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Type Works [Custom fonts and wordmarks · desktop browser app]
Type Works app icon

Make custom fonts and wordmarks with Type Works.

Shape letterforms, refine individual characters and turn your lettering into SVG artwork or static OTF and WOFF fonts. Type Works is a downloadable typography studio by Benanti Designs.

Preview Type Works

What it makes
Four wordmarks exported as SVG: Astro in orange to pink Sunset letters on navy, Bubble in glossy blue and green Bubble gel on cream, JAZZ in Chrome on near black, and NORTH in solid black on pale gray.
The wordmark · SVG artwork, with the Sunset, Bubble gel or Chrome finish kept.
Four exported fonts set as specimens: Blast off in gold on navy, Groovy in brown on cream, BROOKLYN in cream on near black, and Benanti Designs in a connected script on white, each over a line of letters or numbers.
The font · static OTF and WOFF files you install and type with.

All eight are real exports from Type Works, made with eight presets that cover all six collections. The wordmarks are its SVG files, placed on a background color. The fonts are its OTF files, set in a browser. The backgrounds, the font colors and the layout were added for the pictures.

Inside the app
Type Works in its Balloon look: Display and Bubble gel chosen along the top, the Sample proof with Type Works and Aa Ss 0123456789 in glossy blue and green on a dark stage, preview surfaces along the bottom, and the Make it yours panel with weight, stroke swell, liquid shape, width, sidebearing and texture seed on the right.
The Balloon look · collection and preset along the top, the proof in the middle, every control in the Make it yours panel on the right.
Type Works in its Retro playroom look, with a yellow header, a mint toolbar and a pink controls panel, showing the Seventies collection and Groovy inline preset as outlined letters on cream.
The Retro playroom look · the same tools, chosen from Look at the top.
Type Works with the Space age collection and Neon tube preset: Type Works and Aa Ss 0123456789 in thin glowing pink letters on a starry navy stage.
Space age, Neon tube · each preset sets its preview surface, here Neon.

Every screenshot on this page is Type Works itself, with its status line hidden, in its Balloon look unless a caption names Retro playroom. The clip at the top is the app's Space age scene, captured frame by frame and cut to end on the warp.

How it works
The walkthrough: 24 seconds, captioned, no sound. Six screens from one session, one for each step.
  1. 01

    Pick a collection

    Choose Grotesk, Seventies, Space age, Bookish, Art deco or Display, then one of its presets. Type your word and the proof redraws as you go.

  2. 02

    Shape the letters

    Set weight, width and spacing for the whole set. Then move or warp a single character. Undo and Redo cover your edits.

  3. 03

    Add texture

    Pixel blocks, frayed edges, noise, dots, bumps, tilt or liquid. They change the letter shapes, so they carry into every export.

  4. 04

    Export

    Save a wordmark as SVG artwork, a font as a static OTF, or a package with a WOFF, CSS, a preview page, a specimen and the recipe.

What you can do
01

Six collections, each with a scene

Each collection has its own presets, colors and a short scene that plays when you choose it.

  • Grotesk, Seventies, Space age, Bookish, Art deco and Display
  • 34 presets, each opening with its key controls
  • Shuffle font and Vary effects to try something new
  • Name ideas suggests family names in six moods
  • The scenes are skipped when your system asks for less motion
The Seventies scene: orange, brown, gold and olive flowers drifting across Type Works and Aa Ss 0123456789 in brown on cream. The Art deco scene: magenta sunburst rays and rings behind Type Works and Aa Ss 0123456789 in cream small capitals on near black.
The Seventies and Art deco scenes as they play. Space age is the clip at the top of the page.
02

Move and warp any character

Open Shape character, drag the letter to move it, and pull a corner to reshape it.

  • Moves of up to 200 font units in any direction
  • Corners pull up to 20 percent
  • Numeric fields and arrow key nudges for exact values
  • Every occurrence of the letter shares the edit
  • Accented letters stay independent
  • Extend style copies the edit to unedited A to Z and a to z
The Shape character view for a capital R, its top right and bottom left corner handles pulled into a slanted frame over a grid, with Position at 0 and 0, Bottom left corner selected at Corner X −19.2 and Corner Y −4.3 percent, and nudge arrows.
Shape character on the R of Bubble disco, with the top right and bottom left corners pulled.
03

Texture that exports

Texture changes the letter shapes themselves, so it carries into SVG, OTF and WOFF.

  • Pixel blocks at a grid size you choose
  • Feather edge: a frayed solid outline, not a blur
  • Edge noise and dot cutouts
  • Rounded bumps, liquid shape, stagger and a three quarter tilt
  • A texture seed repeats a result exactly
  • Coarse grids can close small counters, so check at the size you will use
Type Works with Display and Pixel relic, the word Relic built from square pixel blocks in white on black, and the Exported texture panel set to pixel size 32, feather edge 8 and edge noise 12.
Pixel relic in the Wordmark tab: pixel size 32, feather edge 8, edge noise 12.
04

Wordmarks as SVG artwork

Type a word in the Wordmark tab and shape its letters one at a time.

