A patriotic font, from America.
What a surprise.

Nick: I'm guessing that you aren't a big fan of comic books? Myself, I like the base fonts without the extras, but that is just me.

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Sorry, not a big fan of US flag-waving.

Is the American Flag an OpenType feature? :P

Nick> LOL!!!

I love these. Old Marvel Comics had some great mastheads and lettering on the covers, but most fonts in the genre are comic fonts with intentionally limited utility and not a lot of detail work. If I weren’t unemployed I’d be up late looking for jobs to use these on.

You might want to try dropping an announcement of some sort at Panel and Pixel, the type-hungry comic geeks might go for these.

@Nick: Most Americans have no idea how American flag-waving patriotism is perceived by the rest of the world.

Cheers,

T

Actually, the second image shows the flags of Luxembourg and Yugoslavia, or perhaps Thailand....

johnnydib: Fortunately or unfortunately, the layers are not opentype features. Each layer is a font style - italic, bold, and bold italic. The PDF specimen explains the layering in detail.

James: Thanks and thanks for the tip.

Does anyone here besides James and myself read comic books? Personally, I will probably never use the layed effects. I don't do much for political campaigns or July 4th sale ads. I certainly will not have a hand in promotional material for the upcoming Captain America movie (more is the pity.) However, I will have lots of applications for the basic fonts because the letterforms are bold and make some very interesting negative space - especially for logo work.

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Tom: Most comic book geeks have no idea how comic-book-geekdom is perceived by the rest of the world.

Phrosty, I'm not a big fan of comic books.
Graphic novels are more my scene, pretentious hipster that I am.

BTW, the typeface is great--why not release the basic fonts with a name that has more general appeal?
People might not realize that they could be appropriate for non-American, non comic-book uses.

As noted, the flag effect works for other countries.

sii: Does any niche group have any idea how they are perceived by the rest of the world?

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Nick: I've kind grown out of comics myself. As far as a different marketing strategy, I've discussed it with the artist (admittedly only briefly). I've been concerned that folks might only see the comic book aspect and not the real world applications. Thanks for the POV.

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> Does any niche group have any idea how they are perceived by the rest of the world?

Corollary:
Most type designers have no idea how type design is perceived by the rest of the world. :P

Oh, almost forgot: the PDF is great. Very appropriate. And yes, I read comics. And graphic novels.

You need to sell 'flag packs' with a font style for various national flags. ;)

And...c'mon...what kind of type nerd DOESN'T read comics!?

> Corollary:
Most type designers have no idea how type design is perceived by the rest of the world. :P

Dead on.

aluminum: I was beginning to be concerned...

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FWIW the specimens are all so over-the-top that I think most people will see it all as pretty tounge-in-cheek.

And...c’mon...what kind of type nerd DOESN’T read comics!?

I’ve never picked up a comic book. The closest thing I got to a comic books is the Aeon Flux series on MTV’s Liquid Television.

"what kind of type nerd DOESN’T read comics!?"
But what kind of comics?
I *love* comics and graphic novels, just not necessarily mainstream American ones. Amazingly, there is a world outside the U.S., and its mainstream popular culture, even in comics!

...so over-the-top that I think most people will see it all as pretty tounge-in-cheek.

May I recommend Charles Burns Black Hole

Thanks, Nick. My thoughts exactly.

Sure, I'm a comic book fan from way back. Don't read as much now, just a smidge.

I actually like what they've accomplished with these fonts, but I do think it's a fine line between pastiche and homage... some people will take them seriously, or at least will see them as emblematic of unthinking American flag-waving patriotism. (And let's not get into more of a discussion of whether that's a problem.)

Regards,

T

...so over-the-top that I think most people will see it all as pretty tounge-in-cheek

Nick: Well spotted. Alas, George is in fine company. Here is one from the Old Blighty, namely Henry's. Disturbingly, the glove seems to fit …

My apologies for this digression, James.

