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What We Do

Specializing in PageMaker – to – InDesign Conversions

BEAUTY IS IN the eye of the beholder. This often quoted line, sometimes attributed to Margaret Wolfe Hungerford in the 1878 novel Molly Brown, suggests that beauty is a subjective quality with differing opinions as to what is beautiful. What is often termed “ugly” is beautiful to someone else. Philosophically, many have grappled with whether beauty is subjective or objective. In the field of typography from a Christian point of view, differing typographic periods both reveal and test what is considered beautiful. 

We believe beauty in this world comes from the presence of God in creation and life. We are made by our Creator to be “sensory-rich,” and our typographic history unfolds this in stunning and diverse ways. As one writer has so eloquently said

“Holy Scripture calls us to inhabit an ordered world of creation and providence that is sensory rich, but we suffer what we may regard as spiritual sensory deprivation. And the more we discover the depth, scope and lush richness of the divinely ordered real world, the more we discover the impoverishment of the modern condition.” (Mark Garcia, Westminster Theological Seminary)

Typographical Beauty Through The Ages

Available at Lulu.com at their Bookstore

GO TO http://bit.ly/462rzBs


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

Go To http://bit.ly/462s1Qa


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.

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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.

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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.

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A loving community pursuing grace truth and hope in jesus

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Ministry Publication Design

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Blog

Pen-Lettering History

By Carl Shank • July 17, 2025
Pen-drawn lettering lies at the heart of Western typographic tradition. From Roman capitals to digital script fonts, its influence persists in the balance, rhythm, and grace of letterforms—whether carved in stone, printed in books, or drawn by hand on a modern tablet. The history of pen-drawn lettering in typography is deeply intertwined with the broader evolution of writing, calligraphy, and type design. It represents a key bridge between handwritten traditions and mechanical or digital type. Key characteristics of Pen-Drawn Lettering include stroke contrast, from broad-nib or pointed-pen techniques, fluid cures and terminals, which are naturally shaped by hand movement, and the human touch of imperfections, variation and expression. Although allied with Calligraphy, pen-lettering has distinct differences. Calligraphy illustrates the art of writing with specific strokes, while pen-lettering focuses on the art of drawing letters. Calligraphy shows writing in one continuous flow while in pen-lettering letters are stylized individually. Calligraphy relies on pressure for thick/thin strokes while pen-lettering is drawn and shaded manually. It is harder to fix mistakes in calligraphy. Thus, the word "typography" in calligraphy is written in one flowing motion, using a brush pen, adjusting pressure to get thick and thin lines. In pen-lettering the word "typography" is done by drawing each letter as a mini-illustration, perhaps outlining it and adding embellishments. However, both calligraphy and pen-lettering share similar histories and are at least partners in typography. The plates below give an overall history of pen-lettering. Enjoy!

Faust Lettering

By Carl Shank • July 11, 2025
Charles Ayers Faust (b. 1860) was an American calligrapher and typographic designer known primarily for his 1912 compendium Faust’s 75 New Alphabets , a richly illustrated manual of lettering techniques. Published in Chicago by the C. W. Braithewait Company, this 72‑page volume is now in the public domain. CARE Typography, in its mission to digitally restore older typography, has restored some of Faust's designs for the modern type world. 75 unique alphabets for artistic lettering, including brush, air-brush, air-pencil, relief, stencil, marking, shading, and both ornate (Payzant, Soennecken) and practical “common pen” styles. They are Highly visual, serving as both an instructional guide and inspirational specimen book for sign-writers, designers, artists, and printers of the early 20th century.  Samples are below, available from CARE Typography .

Typography and Religion in the De Stijl Movement

By Carl Shank • July 8, 2025
The De Stijl (Dutch for “The Style”) typographical and art movement emerged around 1917 and significantly influenced modern art, design and thought itself. In the wake of the chaos of World War I, the movement sought to express a new vision of harmony and order. De Stijl was not just an art style, but a comprehensive aesthetic philosophy. It sought universal beauty, as abstracted from individual beauty, and a visual language and typography based on simplicity, geometry and primary colors, namely red, blue and yellow. Its core characteristics were the use of straight horizonal and vertical lines, the use of rectangles and squares, an emphasis on asymmetry, and the favoring of pure abstraction. De Stijl was deeply influenced by the philosophy of Neo-Plasticism, a theory developed by Piet Mondrian, which sought to depict reality in a pure, universal form. Behind this philosophy was the religious thrust of Theosophy, particularly the spiritual writings of Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891) and Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925).