Font stories.

Placard Next is a reimagined version of a 1930s poster design, that takes all the original quirky details and refines them for digital use. Its condensed versions pack an instant typographic punch when used at large sizes, introducing some unusual flavor to posters, headlines and anywhere else designers need to make a statement.

Many Chinese typefaces have a reputation for looking dated and not reading easily on small screens— not M Ying Hei. It checks all the boxes that it’s forefathers can’t.

The first Japanese typeface from Monotype is a humanist sans serif, designed to work in partnership with Neue Frutiger. Tazugane Gothic sets out to introduce a new typographic standard, allowing designers to comfortably set Latin and Japanese characters alongside one another while maintaining visual harmony.

More than 150 languages and scripts are supported in this global super family, which uses the warmth and clarity of the original Frutiger design to help brands communicate around the world with consistency.

This extended version of the VAG Rounded typeface by the Monotype Studio brings the 1970s design up to date, expanding its language support and adding two new display fonts.

Hope Sans has been selected by the judges of the 22nd Annual TDC Typeface Design Competition to receive the Certificate of Typographic Excellence. It will be included in the Annual of the Type Directors Club, “The World’s Best Typography,” and will also be shown at the 65th Awards Exhibition (TDC65) in New York City.

German designer Paul Renner is best known for his Futura design, but Plak, his ‘other’ typeface, is long overdue a rediscovery. Monotype designers Linda Hintz and Toshi Omagari have restored this under-appreciated design, creating a versatile set of 60 weights that draw on the forms of the original wood type.

Sagrantino is a non-connecting script that traces its roots back to hand-drawn letterforms, and the connection between pen and paper. Named after the Italian wine, Sagrantino is bold and full of flavor, while embodying a sense of freedom and fluidity. Its quirky character shines at larger sizes – making it perfect for headlines, posters, or anywhere type is needed to really make a point. The family is available as OpenType Pro fonts, and has an extended character set that supports most Central European and many Eastern European languages.

Created with screen reading in mind, Amariya’s sculpted, understated elegance is specifically designed for long-form copy in Arabic, Urdu or Persian. Its open shapes and streamlined forms are tailored not just to the digital world, but the flow and rhythm required by someone immersing themselves in words.

The making of the serif typeface PMN Caecilia from first sketches to usable fonts took more than seven years. Designed by Peter Matthias Noordzij, it is the child of a time when font technology changed rapidly, not knowing which development the next day would bring. Eventually it was released in 1991 and quickly turned into a quiet tip for designers; not overused, and yet selected for prominent applications. Today, more than 25 years later, Noordzij adds a sans serif companion to his first type family and equips it for today’s needs.