An uppercase 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 on a column of hand-painted signs, faded but still up. They marked shops that once traded in the laneways off Lonsdale Street.

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

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

Type tester

MELBOURNE 1953

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Lonsdale

Uppercase display face. OTF file, desktop and web licence. Download link by email, 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 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 the files are delivered digitally, sales are final. The tester on this page uses the real letterforms, so try the full character set before you buy. 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 development

Disco Cowboy: reverse-contrast display typeface, in progress. View the full catalogue.

Notes

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

Lonsdale $49 AUD

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