For all your design needs.

What We Do

Specializing in PageMaker – to – InDesign Conversions

THE MOST PRINTED book in the world is the Bible.  Even before the press work of Gutenberg in the 1400s, handwritten manuscripts by dedicated religious monks brought the Word of God to written light. Centuries earlier than these dedicated transcribers of Scripture, ancient Hebrew and Greek writings began the journey of Bible typography.

William Skeen in his 1872 Early Typography celebrated what he called “The Art Sublime” referring to typography and its use for divine illumination —

“That all aright the men may know

To whom Typography we owe;

The men whose names immortal ring,

Whose gifts transcendent blessings bring,

Whose monuments in every land

By wisdom rear’d, heart-honor’d stand,

Inscribed in tongues of every clime —

“Inventors of the Art Sublime!”

This little book investigates the history of Bible typography, the “art sublime,” from ancient roots to modern examples. An Appendix of older typographic fonts, many of them hand written and digitized for modern use, is also offered.


Available from Lulu Press at

Lulu.com at their Bookstore under “Carl Shank”


CARE Typography Fonts

CARE Typography has crafted with the help of public domain materials and Lewis F. Day's Alphabets Old and New (London, 1910) a number of specialty fonts for sale to the public. Many of these fonts are uncials, or capital letters, suitable for invitations or chapter openings in books and other manuals.

Your first three choices are FREE to you. Ordering more than three selections are on a sliding scale of cost. An order form is attached. Payment via PayPal upfront. Enjoy!



Order Fonts

Font Revivals

CARE Typography in its desire to revive old typefaces offers several additional old fashioned fonts to its growing collection. The playful swirly fonts in Willowby, Penelope Care, Recherche Caps, Gutenberg 700, Harper 446 and Ornament 91 are examples of fancy lettering that can be used in various ads, display work or book introductions. Most of these fonts have full lettering, though you will see a few missing letters from some of these recreations. They are available from CARE Typography at www.caretypography.com for a nominal fee.

  • Slide title

    Write your caption here
    Button

  • Slide title

    Write your caption here
    Button

About Me

Hi, I'm Carl Shank.

I'm a layout, font designer and consultant specializing in church and ministry work under the umbrella of Carl Shank Consulting, a church health and leadership mentoring service.

Read More

Let’s Talk

Do you have a project or layout challenge that needs help?

Perhaps it is a special church logo or letterhead design that needs a facelift. Perhaps it is a wider ministry issue.


Whatever the design or consulting needs, we can help your ministry process.

Contact Us

Services

A loving community pursuing grace truth and hope in jesus

Website Design

Button
A man is typing on a laptop on a wooden table.

Ministry Publication Design

Button
A group of people are sitting at a table with a tablet and a cup of coffee.
Learn more

Blog

Wide Is Beautiful

By Carl Shank • March 15, 2025
Wide Is Beautiful What makes a typeface beautiful? Aesthetically pleasing fonts or typefaces have differing qualities that make them suitable and beautiful in different contexts and uses. I have chosen six (6) wide or "extended" font faces to highlight the inherent beauty and usability of such type. The samples chosen range from well used Adobe fonts to a specialty antique wide font CARE Typography crafted from an old fashioned type book published by Frederick Nelson Phillips, Inc of New York back in 1945.

Italics

By Carl Shank • February 22, 2025
Italics . Typography historically received its most valuable improvements from the printers of Italy giving us three text-letters of greatest usefulness : (1) the Roman typeface, first founded by Sweinheym and Pannartz in 1465, and afterward perfected by Jenson at Venice in 147 1 ; (2) Italic and (3) Small Capitals, introduced together by Aldus Manutius at Venice in 1501. The first volume entirely in Greek was printed at Milan in 1476 ; the first book entirely in Hebrew, at Soncino in 1488. The transition from Gothic to Italic typefaces was part of the broader evolution of typography that took place during the Renaissance period, driven by shifts in cultural, aesthetic, and technological factors. Gothic script was primarily used for religious texts, legal documents, and early printed books like the Gutenberg Bible. It symbolized tradition, formality, and authority. Gothic, was characterized by its dense, angular, and ornate letters, often with sharp vertical strokes, tight spacing, and elaborate flourishes. It was designed to mimic the style of manuscript writing at the time.

Sketch & Hand Drawn Lettering

By Carl Shank • January 29, 2025
Sketch & Hand Drawn Lettering. The history of font development includes a wealth of calligraphic fonts and artistically crafted hand drawn typefaces. A number of these lettering fonts have been drawn and submitted by smaller type foundries and entrepreneurs seeking to make their mark in the font world. A casual look at ChatGPT gives some idea as to their source and character. Fonts that mimic pencil drawings often have a hand-sketched, textured, or rough-lined appearance. These fonts are great for artistic projects, children's books, casual branding, or creative typography. The sample fonts below are mostly given for personal use only, use on personal invitations and so forth, but some have been made available for commercial use as well. They demonstrate the wide range of hand drawn fonts available for use and purchase.