Post #410883 by Humuhumu on Tue, Sep 30, 2008 4:50 PM

On 2008-09-29 23:57, Tom Slick wrote:
And I was under the impression that letter setting pre-dated computer fonts, and that many font designers "borrowed" letter styles from times past?

That's true, but every typeface has a different story. Some were created with a specific purpose in mind (e.g., legibility in a telephone directory, or on highway signs, or in the case of Chicago, on computer screens), some were inspired by hand lettering, and some were original designs.

I had the name of Freestyle Script's designer wrong, it's not Martin Ware it's Martin Wait. I sent him an email to ask him to clarify exactly when his typeface was created, and what it was based on, here's what he responded:

Hello Michelle

Freestyle Script was created in 1981.
The style is my design and it had no other type influences.
I don't use old typefaces for any of the fonts I design

I hope this helps you.

Kind Regards

Martin Wait

Fun Fact: Martin Wait designed the logo for Tetley's Tea!

On 2008-09-29 23:57, Tom Slick wrote:
There would be no reason to say "visit Tiki Gardens" post-1990, and I would find it silly for someone to print this after that date of the Gardens closing, as this is/was a fairly pricey process.

I agree in principle, but people reproduce all sorts of odd things. You can get a Tiki Bob's t-shirt today, and Tiki Farm does a brisk trade in reproduction mugs. After all, Tiki Gardens has been closed for nearly two decades now, and there's clearly demand for this license topper now! My guess still stands that it was either made between '88 and '90 in the last-gasp days of Tiki Gardens, or it was made in the past few years to target the tiki and hot rod collectibles markets.