Happy New Year everyone! I’m sure for many of you, updating your blogs, websites, etc., might be on your list of goals for this year! So, Top-Notch Type is here to help! I’m always on the lookout for great, free, web fonts for designing web sites and blogs. Sometimes the free web fonts can be hard to read or boring. Arial might be a good web font, but sometimes you need an upgrade, something with a little personality, right? In comes the beautiful, Questrial! I love this font! How perfect is the tail on the Q? Not only can you find Questrial on Font Squirrel, you can also find it on Google Web Fonts, which is a super simple way to use it on your websites and blogs! -Eva Black

This week’s font : Questrial
Number of styles : 1
Classification : Sans Serif
Designer : Admix Designs
Get it here —> : Font Squirrel + Google Web Fonts

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays, friends! I’m excited to share this week’s font because it’s a little handmade gift – something I made just for Top-Notch Type enthusiasts! Have you guys played with the app iFontMaker? It’s exclusively made for iPad & allows you to easily (and quite quickly) make your own fonts. It’s super simple and self explanatory – when you open the app you’ll see all the glyphs you need. After making your font, you can email yourself a link that will allow you to download it! It’s as easy as that. But you do need to know, it’s hard to make ‘perfect’ fonts, they’re often more raw, sketchy, and imperfect. With practice, I’m sure you can turn them into perfect works of art. This one that I made ‘Top-Notch Type’ is a simple, narrow and tall, sans serif. It’s perfectly imperfect – Enjoy! -Eva Black

This week’s font : Top-Notch Type
Number of styles : 1
Classification : Sans Serif, Display
Designer : Eva Black
Download the font here –> : click me!!
Get the app here —> : 2ttf.com

*This font is not for resale, it was made exclusively by Eva Black for Emmadime’s Top-Notch Type.
Please give credit where credit is due.

It’s that time of year when warm blankets, fireplaces, and a warm cup in your hands are just what you need. I was beginning to wonder when this would come for us here in California — We finally have our fall. Lately, tea has been a necessity. For me, drinking it is easier than a cup of coffee, full of caffeine. What are some of your favorite ways to make tea? -Eva Black

This week’s font : Sanchez Condensed
Number of styles : 2 ( free ) / 12 ( whole family )
Classification : Slab Serif
Designer : Latinotype
Get it here —> : Font Spring

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I kind of hope that you’re not even looking at this post and are just enjoying yourself, AWAY from the computer. If you are, I thought I would stay on theme and talk about all the lovely things we’ll be enjoying today – TURKEY | WINE | FAMILY | The PARADE | Etc. I used one of my favorite fonts, Novecento Wide, for today’s Top Notch. This font is designed to be used mostly for headlines, identities or short sentences, both in big and small sizes. Lighter faces provide a more contemporary look & feel, while the bolder ones definitely look retro! Enjoy -Emma

This week’s font : Novecento Wide
Number of styles : 6
Classification : Sans Serif
Designer : SynthView
Get it here —> : Font Squirrel

Coming at you this week is, yet again, another condensed sans serif. You really can’t go wrong with these kinds of fonts! Thanksgiving is right around the corner ( crazy! ) so I wanted to create a fun baking checklist using them. With all of our parties and get-togethers quickly approaching, this should help you stay on top of the basic ingredients you’ll need to whip up a treat at any moment. What are some of your favorite ingredients you don’t see here that you like to use when baking cupcakes …specifically for the holidays? – Eva Black

This week’s font : Facunda
Number of styles : 5
Classification : Condensed Display
Designer : Madrid based design studio, Boo
Get it here —> : bybu.es

Emma here. Eva & I have decided to swap off each week so #26 = my turn! I thought I would kick it off by challenging myself to find a serif font that I like – I am a sans serif girl all the way. I came across Linux Libertine and loved how easy it is on the eyes. It’s classic yet leaves you wanting more. The fact that it has 16 styles definitely draws you in and challenges you to reveal it’s potential. I purposefully didn’t show it off too much here, to inspire you to download it and check it out yourself. -Emmadime

