Irene Holt

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”.

The above-the-store signage for many newspaper stands, soda shops, candy stores, luncheonettes and pharmacies of the 1950s and early 1960s were what was referred to as “privilege signs” provided by one of the major cola brands.

Consisting of the brand’s emblems on the left and right, the remainder of the sign would carry the desired message of the storekeeper (such as “Candy – Soda – Newspapers”) in prismatic, embossed metal letters.

Inspired by these vintage signs, Privilege Sign JNL recreates the condensed sans serif lettering style in both regular and oblique versions.  The typefaces are solid black, but adding a selected color and a prismatic effect from your favorite graphics program can reproduce the look and feel of those old businesses.

Unique and decorative signage for many drive-ins, motels, food stores and other businesses of the 1940s had what was referred to as “privilege signs” provided by one of the major cola brands.

Consisting of the brand’s emblem on a decorative panel, the remainder of the sign would carry the desired message of the storekeeper (such as “Drive-In”) in prismatic, embossed metal letters.

Inspired by the Art Deco sans serif style of those vintage signs, Privilege Sign Two JNL recreates the type design in both regular and oblique versions.  The typefaces are solid black, but adding a selected color and a prismatic effect from your favorite graphics program can reproduce the look and feel of those old businesses.

This is a companion font to Privilege Sign JNL, which recreates the condensed sans serif lettering of other privilege signs from
the 1950s and early 1960s.

Built in 1928 in Wichita, Kansas, the Uptown Theater started out as a movie house, but today still exists as a dinner theater.

Online images of this vintage venue’s perpendicular wall sign show the theater’s name in an Art Nouveau influenced angular style with rounded terminals – similar to that of pen drawn sign lettering of the era. 

Adapted as a digital type font, Silent Film JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

Say hello to Skulduggery :)

A mischievous & playful little all caps font. Great for greetings, children’s books, fun packaging ad branding and so much more.

Altering all caps are in the upper and lower keystrokes, alternate between them in your wording to get a more natural look.

Stano is a strong and bold sans serif with a touch of vintage look and feel. This type of font perfectly made to be applied especially in logo, headline, signage and the other various formal forms such as invitations, labels, logos, magazines, books, greeting / wedding cards, packaging, fashion, make up, stationery, novels, labels or any type of advertising purpose.

Features :

uppercase & lowercase
numbers and punctuation
multilingual
alternates / swashes and ligatures
PUA encoded
We highly recommend using a program that supports OpenType features and Glyphs panels like many of Adobe apps and Corel Draw, so you can see and access all Glyph variations. How to access opentype feature : letterhend.com/tutorials/using-opentype-feature-in-any-software/

Email us to letterhend@gmail.com if you need something! Happy Designing!

A 1930s travel poster from American Airlines had the airline’s name in a classic thick-and-thin Art Deco design of hand lettering.  With the addition of angular spurs, some of the characters become semi-serif in nature.

This type style is now available as Travel Plans JNL, in both regular and oblique versions.