Tying in with the launch of webfonts from VirusFonts and FontDeck, we present the Language is a Virus microsite. The one page website presents you a series of statements exploring the theme of language, shown in a myriad of Virus webfonts.

We are proud to announce our partnership with webfont service FontDeck, bringing you VirusFonts for the web for the first time. With exciting new developments in browser technology, no longer are you restricted to the choice of a handful of typefaces that are installed on your computer. That means you can use VirusFonts on your website to bring a unique, esoteric or subversive typographic voice to your online presence.

Easy and Free to use

FontDeck is easy to use; with just a few lines of CSS you can link to a font and display text in the typeface you require. As FontDeck hosts the font files, all the different browser complications are handled and the latest version of each font is delivered quickly and reliably from their worldwide network of servers.

If you are a designer or developer wanting to test out fonts, you can try any number of fonts for free on your local machine, development environment or staging server. Once you’re ready to go live, you can license individual fonts at competitive prices.

Universal, Fast and Reliabile

FontDeck has great browser support. Their technology works on all modern browsers including Internet Explorer 5+, Firefox 3.5+, Safari 3+, Chrome, Opera 10+, Android, Blackberry and Apple iOS devices (the iPhone & iPad).

FontDeck operate a superfast network. Their technology partners, OmniTI, have worked with companies such as National Geographic, UltraDNS and Friendster to design applications that scale. That means no matter how big your website or volume of traffic, you can rely on FontDeck to deliver fast and effective fonts.

Quick to set up

Start by creating a free account, then find your perfect VirusFont add it to your website. Fonts can be viewed for free by up to 20 unique users, then when you’re ready to go live sign up to use the font on unlimited local domains and unlimited sub-domains. Prices are per year, per font, and allow unlimited bandwidth and a generous 1 million monthly page views.

Exocet, one of our most popular and enduring typefaces has been updated. The update includes a new medium weight, new characters and a new format – OpenType. In addition, there are OpenType versions which feature support for Cyrillic and Central European languages.

This month we are launching a set of six font packages: combinations of like-minded fonts which quite simply means more bang for your buck.

The first package, Cynical Scripts, contains Echelon, Nixon Script and Sarcastic; superb for some sardonic statements.

Some information about the fonts in Cynical Scripts:

Echelon is a font based on eastern Europe 70s ‘pipe-style’ typefaces, Echelon is named after the massive government surveillance system, which listens to our every move.

Nixon Script is very loosely based on a piece of lettering on the front of a 1960s camera. It quickly developed from the retro script to something which had the spirit of the ‘American dream’ and a pious religious feel.

Sarcastic is based on some of the 1950s script display fonts and the rhythmic forms created from the connecting points of neon lettering, re-interpreted in a contemporary style.

Package number two, Hostile Encounters, includes Bastard, False Idol and Infidel; vital for vitriolic vociferation..

Some information about the fonts in Hostile Encounters:

Bastard is a blackletter font drawn with a contemporary eye. Historic forms have been reinterpreted using a set of modular parts and a new aesthetic appropriate to the contemporary technology it was produced on. In recent history these kinds of letterforms have been identified with the Nazis but blackletter type has been central to the development of typography for over five hundred years.

False Idol is based on bad rubdown lettering from 1970s pornographic magazines and home-made religious leaflets distributed in central London. The letterforms it was based were trying to mimic a feeling of ‘glamour’ but succeeded in just looking seedy. Somehow that seediness is kind of beautiful and has made it one of our most popular fonts.

Infidel is based on letters from the Lindisfarne Gospels and other similar manuscripts and bibles from the middle ages. These wonderfully idiosyncratic forms, some beautiful, some ugly are so far away from what we recognise as legible letters today. The name In?del is intentionally confrontational. The typeface was designed as a response to September 11th contrasting these serene, religious, historic forms with the surge in negative energy that pervaded people’s attitude towards religion.

Lucky number three, it’s the Orwellian Nightmare package, including Doublethink and Newspeak; delightful for designing your dreadful dreams.