This week’s font : Linux Libertine
Number of styles : 16 ( woah! )
Classification : Serif
Designer : Philipp H. Poll
Get it here —> : Linux Libertine
Photos by : Laura Dart

Cheers to all you Libra’s out there. We thought we would celebrate you & your astrological goodness by dedicating this week’s Top-Notch to ya!! Story time – When I was in college, I would read my horoscope in the school newspaper almost everyday. I would let it inspire me  - whether it was good or bad news! SO tonight, as I am preparing this post, I decided to check out Libra’s reading and let it inspire. Turns out I really related to it. – Emma

“You are apt to be busier now as your life fills up with mental distractions and many things to do. However, all this activity isn’t necessarily a problem because it can lift you up out of the doldrums and bring much needed inspiration. Even if you don’t have too much on your plate, your restlessness still probably prevents you from getting the relaxation that you need. Don’t court frustration by trying to escape; instead, jump in with both feet and attempt to accomplish as much as possible.”

This week’s font : Octin Vintage Regular
Number of styles : 1
Classification : Grunge slab serif
Designer : Typodermic
Get it here —> : Font Spring

This weeks post is combining type and cookies! Can’t get much better than that!? I found a  recipe on For Me, For You, that was snagged from Shirley Hendrickson, who adapted it from the New York Times! What I love about Kate and Shirley’s adaption is that they share each little secret into making this recipe a success, which is really important. So my homework for you is – head over to One By Four Studio and download this beautiful, vintage, condensed sans-serif font AND make these tasty cookies!! You can thank me (and, Kate and Shirley) later! YUM! -Eva Black

This week’s font : Matchbook
Number of styles : 1
Classification : Condensed San-Serif
Designer : One By Four Studio
Get it here —> : One By Four Studio

…and the Design Guide continues!! If you guys follow Chelsea & I on Instagram, then you saw that we went to Palm Springs for a Design Retreat last weekend. We spent 3 days with a handful of really talented female designers – poolside! ( we had a tiny bit of structure in there but for the most part we just enjoyed each others company and chatted about our businesses ) I definitely left feeling charged and challenged. Chelsea & I decided to let the trip inspire this next COLOR post. Check it out – as soon as we got home, we selected all of our favorite Instagram images from the weekend and pulled color palettes from them! ( hence the type up top screaming PALM SPRING PALETTES ) We felt like this would be a really interesting way to show you guys how easy it can be to pull inspiration from daily life – and then apply it to design!

…and now – I invited Eva to pick her favorite palette and apply it to this weeks Top Notch Type Design!! She went with #03! ”The various natural sceneries, bright sun and the shimmer from the pool, bring these colors to life. And this week’s typeface is another great one from designer, James T. Edmonson, for Lost Type Co-Op, Edmonsans. This sans-serif comes in three weights and has a few special features that gives this font it’s Top-Notch quality. You can’t go wrong using this one!” -Eva Black

This week’s font : Edmonsans
Number of styles : 3
Classification : Sans Serif
Designer : James T. Edmonson
Get it here —> : Lost Type Co-Op

I found this fun display face for Top-Notch Type this week, called Franchise. Franchise was designed by Derek Weathersbee, who explains that this little beauty was “meticulously drawn to achieve a uniformity without compromising style.” Sometimes typefaces can be beautifully designed but they’re not always uniform. Remember the Type Anatomy I shared a few weeks ago? When talking about uniformity, this means that Derek followed the various type guidelines. This typeface is a great, strong san-serif. It’s best used for headings, signs, anything where the font is larger. You’ll notice when using it, it’s not as legible when used in a body font, but that doesn’t make this top-notch anything less than perfect! Enjoy! -Eva Black

This week’s font : Franchise
Number of styles : 2
Classification : Display Face
Designer : Derek Weathersbee
Get it here —> derekweathersbee.com