For those of you who have never read comics, I recommend Ziggy. The drawings are top notch, the characters gripping and the gags will leave you tear streaked and possibly suffering from intestinal rupture.

So the gripe is that graphic designers looking to emulate this particular comic book nameplate style will be put off from licensing the font because of the font name "American Patriot"? Unless of course they are rabid flag draped republicans? Interesting theory...

I was never a comics fan, but my older brother had a giant collection of early Marvel that he bought when he was 12 or so.

He sold them a few years ago for a very pretty penny and laughs that his smartest investment decision was made when he was 12 years old!

Interesting theory...

My "gripe" is with jingoism. But that's just me, and I don't know how it would affect graphic designers in general.
The productization and marketing of this typeface is another issue.
If you have a product with broad applications (i.e. the basic typeface), why name and market it with a feature that has narrow application? Sure, it gives it a high profile, but as a result the chances are that people would not consider the basic design for non-patriotic duties.

For those of you who have never read comics, I recommend Ziggy.

Ziggy? Really? Or do you mean Zippy? Zippy is great, and sometimes features type jokes.

James: I would have picked a more ironic or ambiguous name. Leave the interpretation to the eye of the beholder.

>I would have picked a more ironic or ambiguous name

Like say, "Canadian Airforce"?

Cheers, Si

PS. Zippy rocks!

I was thinking "Flag Waver".

I'd go with Apple Pie.

No I meant Ziggy by Tom Wilson. It's cutting edge comedy so some people don't get the jokes. Ziggy's jokes are often so complex and the drawing so intricate and beautiful that it's hard to appreciate their poignant comedic content. Don't think of them as art, just let the humor wash over you like a moistened pillow of laughs.

http://www.gocomics.com/features/162/feature_items/445647

From the designer: They weren't always red, white and blue and full of stars. The American Patriot fonts were originally designed and tested and kerned to within an en-space of their lives minus any patriotic effects, all to ensure their viability as normal, healthy, functional faces. Thought it might be interesing for everyone to see a few of the earliest test layouts to that end. The "over the top" layouts were just icing on the proverbial cake, intended to point heavily at their vintage origins, the three styles ranging in time from the 1940s to the 1970s.

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Is Captain America still alive in comic books? I remember seeing something about his death awhile back - maybe last year?

Apart from that crazy distorted swoop, those gradient free-graphics look much nicer to me. They look like old comics.

>From the designer: They weren’t always red, white and blue and full of stars.

Much better! The blues were wrong in the first sample, as Yankee Doodle Nick pointed out.

Cheers!

The death of Captain America

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I will not apologize for America—but I will apologize for pasteurized process cheese food. Very, very, sorry about that. :)

Thanks for the information provided in detail

http://www.DigBands.com/Blues

Most of the Flag Waving and many of the comic heroes grew out of the two World Wars. Later, advertisers wanted to grab a piece of the action and put the flag waving stuff in everything they wanted to sell. It was a legitimate part of American culture then but is more than half a century past its era. Today, it just looks like right-wing American extremist hogwash when used out of its element. I know I am very anti-nationalism of all kinds because the "WE are great" rhetoric can sometimes lead to armed conflict. The type can still be used skillfully with the right subject matter and a twinge of humor. Let's hope that is what happens.

ChrisL

> I know I am very anti-nationalism of all kinds because the “WE are great” rhetoric can sometimes lead to armed conflict.

So the Dezfonts "FOX NEWS font pack" is on hold, then? I guess they have to stick with Helvetica :-)

"So the Dezfonts “FOX NEWS font pack” is on hold, then?"

LOL!!! Yes, Si, those are on the back burner right behind the "John Birch Society" corporate type family ;^P

ChrisL

From the designer: Would this application be considered appropriate for a "flag-waving" typeface?

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Perfect, James :-)
Just add the bullet ridden Moose carcass. ;-b

ChrisL

The original Captain America movie.

He Lives!

http://peopleofwalmart.com/?p=71