A hand lettered alphabet drawn with a round nib pen was found within the pages of the 1911 book “Letters and Letter Construction” by Frederick James Trezise.

Named ‘Modern German Letters’, the design reflects the strong influences of Art Nouveau - utilizing straight lines, angles and curves in a way that bends the conventional rules of standard typography in order to form unique characters shapes.

While it was the designer’s intent to ‘modernize’ the Blackletter calligraphic styles of the past, the end result was a more contemporary look for its time and doesn’t reflect any of the characteristics of those older type faces. However, this digital revival keeps ‘German’ in its name as a tribute to the original, while adding in ‘Nouveau” as a style descriptor.

German Nouveau JNL is available in both regular and oblique versions.