Some information about the fonts in Orwellian Nightmare:

Doublethink was originally drawn in the 1960s in Yugoslavia as a logo for the shopfronts of the state-owned clothes company Standard Konfekcija by Vinko Ozic-Pajic. The experimental design was reinterpreted with the construction of a two weight typeface – Doublethink Medium and Doublethink Bold Inline. The name Doublethink comes from the book 1984 by George Orwell. It means “the power of holding two contradictory beliefs, simultaneously, in one’s mind and accepting both of them.” An appropriate name for a font produced in a Communist regime.

Newspeak is based on architectural forms from Stalinist Russia and the Cyrillic alphabet, letterforms which show a decadent visual language with a sinister political undertone. The name Newspeak comes from the novel 1984 by George Orwell. Newspeak is a language invented so that people cannot express themselves or think in a way outside the political doctrine enforced by the dictatorship in power.

Farcical yet flamboyant, it’s package number four: Psychosomatic Fantastic. Including three complete fonts: Coma, Melancholia and Tourette; it’s unbelievably appropriate for any unconscious utterance.

Some information about the fonts in Psychosomatic Fantastic:

Coma was originally designed to be used with Japanese alphabets, the font is based on a square so that it can be easily used horizontally or vertically. However its sleek, modern feel means that it stands up very well to being used in a number of different ways.

Melancholia is a delicate & usable sans serif font featuring an alternative font with swash style characters normally only used In calligraphy. The italic in melancholia is not a redrawn sloped version of the sans roman, but a sans based on ‘original italics’ such as Garamond. Altogether it makes up a subtle and beautiful typeface.

Tourette is a whimsical and delicate font, based on light slab serif letterforms from the 18th and 19th century and available in two versions, ‘normal’ and ‘extreme’. ‘Normal’ is a delicate but legible font. ‘Extreme’ is full of little flourishes which will give your designs an exquisite, but slightly frivolous feel.

Fabulous number five, it’s the Super Future package including Delux, Prototype and Prozac; superb for some stylish sloganeering.

Some information about the fonts in Super Future:

Delux is a retro-futuristic font available in plain and ultra to satisfy your every desire. The drawing and construction are very simple, almost naïve, inspired by type found on old military aircraft and redrawn with a contemporary voice. Delux is one of our most well known and popular fonts.

Prototype is a universal alphabet with a very contemporary identity crisis – is it old or new? uppercase or lowercase? serif or sans serif? Experimental letterforms but with an irritating familiarity of a cover version of a played-to-death pop song. Prototype tries to be all things to all people.

Prozac was an experiment to make a universal alphabet with as few shapes as possible. After much work we managed to generate the whole font using just six shapes which are flipped or rotated. The name Prozac comes from the aesthetic of the font. It looks like it was designed by scientists in a ‘utopian’ genetically engineered society. We also wanted to hint at the relationship between simplifying letterforms and the complexity of meaning conveyed through words.

Like a sick sojourn, it’s package number six: War Tourism. Featuring the fonts Patriot, State Machine and Shock and Awe, it’s the perfect package for that peaceful proclamation.

Some information about the fonts in War Tourism:

Patriot is the sans version of our very popular font Exocet released through Emigre. This font is of course also based on early greek and roman stone carving. However without the serifs and some redrawing its looks a little bit more modern and a little bit more mechanical.

State Machine is based on lettering used on Russian and American military vehicles in the Cold War, additionally in the lower case some more naïve characters have been included which are taken from hand-made political banners from the 1970s. Altogether it makes it one of Virus’s most usable and bold fonts.

The Shock and Awe series was created to release fonts of special historical and political significance. This package contains 2 fonts – the first is a full font based on the nose cone lettering of ‘Enola Gay’, the b-29 aeroplane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. The second is from the lettering on the Tomahawk cruise missile. Although controversial we hope that this release will create discussion amongst the design community about the context and significance of letterforms.

