InDesign vs Kittl

Carl Shank • January 30, 2023

InDesign vs Kittl

InDesign vs Kittl. Perhaps this is an unfair contest right from the start. Adobe's InDesign is a well-crafted layout program with expert features for type crafting and setting. It is my go-to program for professional layout jobs. Kittl is a graphics program available on the internet for free, though to unlock its many templates and graphic powers, a monthly ($15 for Pro users) or yearly fee ($120 for Pro users) is necessary.


Kittl (www.kittl.com), built by Tobias Saul, allows real time advanced text editing with built in text manipulation features, like shadows and easy to use text slanting, rise, text on a circle or an angle and textual distortion features. Its claim to fame is the multitude of template styles available to the user, especially the fancy vector ornament library, shapes and banners and texture collections built into the program. It is easy to use and  manipulate and change elements and colors and then export your finished product to a JPG or PGN file (or PDF for Pro users) or post your creation on many social platforms. It advances WYSWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) to a whole new level, and for many users — it is FREE!


Adobe InDesign, of course, is part of Adobe's Creative Cloud offerings, and available by subscription to users. The subscription price is substantial per year, but you get a number of professionally designed layout and graphical programs, like InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop and many others. It is heralded and used by many graphical and video editing professionals worldwide, including myself. The training curve for InDesign and other such programs is also substantial, but well worth the time and effort for professional uses.


I have included a comparison of a poster I did for a client in both InDesign and then an adaptation in the Kittl program. Both look acceptable for use and possible publication, though I did not attempt to publish the Kittl design. I still like the preciseness of InDesign over Kittl, and I noted that my personal type font (CARE Font) looks grainy in the Kittl mock-up contrasted to the InDesign poster. However, for Victorian swirls and ornamentation, Kittl has many advantages over the traditional Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop programming and steps necessary.


Successful Layout & Design

Art Nouveau Typography

By Carl Shank • September 6, 2025
Art Nouveau fonts grew out of the late 19th-century Art Nouveau movement (c. 1890–1910), which sought to break away from academic, historicist styles and create a new art for the modern age. The style flourished across Europe and America in architecture, furniture, illustration, and typography. In lettering, Art Nouveau embraced organic forms, flowing curves, floral motifs, and asymmetry, reflecting the movement’s fascination with natural growth and hand-drawn ornament. Art Nouveau took its name from the Maison de l'Art Nouveau, a Parisian gallery that exhibited the works of artists and designers who were associated with the movement. The style was characterized by flowing, curvilinear forms inspired by natural shapes and motifs such as flowers, vines, and insects. It also incorporated elements from other artistic traditions, such as Japanese art and the Arts and Crafts movement. Art Nouveau was particularly popular in Europe, where it influenced a wide range of artistic disciplines, including architecture, interior design, furniture, jewelry, and graphic design. Some of the most notable Art Nouveau architects included Hector Guimard, Antoni Gaudí, and Victor Horta, while artists such as Alphonse Mucha, Aubrey Beardsley, and Gustav Klimt were celebrated for their decorative and ornamental works. Art Nouveau declined in popularity after World War I, as artists and designers began to embrace new, more modernist styles. However, its influence can still be seen in many aspects of contemporary design, and it remains an important and influential movement in the history of art and design. 

Ornamental Gothics

By Carl Shank • August 30, 2025
Gothics History. Gothic typefaces are a broad group of styles rooted in medieval calligraphy and evolved into distinct print types during and after the invention of movable type via Gutenberg in the 15th century. They are sometimes confusingly named. In Europe “Gothic” usually refers to blackletter (medieval scripts), while in the U.S. “Gothic” often refers to sans-serif typefaces since the 1830s. Gothic script is a broad term for the entire family of medieval European scripts that developed from Carolingian minuscule around the twelfth century. “Minuscules” are lower case letters as distinct from capital letters, or uncials. Type developed in the sixth through tenth centuries with modern lettering evolving from Carolingian scripts. The Emperor Charlemagne used these letters as an educational standard. These densely packed scripts featured tall, narrow letterforms, strong vertical emphasis, sharp, angular connections, a dramatic thick/thin contrast and minimal spacing between letters. Gothic-inspired fonts create immediate medieval impact and work beautifully for titles, logos, and short display text. They are used today in Fantasy Gaming, Historical Projects, Themed Entertainment (like the Renaissance Fair), Book Design, Certificates, Breweries and Distilleries. Jack Nolan, a professional graphics designer, has provided a fetching display of such faces in his "33 Medieval Fonts Perfect for ‘Ye Olde’ Designs in 2025."(1)
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