I've started using my picture fonts to punctuate blog postings.

I was thinking of ways to make postings on my Under The LobsterScope blog get a little more interesting and I came up with Web Poppers. These are small tiles, each having a picture font character on them that I make in PhotoShop. Then I put them into my posts, often alternating left and right sides.

This has been a really fun use of picture fonts and one that you might apply to your web postings. They go well with e-mail, too... and for my printed snail mail, having small illustration tiles on a document can help create focus on particular topics.

In this entry, I have used poppers made from Bill's DECOrations, Bill's Real Rubber Stamps and Bill's Printer's Pals. I've made up a couple hundred of these for my use and enjoy adding them to my publications. You might like them, too.

Looking for a nice Block Font for ads?

Price is $29.00

Setting Poetry with Bill's New Elzevir

Here's a poem by Shel Silverstein set with the Bill's New Elzevir font:

If you'd like to buy Bill's New Elzevir, go HERE.

Presenting it again: our Best Selling Picture Font

Bill's Cast O'Characters

Here's a picture font that you'll find hundreds of uses for. I first released Bill's cast O' Characters 18 years ago using picture images from classic type specimen books of the late 19th  and early 2oth Centuries. There are images which I've used for politics, holidays, humor, office memos and many other items.

We deliver it to you with Mac, PC and OTF fonts in the same package, plus a detailed keyboard chart.





There are 78 characters in all that you get in both Mac and PC versions (in the same set) for $29.00. Good deal, hey? Here's a little animated graphic I put together with this font:

See- 2 minutes without having to draw anything.

Order it here:

Bill's Dearborn Initials

Every now and then you need a single fancy letter... maybe you want to key off a paragraph on a page to make it stand out; perhaps you are making a fancy monogram. Whatever. This set of letters was modeled after a set used early in the 20th Century by the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan. Here's a sample:

Like it? I've been using this font for years with many happy clients.
It costs $29.00 and, like all our fonts, comes with both Mac, PC and Open Type versions... you get all three.

New updates coming soon...

We have a downtime due to a dead laptop battery, but will be back as soon as Amazon delivers.
- BT from a borrowed machine.

Using PhotoShop with Picture and Display Fonts

Sometimes you want to take one design and look at it in different ways. That's where PhotoShop succeeds admirably.

I took 2 of my fonts, Bill's Dingbats (which has a small collection of bar glassware) and Bill's Metropolitan, a sophisticated display font that hearkens back to the cocktail era of the 20s, and put them together:

That gave me a header design to use as a column leader.

However, I wanted to try it somewhat differently to see how I would react to it, and I did this by playing with PhotoShop's filters, adjusting brightness, fuzziness, negativity, etc.
Here's one example:

Now we have a significantly different feeling...more of an evening presence.

You can try lots of variations and have fun.

Designing a Catering Company's logo...

This was a project I was given and I used three UTF fonts and some Photoshop touchups to create it. The fonts are Bill's Modern Diner (waitress), Bill's Cast O'Characters (waiter), and Bill's Light DECO for the text, used, actually, at three different sizes:

I tried a lot of different background colors, but eventually ended up with a really fresh light green.

I LOVE using fonts to create graphics!

Bill's New Elzevir

Some display fonts are very different from others in that they are never the first ones you think of using. That's New Elzevir to me. It's often my second... and better... choice. I designed it based on a font I found in a turn of the century (19th to 21st) specimen book.

Here's a sample:

Yes, I used a European crossed 7 in the numerals... but I've been handwriting sevens like that since high school.

Anyway, you can have it for $29.00.

Using Two Fonts to create a Ballot

I used Bill's New Elzevir (coming soon) for the text and and Bill's Printer's Pals for the checkboxes.

The Elementary School Package

Quite awhile ago, while my son was in the throes of elementary school (he's a Graduate Student in History now!), I created a pair of fonts which were made to be used by kids learning their alphabets at an early age. I based it on the way I was taught to neatly write letters on a three-lined sheet of paper in first grade... then I matched it with a set of small illustrations that were alphabet-based, plus a string of graphics based on numbers 1 to 10.

The results were Bill's School Letters and Bill's School Daze.

Here are some samples:

I sell the Elementary School Package... both fonts... for $29.00 complete (that means it also includes versions for Macs, PCs and an Open Type set good on either system...Unix, too.) I also pack a keyboard chart for Bill's School Daze.

If you would like to order the package, go here:

Theatre Poster Ad trim

I was working on an idea for a standard Opening Night rim that posters from any show can be put in for magazine or newspaper ads. I took a poster from a production of Sondheim's ASSASSINS that I directed a few years ago, then I built the rim using two fonts, Bill's Broadway DECOrations and Bill's Brushed Broadway. I used PhotoShop to distort the typefaces.

Bill's American Ornaments

This is a collection of some of the best Ornaments from the American Type Founder's specimen books of the early 20th Century. One of the places I used them was for this header for a bicycling article:

This font has images I use a lot ... there are some nice basics here:

Anyway... this font goes for $29.00, you can buy it online with your credit or debit card or with your PayPal account. You get the complete set...font software for PC, Mac, and the Open Type format, plus a convenient Keyboard chart.

