Jackalope is a new original script font from LetterPerfect Fonts. The design is a hybrid of pressure-pen calligraphy infused with whimsy and curlicue terminals. Letterforms are free-spirited and edges are rough, simulating spontaneous writing on rough paper. In addition to the full ANSI western character set, Jackalope includes a full set of small capitals, both lining and old-style numbers, and swash lowercase alternate characters that can be used as terminal letters at the ends of words for additional flourish.

The genesis and realization of Jackalope was also a hybrid process. In 1996, LetterPerfect commissioned type designer Kathy Schinhofen to provide pen-written source material based on her commercial handwriting style and specifically on a logo she had designed for its “Viva la Fonts” line of script fonts. This work was digitized by LetterPerfect’s Garrett Boge and later fonticized by former Hallmark Cards type maven Myron McVay who unified the design and contributed additional characters. The design sat unfinished for over 12 years until Garrett Boge revived the project in 2010 filling out the extended character set and integrating the design into a multi-featured OpenType font.

Jackalope is released in OpenType .otf and .ttf formats with two versions: Jackalope LP Pro is a single font comprising the full extended character set – including small caps, lining & old-style numbers, and contextual swash lowercase alternates – which can be accessed via the type features menu in OpenType-saavy applications such as Adobe InDesign. For software lacking OpenType features, Jackalope LP Regular and Jackalope LP Expert are two conventional fonts comprising the full extended character set between them.