Kaitlin Saunders

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. 

Here’s yet another interpretation of the classic “thick and thin” sans serif lettering most popular during the Art Deco era.

This particular design comes to you through the courtesy of a hand lettered 1930s travel poster from the Pennsylvania Railroad. Some capitals are much wider than others, while the lower case ‘i’ is somewhat truncated.

Rail Travel JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.

A beautiful and stylish pen lettered alphabet appears within the pages of the 1921 publication “How to Write Show Cards” and its Art Nouveau stylings made it a perfect candidate for a digital revival.

Pleasant Show Card JNL 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”.

A 1942 menu cover for the restaurant at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles features its name in a stylized Art Deco serif design.

This is has been turned into the digital typeface Bill of Fare JNL, and is available in both regular and oblique versions.