ITC Photoplay
ITC Photoplay is another gem from Nick Curtis. Unearthed from the 1927 edition of Samuel Welo’s Studio Handbook for Artists and Advertisers, the design’s original suggested use was for title and caption cards for silent movies. A monoweight design that bridges the gap between turn-of-the-century decorative type and Art Deco, ITC Photoplay is both casual and stylish. And, yes, the cap ‘S’ is supposed to look that that.
To expand this already handy typeface’s versatility, a Black weight has been added to the original design. Curtis has also created an array of alternate characters, a couple of conjunctions, and a handful of “bishop’s fingers” to help make your point. ITC Photoplay is eminently suitable for all those occasions when you need to say, “Unhand that fair damsel, you dastardly cad!” – and really
mean it.
ITC Photoplay $39.95 USD
ITC Photoplay Black $39.95 USD
ITC Photoplay package. $79.90 USD
This font, ITC Keefbats, designed by Australian graphic designer Keith Philip, is a collection of strange and highly likeable characters. Philip, whose nickname is “Keef,” claims that he’ s always been a bit of a “cartoonist.” He began drawing ITC Keefbats as animals and insects, but when he ran out of ideas he added the “pointy-headed” human character to provide more options. “I wanted a character that was simple and looked as weird as the other animals,” he says. “My favorites are ‘The cowboy ready to draw,’ ‘The finish line’ and ‘The merry cocktail drinker.’ ”
p>All the charming yet cheeky creatures in ITC Keefbats share the “family trait” of a common circular eye. The designs were sketched by hand, according to Philip, who prefers drawing with pencil and markers. The sketches were then recreated in a vector-based desktop drawing program.
ITC Keefbats can be manipulated (stretched, colored, outlined, shadowed) just like a typeface, yet the images maintain clarity even at large sizes. And, since these drawings come in font format, they take up far less memory than clip art.
