‘For our first release, Alphabuild for iOS, we wanted to pay tribute to the process of building letters (which is the other fun work we do here at our studio). We wish building letters for our clients was as zany and colorful as it is in Alphabuild. On the other hand, we’re glad we don’t have aliens, glue bottles and sawblades trying to mess up our letter drawings.’

Featuring types from the great Psy/Ops library (including my own Jeanne Moderno) as well as a few tikis (see below) – James Beall’s Alphabuild is a fun, quirky educational alphabet game for iPhone, iPad and iPod.

Snag it in the App store. Website here, Twitter here. And free goodies here.

Happy alphabuilding!

The post Alphabuild: Building alphabets first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

‘Émilie Vast’s third Herbarium is dedicated to plants that find the strength to creep into our urban space, into the joints of gutters and pavements, in the wall’s cracks, at the bottom of the trees, the park’s grass, on the roofs  . . .  just like their cousins from the woods, they have a history, uses and mythology.’

Cool find. This ‘wild plants in the city’ edition also features my Jeanne Moderno fonts.

Found via Iconoclastic and le lièvre de mars

The post ‘Plantes sauvages des villes’ first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

‘Exciting, Neue, Romance! Adventure!’

‘Love Boot’ prints, cards and postcards.

Vintage, repeating playbill poster design featuring type and boot dingbat from my Jeanne Moderno fonts.

And  . . .  Save $10 on your order of $35 or more at my store. Restrictions apply, go here for details/to get the discount.

(The prints come out really nice too)

The post ‘Love Boot’ first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Niedermann Grotesk is my newest font and it’s been sitting in the hopper for awhile.

It became a side project that appeared while I’d been working on my update to Jeanne Moderno (which is Jeanne Texte, which has been in a little limbo due to other projects) (I plan on getting back to it next month).

Along the way I fell in love with types that were part of the German Sachplakat (object poster) style pioneered by the great Lucian Bernhard – a lot of which can be seen (as backgrounds) in their original zeitgeist settings in the 1927 Ruttmann film I posted on Sunday.

Plakat lettering was drawn as needed, typically painted. For my adaptation, I went back to brush – and included a handful of alternative characters, ligatures, plus a few dingbats.

Grab your copy here.

And  . . .  Save 31%! Niedermann Grotesk is on sale right now at MyFonts. Sale ends September 22, 2011.

The post Niedermann Grotesk: My new, old font first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Jeanne Moderno A. Baby doll tee. Customizable. Available here.

The post Big A first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

‘Another inspiration was the film MAX (2002), written and directed by one of Emigre magazine’s founders, Menno Meyjes  . . .  I decided Jeanne would be a fictional typeface that was released in 1918, the timeframe from the movie.’

Ascender is running a little sale on some of my fonts. 25% off until March 5, 2011. Offer only available thru Ascender’s website. For details, go here.

(and watch the trailer for MAX here)

The post mehallo fonts on sale first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

$2 off t-shirts, $4 off mugs. Input code: VTRNSDAYSALE.

Visit my store at Zazzle here – or just click the images.

More Zazzle Veterans Day Sale info here. (other stuff on sale too, not just my stuff)

Sale ends Thursday November 11, 2010 at 11:59 pm (PST).

The post On now! Save on mehallo stuff for Veterans Day first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Nina Stoessinger does great work. Pictured, a bilingual birth announcement she designed for a friend, using my Jeanne Moderno Titling font, paired with FontFont’s Dagny Thin.

She dropped a few to me in the post. It’s always great to see how my fonts end up being used.

Congratulations to the new parents – and Laura!

The post Moderno baby first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

‘I walk into a sea full of beauty’ -Brooke Burke, host

Another Jeanne Moderno spotting: Used for titles on TV Land’s third season of She’s Got The Look.

Judge Robert Verdi (above) can be really funny too. Been a fan since he was on that reality show where he used to sneak into people’s houses, redesign their rooms and make them cry at the end.

Click the above image to watch a preview/jump.

