WOBURN — November 13, 2026 -- Monotype Imaging Inc. has expanded its Inkwell handwriting type family with four new designs, adding 24 styles to the 42 that the seven original designs provide, an increase of about 57%. The family now totals 66 styles across 11 designs, by our calculation.
The additions are Inkwell Antique, Formal, Chancery and Ornaments. Antique draws on Victorian ornamented lettering. Formal reworks the engraver's script and uses contextual and position-specific characters to keep handwritten variation. Chancery follows Renaissance writing traditions, with swash capitals and contextual alternates. Ornaments covers emoji, illustrations, arrows, pointing hands, musical symbols, weather devices and cartographic elements.
Jordan Bell led the expansion 11 years after joining the project
Jonathan Hoefler began designing Inkwell in 2004. Bell joined in 2015, and Hoefler&Co released the family in 2017, 13 years after work began. The seven original designs (Serif, Sans, Script, Blackletter, Tuscan, Open and Condensed) each span six weights, which gives the 42 styles.
Bell, now Senior Type Designer at Monotype, completed three of the additions and designed Ornaments himself. The expansion arrives nine years after the 2017 release. Twenty-four styles across four designs works out to six per design, the same weight range as the originals. Bell says the additions give designers "more ways to create hierarchy, shift between typographic voices".
Ornaments returns Inkwell to the map that started it
Hoefler conceived Inkwell while designing wedding materials at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Conventional type made his map look too official, and formal calligraphy looked too elaborate, so he turned to handwriting. The cartographic elements in Ornaments return the family to that origin.
Hospitality, publishing and cultural buyers are the stated targets
Monotype says Inkwell is already used on restaurant menus, wine lists, museum copy and maps. It positions Formal for hospitality, events, wine labels and luxury branding. Chancery is aimed at publishing, museums, cultural institutions and ceremonial work. Antique targets branding, packaging, posters, hospitality and editorial design.
The company says the designs can be used alone or combined to build hierarchy and contrast while keeping visual continuity. Monotype did not disclose pricing or licensing terms for the new styles.
Inkwell Antique, Formal, Chancery and Ornaments are available through Monotype Fonts, Monotype Connect and MyFonts.