TYPE DESIGN INFORMATION PAGE last updated on Fri Dec 13 00:48:29 EST 2024

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Ross F. George

Inventor and patent holder (with W.H. Gordon) of the speedball pen. Lettering artist from Seattle, influenced by W.H. Gordon. W.H. Gordon and Ross F. George wrote Presenting The Speedball Pen With Alphabets, Drawings and Designs Produced With This Wizard of Lettercraft (1915, Seattle, WA; local download). George's alphabets appeared in the Speedball Lettering catalogues, published between 1935 and 1948. The Speedball Text Book series's 8th through 17th editions were published at regular intervals from 1925 until 1956, and have many of his alphabets. Some dates: 8th (1925), 10th (1927), 11th (1929), 12th (1935), 13th (1938). Link related to his art deco alphabets. Some of the alphabets in Speedball Lettering have been digitized. To name a few:

• Toto's K22 TriLine Gothic (2011) is a free multiline font based on Ross F. George's TriLine Gothic from 1956.
• Jim Parkinson created Wigwag (2003, a display family inspired by Ross George as well as the work of Samuel Welo and Cecil Wade).
• Jason Walcott made Baroque Text JF (2003, a great Fraktur font based on a hand-lettered alphabet drawn by Ross George).
• Nick Curtis added Xanthippe NF (2006, an "exuberant" blackletter face) and Big D NF (2014).
• Garrett Boge revived Free Roman.
• Nick Curtis designed Catty Wumpas NF (2004).
• Nick Curtis created Gnarly Dude NF (2005).
• Nick Curtis created Hacky Sack NF (2009), after Ross George's Stunt Roman.
• Harold Lohner published Milky Way (2001) and MilkyWayTwo (2001).
• Michael Stacey created the brushy typeface ITC Wisteria (1995), an almost exact reproduction of one of George's brush typefaces which appeared in many publications from 1938 until 1952 (see here).
• Heller and Fili give him credit for Chop Suey (1935), an oriental simulation typeface which has found its way into the free font world under several guises.
• Jim Spiece (Spiece Graphics) created the Wild West family Cactus Flower SG.
• Paulo W created Speedball Western Letters (2009), Speedball Metropolitan Caps (2010) and Speedball Metropolitan Poster (2010). Sunamy (2007, Iza W) is a ninja font made after an example of Ross George.
• Nick Curtis made the monoline script typeface Nellie Kay NF (2011).
• The art deco typeface Blue Jay Way NF (2011, Nick Curtis) was also inspired by Ross F. George.
• Big George NF (2011, Nick Curtis) is a fat comic book style typeface that revives another of George's creations from Speedball Text Book.
• Split Caps by George was revived by Nick Curtis as Spread Out NF (2011).
• Nick Curtis's revivals from 2014 include Trading Hoss NF (after D-nib Display) and Twinkletoes NF.
• Dick Pape created these typefaces based on the 17th Edition: Speedball America, Speedball Architects Italic, Speedball Architects, Speedball Block, Speedball Brush Bold Italic, Speedball Built Up Style, Speedball Bulletin Dusted, Speedball Bulletin Heavy, Speedball Bulletin Plain, Speedball Bulletin Squiggley, Speedball Carnival, Speedball Carved Caps, Speedball Cond Bold Italic, Speedball Cond Poster Gothic Bold, Speedball Decorative Initials, Speedball Decorative Ransom, Speedball Draftsman's Art, Speedball Formal Roman, Speedball Free Roman, Speedball Gay Nineties A, Speedball Gay Nineties B, Speedball Line Gothic, Speedball Metropolitan Poster, Speedball Power, Speedball Roman Italic, Speedball Rough, Speedball Slant Script, Speedball Speed D Italics, Speedball Squeezed Headline, Speedball Stencil Italic, Speedball Variation. Download here.
• In 2016, Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini, Andrea Tartarelli, Giulia Ursenna Dorati and Andrea Gaspari co-designed the 1940s vintage brush script typeface Banana Yeti, which is based on an example by Ross George shown in George's Speedball 1947 Textbook Manual.
• Steve Harrison's free fonts: Doolally (2020; Ross F. George, 1938), Dawdling (2020; Ross F. George, 1935), Dawdling Snowflake (2020; Ross F. George, 1935), Bogeyed (2021), Faffinabout (2021).

Examples of his Speedball Text Book alphabets: Speedball Title Display 1 (1927), SpeedballTitle Display 2 (1927), Easter Suggestion (1935), Speedball Title 1 (1938), Speedball Title 2 (1938), untitled lettering (1941), Poster Gothic 5 (1935), Postrie Caps (1938), Roman 2 (1935), Roman 3 (1935), Roman 4 (1935), Roman 7 (1935), Roman 7 (1938), Symphony 1 (1935), Symphony 1 (1952), Symphony 2 (1938), Symphony 2 (1948), Modern 1 (1938), Modern 2 (1941), Modern 2 (1948), Line Gothic (1938), Tri-Line Gothic (1956).

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Type designers ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Oriental simulation fonts ⦿ Books on type design ⦿ Blackletter fonts ⦿ Type scene in Washington ⦿ Brush script typefaces ⦿ Nick Curtis ⦿ Ornamental caps typefaces ⦿ Art deco typefaces ⦿ Dick Pape's typefaces ⦿ Monoline script fonts ⦿