Found via Shandi Pierzina

The post She’s Got The Look first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Jeanne Moderno spotted in the logo for Know-It-All Grrl Vintage’s Ebay shop. Though not too surprising. Know-It-All Grrl (Michelle, above) is a friend.

Cool finds, go shopping here. Facebook page here.

The post Vintage find first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

‘Baskerville, a bad asskerville’

This spring, my Digital Typography students set out to make a short film about type history.

The class – held at The Art Institute of California Sacramento – was set up like a working design studio – with myself as ‘hands off creative director.’ All students had a role, from art direction to project management, web design, editing and production.

At one point, songsmith John Slingerland threw a party at his home – and invited a few unwitting guests – just to record the background vocals for the film’s gets stuck in your head musical number.

And, featured in the credits, a very early beta version of Jeanne Texte – which I had to prep for them as my homework assignment.

It was a fun quarter; this was a great team to work with, their enthusiasm snagged everyone in their handmade typographic web.

The post It’s Typography: film, song and dance first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Here’s a sneak peek of some of the PROUNS-inspired dingbats that will be part of my upcoming Jeanne Texte font package.

The basic letterforms are now in technical review at Psy/Ops and I hope to have the new fonts completed and available by end of year. Crossing fingers.

Jeanne Texte is my sequel to Jeanne Moderno, which is available thru Psy/Ops, MyFonts and Ascender. Webfonts via Typekit.

The post Pssst: Jeanne Décoratifs preview first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

‘I was at a department store here in Basel and this in-store magazine caught my eye. The focus is Barcelona and all the headings are set in what must be Jeanne Moderno!’ -Nina

Nina Stössinger not only snagged me a copy of Globus Savoir Vivre‘s Barcelona issue; she also popped it in the mail. It just arrived a couple days ago.

It’s always great to see my fonts in use. Especially when the designer uses my funky accents.

First two photos by Nina Stössinger, the rest by mehallo

The post Jeanne Moderno in Basel first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

‘I tried to make small details count by making them meaningful, fun, playful, full of color, yet useful and sustainable  . . .  With artwork, we involved Twitter employees and local artists, 3 Fish Studios.’ -Sara

A Jeanne Moderno t graces the Cafe area at Twitter Headquarters in San Francisco.

Am I honored? Of course. Twitter has become one of my favorite screwy things to do.

Interiors designed by Sara Morishige. Fonts were sourced via the supercool Bryan Mason at Typekit.

More details here. Additional photos here.

That be a Jeanne t, at right

The post Jeanne Moderno invades Twitter HQ first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

‘Amazing fontstaches! I love Mr. Jeanne Moderno myself =D’ –Darren Evans

Hm.

I actually am Mr. Jeanne Moderno – since I did name the font after my wife.

And I did kind of base that bracket on the facial hair of this particular potato chip mascot.

Really.

The post Font moustaches part two first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

The randomly-picked winner of my under-the-radar, spur of the moment Jeanne Moderno giveaway contest thing from this past week is Rebecca Spencer, who posted the comment:

rebecca spencer// Apr 10, 2010 at 4:25 pm
I really like the Jeanne Moderno faces… hope I win!!

The winning font has been emailed using YouSendIt. Thanks to everyone for the great comments and entries!

Please keep reading. More to come.

The post Congratulations Rebecca! first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Pick a big letter from my Jeanne Moderno fonts – select any of the shirts available thru Zazzle – order, wait for them to custom print, watch for postal person, open box when it arrives.

Wear it with pride.

Order your own (or a few) here.

The post Jeanne font shirts first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

This week I’m giving away a free licensed copy of Jeanne Moderno Geometrique ($32 USD value). Cause I feel like it.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. To comment, just click the ‘comment’ link below (and please fill out all the fields).

I will randomly select one winner from the comments. The winner will be notified by email and the font will be sent via YouSendIt.

Contest ends 11 p.m. (pacific time) Friday, April 16, 2010.

And
You can also snag a print or greeting card or postcard of the above image. Zazzle does a great job with these – even though their onscreen previews look fuzzy. Been using the greeting cards a lot.

