Enough with the languid fonts of Summer. Fall means football and football calls for the slab-serif styling of designer Meredith Mandel‘s massive ChunkFive typeface (free). This download scores points for solid typography and versatility in print and on screen.
ChunkFive is game for all sorts of tasks with upper and lowercase characters, numerals, and a full range of basic punctuation. Highlights include macho brackets and parentheses for delivering sideline commentary; a bouncy cheerleader asterisk; and an @ sign that stays in character for easy communication to players in the field. Still, every team has its weakness. We recommend that Coach Mandel bench the % and $ signs, as both symbols sport changes in their stroke weights uncharacteristic of the rest of the font.
Call up ChunkFive where you need a heavy presence in print, beginning at the 12-point range. This style is not made for paragraphs, but it provides definite emphasis for subheads, titles, and single statement items such as slogan T-shirts.
ChunkFive’s no-nonsense block serifs are taken right out of the playbook for classic western wood type—a style at home on wanted posters, newspaper front pages, and signs such as Saloon and Grub. In addition the clean lines and careful attention to interior space definition make ChunkFive a decent player on the screen at 24 points and up.
This download’s license allows the user to create. Go ahead, tackle that custom team apparel, awesome pendant, even stadium cushions, then sell those creations. Just remember that the font itself is protected from resale. We have the League of Moveable Type to thank for signing Ms. Mandel and making her pro-level design available for free. It was a wise choice. After looking at the stats, we think ChunkFive is championship material indeed.
