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Downturn by James Puckett. Now with embedding-friendly license.
Downturn was most directly inspired by letters painted on the wall of an old medical warehouse in Washington, D.C.. Other inspirations include lettering on manhole covers, metal signs and machinery in New York and DC.
Its quirky letterforms and deliberately uneven color reflect the typographic naiveté of signpainters and engineers more interested in impact than consistency. (That’s not a general dig at signpainters, just the typographically naive ones).
Chunky, in-your-face letters make Downturn appropriate for posters, packaging, headlines and other places you need a big impact.
Downturn is available for licensing at MyFonts—$25 per weight, $90 for the family. Web embedding licenses will be available at a later date.
Click here to download a PDF specimen.
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7 May 2009 — 7:58pm
Due to the current downturn, any discounts to the currently unemployed? Wink, wink... ;0)
Nice work, James!
7 May 2009 — 8:07pm
Due to the current downturn, any discounts to the currently unemployed? Wink, wink... ;0)
I considered it, but then I remembered that I’m unemployed ;)
7 May 2009 — 9:41pm
I like it James... the Ultra really shines!!!!!
Michael
8 May 2009 — 3:09pm
Not only did you release a very fine typeface, but you also established a new foundry. I have much respect for your persiverance & endurance!
8 May 2009 — 4:03pm
The foundry establishing still has lots of work to go. I have three governments worth of bureaucracy to deal with and a new web site to build. Good thing I’m unemployed!
8 May 2009 — 7:54pm
Congrats and good luck!
8 May 2009 — 8:05pm
Good on you! I was skeptical when you posted this on critique, but you pulled it off. Good Luck!
8 May 2009 — 8:36pm
i hope downturn causes an upturn in your royalties checks! :^D
11 May 2009 — 8:25am
Already had a chance to use it on one of my websites: impoundloan.com
11 May 2009 — 8:27am
But yeah, congratulations! It's awesome.
11 May 2009 — 3:05pm
In keeping with the tough times theme, I’ve discounted Downturn by 25% through Thursday. That’s $18.75 per weight or $67.50 for the family.
11 May 2009 — 7:48pm
What is this? This is no good. How can you use this for?
Also, your image is 1-2 pixels off center. Please center.
Brown is no good to see the type. Only black & white. Please correct. thank you.
11 May 2009 — 8:43pm
This is pretty cool. I particularly enjoyed the way the uneven "fatty" vertical lines look on smaller sizes. Good luck on your new foundry!
12 May 2009 — 2:58am
thank you.
What is this? No uppercase when starting a sentence? That is no good! Please correct.
12 May 2009 — 4:04am
I like it, only I think the small caps are a little to small. ;)
Keep up the good work!
Kind regards,
Martijn van Berkel
12 May 2009 — 6:28am
congrats james, all the best!
12 May 2009 — 3:02pm
Good thing I’m unemployed!
Entrepreneurs are never unemployed.
13 May 2009 — 8:18am
I like it, only I think the small caps are a little to small. ;)
They actually are a little on the short side. That’s because Downturn is spaced very tightly on the assumption that it will primarily be used at larger sizes. The tight spacing made the small caps clash with the caps in too many places, so they had to come down a little.
13 May 2009 — 9:29am
Congrats, James! Best wishes for a bounty from self-employment :-)
ChrisL
13 May 2009 — 2:00pm
I look forward to seeing this in the wild. I like the heaviest weight as well... In a way it could maybe go one notch heavier, although I don't know what you would call it.
13 May 2009 — 3:01pm
Dowturn Blob
13 May 2009 — 3:06pm
No, that doesn't fit Downturn, since no one gets fat in a recession. Except the Fat Cats holding us down.
I think it would be better if Ultra was just made super fatter, then graduate the sizes down the tree using the current naming.
13 May 2009 — 3:08pm
So that makes two WPA/Depression inspired typefaces. You have anything else? Your version of Eagle is very cool, by the way.
13 May 2009 — 3:10pm
Maybe Downturn Ursa for the bear market?
ChrisL
14 May 2009 — 12:31pm
I think it would be better if Ultra was just made super fatter, then graduate the sizes down the tree using the current naming.
The superheavy versions are in the works. Expect one or two more weights and maybe a version with the counters removed.
You have anything else?
I’m trying to do something more upbeat. Although I have sketches for a downturn slab filed away for later…
And I have updated the license for Downturn; it now allows all forms of web embedding I could think of, including direct linking to the files.
14 May 2009 — 2:37pm
Nice! (also as an aside, this is my first post from my new iPod touch :-)
15 May 2009 — 9:33am
>Entrepreneurs are never unemployed.
Like actors?
15 May 2009 — 10:03am
They are just between gigs.
ChrisL
15 May 2009 — 9:58pm
Nice work James. I just purchased it to explore some ideas for a new identity. It fit nicely with the sketches I was doing. Thanks.
20 May 2009 — 3:15pm
Belated congrats, James! (I gotta start visiting the Release forum more often!)
Like typerror, I too love the Ultra weight. Keep up the good work! May this lead to a steady stream of $$$ coming your way!