The post Spur of the moment Jeanne Moderno Giveaway first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

‘Exclamation points are great for things that are exciting and fun, but I’ve always felt they fell a little short when I wanted to express real anger, frustration, or panic.’

Jessica Hische’s proposal for a slight addition to the English Language. Read here.

¡Egads! set in Jeanne Moderno Ultra Italic

The post The Panic Mark first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

I don’t buy a calendar anymore.

Because, like clockwork, a super cool one will arrive in the mail; typically a bit after the New Year has arrived.

For the past 15 years, Thomas Krug has been mailing me an incredible calendar. It often arrives in a large box and it always dazzles. Elaborate printing techniques, special inks, die cuts – a mesmerizing trip of photography and design.

Thomas is the owner of the Traffic design agency in Winnenden, Germany. And his firm’s self-designed calendar is one helluva promotional item.

‘fantasy be with you’
This year’s theme deals with fantasy, perforated door signs (to hang on knobs) and (though I like to guess, instead of rely on a literal translation)  . . .  product placement.

Behind each image of a product is a photograph (with the calendar date part) incorporating the product in some fantasy way. One has to tear thru the diecut perfs to actually use the calendar.

Or in short, I haven’t seen the whole calendar yet because it’s only April.

font surprises
Past calendars have included die cut fish, video stills of NYC, stripper fashions  . . .  it’s always a surprise.

And this year Thomas is using some of my Jeanne Moderno fonts to punctuate. It’s a blast to see my fonts in an unexpected setting.

Years back, my Chandler 42 fonts found themselves paired with some unreal, black and white, nude zodiac photographs.

Again, dazzling. Of course.

The post The Traffic Calendar first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Some of the ampersand options available in my Jeanne Moderno fonts.

The post Jeanne Ampersands first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

This week, Jeanne Moderno ended up with the dubious honor of being on the
Merkwürdige Schriften 2009 (Strange Types 2009) list over at Slanted.

Thanks guys! Strange, that would be the best way to put it.

Here’s a link. Here’s the same link translated into dubious English.

The post Strange fonts first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Arno Kathollnig/Typoatelier has been making typographic wallpapers. He had featured my Jeanne Moderno fonts as part of an earlier series. He’s back with a sequel (above). Go here.

The post More Moderno wallpaper, from Austria first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Found this while browsing around: Make your own custom holiday card, featuring one of my Jeanne fonts. Card design by Emily Potts.

Order here. Pottsdesign website here.

The post ‘Fa la la la la’ holiday photo card first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

When I drew Jeanne Moderno, my hopes were the fonts would end up somewhere in a cool fashion magazine.

UK-based Ponytail has em and has used them beautifully in their third issue. Website here.

The post Jeanne Moderno in Ponytail first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

And here’s a music video.

Happy birthday Jeanne! (Yes, I named fonts after my wife)

The post Today is my wife’s b-day first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Sort of a 16th century fashion magazine spread.

Used as a promo piece for my Jeanne Moderno fonts. Available as a print or on a greeting card/notecard/postcard.

The post Dürer style first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

I was told when I released my Jeanne Moderno fonts, they’d probably end up being used on a cereal box.

Instead, I’ll settle for this cool laundry detergent box designed by Bootleg.

The post Jeanne Moderno detergent first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

. . .  And when MyFonts did a write up of my Jeanne Moderno fonts for their Rising Stars newsletter – they spent some time digging thru so they could show some of my telescoping ascenders, alternates and ligatures (above). I like to hide things in my fonts, fill the blank slots as it were.

(Below) Psy/Ops new type sample for Jeanne Moderno. Psy/Ops also carries the Jeanne fonts, they did the final OpenType mastering before release (and without their support, Jeanne could possibly still be sitting in the 10 year limbo that was part of my process).

The post Jeanne Moderno type samples first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

My Jeanne Moderno fonts were spotted on this poster for  . . .

Project Rhythm Multimedia Screening
Friday, September 4th, 2009 at 9 p.m.