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Quote Sources for graphics:
Cynical Scripts = Hosni Mubarak
Hostile Encounters = Laurent Gbagbo
Orwellian Nightmare = Saudi Interior Ministry
Psychosomatic Fantastic = Muammar Gaddafi
Super Future = Design Observer: Lost In the Supermarket
War Tourism = Banned Israel Tourism advert

We are now offering the three posters which we designed for the Anti Design Festival for sale on our website. The posters are printed at A0 [841 × 1189 mm] on day-glow magenta, lightweight flyposter paper. Proceeds from the sale of the posters go to the relief effort in Pakistan.

For more information on the ideas behind the posters, check out this previous blog post.

Quite why you really need yet another apple product in your life Steve Jobs only knows, but it appears that you do. And just incase it was feeling neglected while all your other screens brandish delicious VirusFonts wallpapers, we have a new selection available for the iPad.

The designs (clockwise from top left) are as follows:
1. Litmus is based on the colours found on the pH scale, with a nod to the colourless, odourless, yet explosive gas – Hydrogen. Litmus also relates to the figurative, decisive indicative test which is often applied to the political process.
2. Hebetude is based on ethargy and insipidity; a living coma that people go through their day subjected to. Hebetude makes use of the monospaced qualities of Coma in its apparent repetition.
3. Coalition incorporates both the unprecedented nature of the new government and the rotating feature of the iPad, depicted as the inner workings of a mysterious machine.
4. Trident, showing both the terrible power and beauty of a nuclear deterrent, includes numerous editions of the Trident II D-5 missile arranged in a floral composition that is also intentionally phallic.

To download, just head for the Virusfonts Downloads page.

We are now offering The Little Book of Shocking Global Facts in the VirusFonts bookstore. The book is one of the first books to be published by the new design-focused publishing house Fiell Publishing. You can read more about the the ideas behind the book in this previous blog post and this interview with digital arts.

Following high demand, all VirusFonts are finally available in OpenType. Now you can enjoy the multi-platform capability of this format without having to fiddle about with bitmap fonts and AFM files. Please note though this is a new format option only and offers no new features such as extra ligatures etc. This is mainly for people who are buying the fonts for the first time, however if you would like to upgrade any fonts purchased directly from us, please contact us for upgrade pricing.

For more information on the VirusFonts pricing policy click here.

If you don’t already know, every month or so we send out the VirusFonts newsletter. If you want to be the first to find out about free downloads, new limited edition prints and any other random waffle we choose to include, sign up at VirusFonts.

If you are not a subscriber and you want to get a taste of what you are missing, you can view the latest newsletter here.

Following high demand, we have made Jonathan’s Biennale of Sydney artworks available to purchase as prints in the store section of virusfonts.com.

The images above show the artworks in situ at the 2010 biennale of Sydney. As well as designing the identity, Jonathan Barnbrook was one of the featured artist at the biennale.

These new limited edition prints of the artworks refer directly to artists, gallery owners and to the history of Cockatoo Island where the artworks are located. You can view larger images of the prints here.

A Cock or Two: They Continue to Preen
This artwork ironically refers to the birds that originally inhabited the island and the insular, self-congratulatory nature of art exhibition openings.

A Cock or Two: No Danger of Attack
This artwork is located next to the sea and parodies a shark warning sign. It is a reference to the white, rich private gallery owners that feed off the artists works but rarely are prepared to take a creative risk themselves.

A Cock or Two: Fatigue, Cynicism, Existential Pointlessness
Referring in a pragmatic and satirical manner to the experience of walking around a huge exhibition. This artwork offers a positive reminder of why we are all prepared to put up with the experience.

A Cock or Two: A Prison, A Gallery
Cockatoo Island once was a prison similar to Alcatraz. This artwork wryly compares the ‘confidence trick’ used by criminals in the past to the ones used by the artists to appear in the exhibition.

A Cock or Two: A Pilgrimage
There was once a shipbuilding facililty on Cockatoo Island. This artwork paradoxically portrays the artists as ‘empty vessels’ – a person without a brain who speaks loudly without saying anything of any depth. Taken from the English idiom “The emptiest vessels make the loudest sound”.