Lonsdale

A display typeface drawn in 2019 from a row of ghost signs in Melbourne's CBD.

Pay once, use forever.
No monthly subscriptions.

$49 AUD

Buy Lonsdale  

Origin

A column of weathered hand-painted ghost signs on a Melbourne CBD wall, including BRIGGS & NEETER PTY. LTD. and ROBERT MARTIN, PERIOD & MODERN FURNITURE MANUFACTURER.

Wandering Melbourne's CBD, I stumbled upon a set of hand-painted signs from an era passed. These were for shops in laneways off Lonsdale Street. Though wearing with time, the signs endure.

Robert Martin's workshop and the Briggs & Neeter furriers operated here from the 1930s into the 1970s, when the block was sold and cleared. The lettering was painted by hand with a flat brush. You can see it in the slight outward flare at the head and foot of each downstroke.1

Process

Lonsdale Bold work in progress, showing letter studies.
Further drawing development of Lonsdale Bold.

I started with the letter R, taking the proportions, weight and brush-flare from the painted original. From there the alphabet built itself out, each letter shaped by the same flat-brush logic.

MELBOURNE 1953

Buy

Lonsdale

OTF file. Desktop and web licence. Lifetime updates.

$49 AUD

Buy Lonsdale  

Licence

  • Single user
  • Commercial use included: client work and personal projects
  • Up to 5 website domains
  • Up to 5 app installs
  • No subscription. One payment, lifetime updates.

Proof

Uppercase

Numerals

Punctuation

Alphabet

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Numerals

0123456789

Punctuation

. , : ; ! ? & @ # ( ) [ ] { } / \ — – -

In use

Lonsdale Bold printed test materials laid out on a surface.
Test print of the Lonsdale alphabet.
Test print of Lonsdale set in pangram form.

Lonsdale was released as a single bold weight in 2019. Soon after, Giuseppe Santamaria picked it up as a headline face for the Australia and New Zealand edition of The Robb Report.

FAQ

What file formats are included?
OTF (OpenType), suitable for desktop use in all major design applications. The purchase also includes a web licence; the woff2 for self-hosting is available on request.
Is commercial use included?
Yes. The licence covers use in client work, commercial projects, and personal projects. See the Licence summary above for seat and domain limits.
What is the refund policy?
Because font files are delivered digitally on purchase, sales are final. If something went wrong with your order, get in touch via LinkedIn.
Will the file be updated?
Yes. Buyers receive lifetime updates. If a new version of Lonsdale is released, it will be available to existing buyers at no extra cost.

Credits

  • Typeface

    Tom Lucey

  • Mentorship

    Veronica Grow

  • Critiques

    Dan Milne, Vincent @matterofsorts

  • Robb Report layout & photography

    Giuseppe Santamaria

Also in the catalogue

Disco Cowboy — reverse-contrast display typeface, coming July 2026. View the full catalogue.

Notes

  1. Historical detail on signage remnant via Sean Reynolds, Melbourne Ghost Signs, Instagram, April 2023. ⤴