At Parlare Euro Lounge, 1009 10th Street (10th & K), Sacramento, CA 95814 [map]

Project Rhythm Multimedia Screening is produced by Dr. Ri and features artists from Dr. Ri’s Advanced Media Editing Course at the Art Institute of California-Sacramento. Also: Live Multimedia VJ: Lai Fong Saelee, original soundtrack composed and edited by Dr. Ri & TCM, Inc.

The post Project Rhythm: featuring Jeanne Moderno first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Choose from two vintage stiletto dingbats.

Options are an art deco-themed pump or basic, clean lines.

Part of my Moderno Collection at Café Press, limited edition tees featuring type and dingbats from my Jeanne Moderno fonts.

The post Stiletto shirts by mehallo first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Today is National Waaffffle Day – celebrating the day the first US patent for a Waffffle maker was issued to Cornelius Swartwout in 1869.

Celebrate your love of waffffles with a limited edition waffffles! shirt by mehallo. Available for both men and women. Part of The Moderno Collection at Cafe Press.

Photo taken at The Original Pancake House in Roseville, CA

The post National waffffles! 2009 first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Here’s a link to a cool collection of typographic wallpapers designed by Arno Kathollnig/Typoatelier. Including a fun ((t+y+p+o)-o)+e= version (pictured above) featuring my very own Jeanne Moderno fonts.

The post Moderno wallpaper, from Austria first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Typography on the web is about to change dramatically. Several entities are involved. I have a bunch of my fonts about to launch with Typekit.

And here’s a really good rundown by Elliot Jay Stocks, posted on the i love typography blog.

The post The changing ‘faces’ of the web first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Designer Steven Shearer’s update of the iconic British Keep Calm and Carry On poster – typeset in one of my fonts, Jeanne Moderno. Available now on some nifty Cafe Press items.

Sort of reminds me of the revisionary 1930s British history portrayed in this version of Shakespeare’s Richard III (1995).

The post Keeping calm, carrying on first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

Jeanne Moderno Bold is this week’s featured font at Typophile; it’s being used for heads, titles etc. The experimental background on the home page changes as users post messages.

And huge thanks to Psy/Ops for not only doing the final mastering of the font, but also setting up this deal (actually, advertisement).

The post Jeanne Moderno, this week’s featured font at Typophile first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..

get modern[o]
This is what I’ve been up to for the past year. Instead of plopping down in front of the tee vee, I decided to do something a bit more productive.

Last January I started working on a font idea I’ve had brewing for about 10 years. Sketched a lot, poured thru my collection of type books, fired up Fontlab, put on some music (bands of choice: theSTART and iVellora) (and actually, I could only draw these letters when listening to Aimee, Chelsea + co) and I basically took myself through one letter after another  . . .  and

with some final tweaks this week by Rod Cavazos and his team at Psy/Ops in San Francisco, I am happy to announce today the release of my newest fonts!

Jeanne Moderno is a synthesis of Bodoni Italic, 19th Century Fat Faces and elements from early 20th century (pre-bauhaus) modernism.

Jeanne Moderno is a ‘revisionary’ typeface, in that it incorporates elements that sort of existed, and also didn’t exist. Kind of modern, a bit steampunk, with a twist of fashion  . . .  all together raw and elegant.

With a geometric version just for anyone who wants a change from Futura Black or font menu standby, Braggadocio.

purchasing options
You can download your very own copy of Jeanne Moderno thru the steve mehallo foundry at MyFonts. MyFonts also has a set of my historical ‘specimen’ images in the gallery section.

Psy/Ops was the first foundry to release Jeanne Moderno, and you can order your copy here. Jeanne Moderno is also available thru my friends at Ascender.

We’ve set up a few different purchasing options for Jeanne Moderno. We have the fonts available as a superset (9 fonts for 99 bucks US) or individually (32 bucks US) – basically, whatever you choose, Jeanne Moderno is about the same price you’d pay for a really good book.

Huge thanks to everyone who has supported me in this endeavor. Especially my wife, who is the namesake of this particular type family.

The post Introducing: Jeanne Moderno, 9 new modernist fonts first appeared on the mehallo blog. beta..