  • Click a letter to shape it
  • Repeated letters share one design
  • Export SVG keeps the Chrome, Sunset or Bubble gel finish
  • Welded SVG gives solid outlines, with overlaps joined and counters kept
  • Six preview surfaces: Solid, Bubble gel, Chrome, Sunset, Neon and Outline
  • Font files keep solid letter shapes
Type Works in the Wordmark tab with Astro typed in, set in orange to pink Sunset letters with a purple 3D edge on a starry navy stage, the letters A, s, t, r and o as buttons, and the Welded SVG button beside the word.
Astro in the Wordmark tab, with Retro rocket from Space age on its Sunset surface. Welded SVG is the button beside the word.
05

Fonts, packages and recipes

Export a static OTF, or a package with everything a job needs, and keep the recipe that made it.

  • Export package: the OTF, a WOFF with CSS and a preview page, an SVG specimen, the recipe, a character list and install notes
  • Capitals, lowercase, figures, punctuation, currency and accents for Western European, Central European and Turkish text
  • Kerning measured from the outlines
  • Designer, copyright and license details written into the font
  • Save recipe, a library of up to 30, and share codes another copy of Type Works can open
Type Works in the Waterfall tab with Art deco and Skyscraper: Type Works in cream small capitals on near black at seven sizes from 14 to 130.
The Waterfall proof for Skyscraper, from 14 to 130.
The Name your next font window: a Fun naming style, six suggested names such as Lucky Parade and Jelly Orbit, a family name field, and Cancel and Export package buttons.
Export package asks for the family name first, with name ideas to pick from.
06

Suggestions from an image reference

Choose a picture of lettering you like. Type Works estimates its contrast, edges and texture, and suggests numbers you can edit before applying.

  • PNG, JPEG or WebP, up to 10 MB and 16 megapixels
  • Suggested numbers such as weight, curve shape and edge noise
  • Applied in one step you can undo
  • A visual estimate: it does not recognize or trace a font
  • The image is not uploaded or saved with the font
Type Works with Grotesk and Neue standard setting Pharmacie, and the Image reference panel showing a cropped photo of a green Pharmacie sign, its estimate and suggested weight and curve shape.
The sign from the studio photograph Pharmacie as a reference. The estimate reads moderate contrast, mostly horizontal and vertical edges, and little fine texture.
The offer

Preparing for release.

Early adopter price All future updates and major versions included.

Early adopters pay $29 once instead of $67, applicable taxes may apply. All future Type Works software updates and revisions, including major versions, are included free for the original purchaser. No subscription and no upgrade fee.

Type Works is not on sale yet. If you would like one note when it is released, leave your email and the studio will send a single release announcement to it, nothing else.

By sending your address you agree to receive one release announcement email from Benanti Designs. It goes to the studio inbox and is not shared or added to any other list.

What do you get?
A single HTML file that is the whole app, opened in a desktop browser through its Open File command or by dragging the file in. No account, no project upload, no native installer, and nothing to run on a phone: this page works on your phone, the app is for a desktop browser. The download also includes the FORM, SLOW and NORTH recipes with their SVG outlines and example OTF fonts, a quickstart guide, the license, support notes and third party notices.
What does it export?
Outlined SVG artwork for wordmarks. Static OTF fonts and WOFF web fonts for type, or a package that adds CSS, a web preview, an outlined specimen and the recipe. Fonts are static CFF OpenType: no TTF, no variable fonts, no hinting. Fonts keep solid letter shapes. Export SVG keeps the Chrome, Sunset and Bubble gel finishes on any proof, Welded SVG gives solid outlines, and the Neon glow and the collection scenes stay on screen.
Can I use what I make commercially?
Yes, under the supplied license, which covers one named user per purchase. You can use your exported artwork and fonts in personal and commercial finished designs, embed your generated web fonts on websites, and hand the font files to your own project client for that project. Reselling or sharing the app itself, and selling exported fonts as standalone font products, bundles or libraries, are not included. Designs are not promised to be exclusive.
How do updates work?
Every future update and revision, including major versions, is included for the original purchaser at no extra charge, with no subscription, upgrade fee or cutoff. There is no automatic updater and no promised release schedule: when a release is made, you download it from your original order and open the new file. Keep your order reference and purchase email, and if an update is ever hard to reach, email the studio and it will be supplied at no charge.
What are the limits of the image reference?
It is a local estimate of contrast, edges and texture that turns into editable suggestions. It does not identify fonts, trace outlines or guarantee that a style will be reproduced, and it cannot read every image's subject. Your image is never uploaded and is not stored in recipes, share codes or exports.
Where has it been tested?
An earlier build was tested in Chromium on macOS through a local server, where exported fonts passed Font Book validation and rendered in TextEdit. Opening the downloaded file straight from disk, other browsers, Windows applications and phone hardware are still being verified before release. Heavy strokes or strong textures can close counters, so review the output in the application where you will use it.
Questions?
Write to JOSEPH@BENANTIDESIGNS.COM.