Emily-Rose Matthams

The hand-lettered title on the poster for the 1933 musical comedy film “Melody Cruise” was rendered in an Art Deco thick-and-thin style with ‘engraving lines’ placed within the letters.

This is now available as Cruise Director JNL 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.

A 1932 fan magazine from Spain entitled “Films Selectos” (“Select Films”) had those words hand lettered in a decorative Art Deco type style that was a cross between the “Futura Black” style of stencil influenced display lettering and “Fiesta” lettering.

This hybrid design is now available digitally as Dance and Sing JNL in both regular and oblique versions.

A record album entitled “Calypso” by the Talbot Brothers had a hand lettered cover with a free form style reminiscent of the early 1960s.

This inspired Dance Records JNL, which is available in both regular and oblique versions.

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.