblique versions.

In the 1959 premiere season of “The Untouchables” (based on the book by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley) the opening title jumps off of the cover of the book and stretches out into tall, extremely condensed lettering.

This inspired the type font Federal Agent JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

A hand lettered, dual line sans serif type style was used for the title of “Filmland” –  a 1931 movie fan magazine from India.

This inspired both the digital typeface’s design and name.  Filmland JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

A piece of sheet music for “Broken Blossoms” circa the 1920s or early 1930s has its cover title hand lettered in a wide thick-and-thin Art Deco design.

This is now available as Flower Shop JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.

The hand lettering on a World War I recruitment poster for the French Air Service inspired French Nouveau JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

“One Hundred Alphabets for the Show Card Writer” was published in 1919 to afford sign artists the ability to create signs and show cards in then-contemporary lettering styles.

One such alphabet was big, bold and representative of the Art Nouveau stylings popular in the early part of the 20th Century.  Most likely it was applied to store sales and public events that were casual and informal, for its letter forms are free of any constraints.

This design is now available as Fun Time Nouveau JNL in both regular and oblique versions.

The cover of the sheet music for the 1910 song “We’ve kept the Golden Rule” features a hand lettered and slightly spurred Art Nouveau type style.

As an older couple was pictured below the song’s title, this inspired the name Golden Years JNL for the digital font, which is available in both regular and oblique version.

In the 1920 edition of “How to Paint Signs and Sho’ Cards” by E. C. Matthews is an example of what is termed “poster lettering” that is so free form and unusual it borders on the eccentric.

Resembling lettering more commonly found in 1960s “underground comics” of the Hippie generation rather than of the Art Nouveau period, it oddly enough works well in both styles.

This novelty typeface is now available as Hippie Comics JNL in both regular and oblique versions.