Bill's Hand Chiseled

As promised, here is Bill's Hand Chiseled, one of my favorite original typefaces.
The sample is here:

 I use this one in combination with my picture fonts for many headers and logos.

You can buy it for $29.00 and the package comes complete with Mac, PC and Open Type versions.

Holiday Art

This week I'll be adding Bill's Hand Chiseled to the Font List. I've used it here to make a Memorial Day Header, combining it with a character from Bill's Cast O'Characters. The wave was done in Photoshop (as was the color in the three patriots.)

Just an example of easily made art with UTF Fonts.

Bill's Old Foundry

Ok... this is one of my favorites for display work. Like really early type by founders who were just finding their way... I use it for old document imitations.

Here's a partial sample:

 

Comes with Windows, Mac and Open Type versions in the same package and, for a limited time, a copy of Bill's Dingbats at no extra charge.

Yours for $29.00 ___ Just order HERE:

I used Bill's Printers Pals to make this Newspaper Chessboard...

... and all the pieces can be moved around for a news column on chess plays.

Just another sample of what you can do with a picture font.

Bill's Bertham

Those of you with a love for type history may find this a necessary font. Bill's Bertham is an adaptation of a lovely serif face created by Frederick Goudy and named for his wife, Bertha. I've made some adaptations on it for digital use and changed its spacing and sizing concepts to fit the needs of today's layouts.

 Here's a sample:

I use it all the time, especially for certificates and fancy reading pieces.

You get it with Mac, PC, and Open Type formats in the same package... plus a free copy and keychart for Bill's Dingbats.

All this for $29.00.

All UTF Fonts now come as OPEN TYPE...

We are adding "Open Type" format to all our fonts sold here at this site and will put the OTF version in the package which now contains the Mac and Windows fonts.

As you know, OTF works across platforms... on Unix as well... so no computer system should be without one of our fonts.

There is no extra cost for this addition... fonts remain at $29.00 each.

Bill's Light DECO

The Art Deco period has always been one of my favorites and several of my display fonts (and three of my main Picture Fonts) are from that period.

 Today I am adding Bill's Light DECO to my current fonts for sale.

 Here's a sample:

If you like it, it's $29.00 and comes with both Mac and PC fonts for uploading... plus a FREE copy of Bill's Dingbats if you order by May 3st, 2010.

Playing with my fonts...

Sign for a child's Lemonade Stand:

Uses Bill's Real Rubber Stamps for lettering and Bill's Modern Diner for illustration.

Cosmetic logo/label:

Uses Bill's 1935 Caps and Bill's Real Rubber Stamps.

Get One of my Picture Fonts for Free!

I'm giving a FREE copy of the newly updated version of Bill's Dingbats to anyone who orders any one of my other fonts this month.

 Here's a partial sample of Bill's Dingbats, my very first font from 1988:

186 characters that you'll find hundreds of uses for. Comes with complete sets for both Mac and PC in the same package, plus a convenient keyboard chart as a pdf document.

You don't have to do any extra order during the month of May... this will be automatically added when you buy any other one of my fonts.

Bill's Brushed Broadway

There are various typefaces in the world that use the name "Broadway" and are somewhat similar. My Brushed Broadway was created after a sign painters sample to look like it was created with a brush and not typeset. I've used it for close to 18 years with great frequency.

The set you order here comes with both Mac and PC versions. Here's a partial sample:

It's yours for $29.00.

Bill's Metropolitan

This is a font which I got while reviewing design from the 1920s in Paris, in essence based on the Metropolitan subway system's promotional material. It has only one weight, but is usable in many sizes. I use it more frequently than many of my letter faces.

 Here's a partial sample:

 If you like it, it can be yours for $29.00. Package, of course, comes with both Mac and PC versions for your use.
Order here:

Bill's Peculiars

Here's a pick-up font of iconic images, multiple direction pointers, weather map symbols, technical items, butterflies, leaves and a pizza cutte to use as a coupon cutter instead of standard scissors.

 Total of 73 characters, the set comes with both Macintosh and PC Versions enclosed, plus a complete character keyboard chart.

The Price in $29.00.

Bill's Real Rubber Stamps

This font was created for a client back in my design studio days in Connecticut... we were looking for a sign font that appeared to be applied with rubber stamp letters by a child. I've used the resulting font many times since then. 116 characters, includes some pictures as well as letters. Caps only, but upper and lower case presented with slight angle differences to show stamp being hand used.
Here's a partial sample:

Available with both Mac and PV versions in the same set. Handy keyboard chart,
Price: $29.00

Bill's Universal Symbols

Bill's Universal Symbols is a 90 character picture font which uses the standard international symbol set plus extras. It comes with both a Mac and PC version in the same package, plus a handy keyboard chart. Great for use on maps, transportation schedules, menues and other documents.

Here's a partial sample:

The price is $29.00.

Bill's Asterisks & Bullets

Here's another one of my single character variation sets... this one to use for bullets or asterisks in signs or ads.

Here's a partial sample:

You get both the PC and the Mac versions and a handy keyboard chart.
$29.00.

Bill's FISTory

27 Design Pairs, 54 characters in this font of pointing fingers and thumbs. Use them on signs, in ads and anywhere that you might need a fist.

Here's a partial sample:

It comes with both Mac and PC fonts in the same package with a handy keyboard chart.

Price is $29.00