We are happy to have played a small part in this beautiful Japanese type family from @iwata_font : Iwata Tsuzuri – a new handwritten Japanese typeface. Iwata Tsuzuri captures the feel of natural yet sophisticated handwriting, as if written with a fountain pen.
Just Another Foundry supported the project by consulting on the design of the Latin characters. Designing Latin characters as part of a Japanese font presents a unique challenge: they must work seamlessly alongside Japanese text. To achieve this harmony, relatively generous, evenly balanced counter spaces, as well as consistent character widths, are essential. We worked closely with the design team at Iwata to find a balance between compatibility in Japanese typesetting and the inherent rhythm of Latin letterforms.
Iwata is a Japanese type foundry with over 100 years of history and continues to publish beautiful typefaces. The designers at Iwata have a deep respect for and understanding of calligraphy, which is evident in their work.
Iwata’s social media channels:
https://lnkd.in/dn7iG6xK
https://lnkd.in/dX6dX_PY
The stroke ➰ Learning how to hold and move the brush at Japanese Calligraphy workshop with Shoko Mugikura (@justanotherfoundry ) @fontstand conference. 🖌️
Beside an accurate arm position and papers full of ink it brought also fun with the table neighbor – in my case @milaweger . To my left: @falthausen and @legilux ☺️
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Btw there are two calligraphy styles:
*Kaisho*, the standard style taught in Japanese schools and the basis of many modern typefaces, and
*Tensho*, the oldest style, known for its rounded and static forms. 🙌
#japanese #calligraphy #brush #fontstandcon2026
Preparing for my talk next week at the Fontstand Conference in Berlin!
Yes, the topic is admittedly a bit niche: “Rounded sans in Japan.” I’ll be looking at why rounded sans is so widely used in Japan, and why it carries quite different connotations there – tracing its roots in calligraphy, sign painting, and multiscript typography.
It will be a visually rich presentation, and I hope it offers fresh insights – not only for CJK design enthusiasts, but also for anyone curious about how design and culture intersect.
Here are a few teaser Images!
Conference site 👉 https://lnkd.in/dKmmR9BR
Image credits and sources:
Spreads from trade label scrapbooks:
https://lnkd.in/drFKRd6B
Type specimen image:
https://lnkd.in/diBZGCGE
A spread from a senjafuda (Japanese votive slips) scrapbook:
https://lnkd.in/dwjKfYcw
Sign painter image:
上林修 Shu Kanbayashi (photograph by Shoko Mugikura)
Two very German typefaces of ours included in the German edition of Typologie! 🇩🇪🙌
Design and concept by @rectoverso.studio 👏👏👏
#design #typography #graphicdesign #creative #typologie
Desde Alemania, Just Another Foundry combina la ingeniería tipográfica de Tim Ahrens, type designer, con la sensibilidad editorial de Shoko Mugikura, typographer. La fundición, creada en 2004, se distingue por su enfoque manual y técnico, visible tanto en sus herramientas —Font Remix Tools y Kern On— como en tipografías como JAF Herb, galardonada con el Premio ATypI Letter.2 por su refinada reinterpretación del blackletter alemán. Juntos crean tipografías de texto y display para impresión y pantalla, además de desarrollar fuentes personalizadas y asesorar en producción tipográfica y tecnología webfont.
Una de las particularidades que distingue a Just Another Foundry es su método de size-specific adjustments: cada glifo se ajusta a mano según el tamaño o el peso tipográfico, garantizando que la letra conserve su carácter en cualquier escala. Ese mismo nivel de cuidado define su catálogo. JAF Herb nació con la intención de conservar la complejidad y el carácter humano del fraktur, pero sin las connotaciones negativas que históricamente acompañan al blackletter. Su diseño mantiene esa textura rica y orgánica, pero desde una mirada contemporánea, más abierta y legible. Por su parte, JAF Lapture parte de la Leipziger Antiqua para combinar elementos del blackletter y la romana, logrando un equilibrio singular entre estructura y fluidez. En JAF Cupidus, una rounded sans, la fundición lleva más lejos su investigación espacial: aplica el principio de “equalising the space” también en las direcciones verticales, reduciendo la jerarquía entre mayúsculas y minúsculas y generando un ritmo visual continuo y equilibrado.
Tipografías disponibles en justanotherfoundry.com y en adobe fonts.
@justanotherfoundry #tipografia #tipos #fonts #typographyinspired #typography
We just received a small package from Yokohama, Japan.
Curious about what it might be, we opened it and discovered this wonderful “Font Karuta” — a card game for anyone obsessed with identifying typefaces.
What is more: This special edition consists only of blackletter, and our JAF Herb is featured in it!
A huge thank-you to the Font Karuta team! Such a nice surprise 🙌
/about-4
Last weekend, we were at a Pixelprint workshop with our kids, led by the wonderful Alain Wohlfarth @alain.k.w . 👏 Our youngest remarked, “Alain explains things really well.” 😀 We think so too. Thank you – we all had a great time!
We are delighted to announce the release of JAF Lapture (justanotherfoundry.com/lapture) — one of our most popular typefaces, now updated and expanded! 🙌🥳
The new version includes Black and Condensed styles, as well as Cyrillics. We think these additions will provide graphic designers and typographers with a broader range of “voices” for their work! You can download the full PDF specimen (justanotherfoundry.com/pdf/JAF_Lapture.pdf) here!
Font description ✍️
JAF Lapture is based on the Leipziger Antiqua typeface, originally designed by Albert Kapr and released in 1971 by the East German foundry Typoart. It has distinctive characteristics that combine elements of both blackletter and roman type. It was carefully redesigned, extended, and digitized in 2004.
In 2019, Oleg Macujev @omtype designed Cyrillics for Text Regular and Italic. In 2025, we updated the family with new styles that were not part of the original release, including extra-heavy weights, condensed styles as well as the Cyrillics.
The typeface is available in two optical sizes – one optimised for smaller text and another designed for display purposes.
