Bored with the usual characters at work? Cue Doris Day, a stylish little brush script from designer Mario Arturo. Named for the patron saint of romantic romps, Doris Day arrives loaded with thoroughly modern charm.

Arturo knows how to treat a girl from the 50s right, but then he's done his research--Doris Day's capital letters are based on forms from The ABC of Lettering by artist J.I. Biegeleisen, a volume first published in 1940 and a standard reference work for brush letterers. The font's lowercase characters were inspired by ads of the period and vintage lettering books.

Think of Doris Day as the winsome target of Black Jack, the font of Mad Men on the prowl, but don't underestimate her ability to tease. The verticals in the uppercase forms rise and curl like lazy smoke trails, retaining a hint of wild brushstroke. Meanwhile the lowercase characters sit demurely at a low x-height waiting to waltz into the spotlight. The overall effect of high and low is playful and naughty at the same time, particularly if one types: "Hello from Hernando's Hideaway. Missing you, darling." Be bold and choose 48 points and above for legibility.

Doris Day comes with a full set of upper- and lowercase characters as well as a limited set of punctuation marks. No numerals, but who's counting? This font can also flirt in Spanish. Accented characters, rotated punctuation and diacritics are in the mix. Note that the license is for noncommercial work only. The designer holds the copyright.

Ah, Doris Day. It's only January and you have us thinking of spring. Farewell, gray and dreary office fonts. We know the typeface we'll call up as soon as we get home.

Note: To use this font, unzip the folder and install the .ttf file in the folder C:\Windows\Fonts. Note that the fonts won't appear in your applications until you close and re-open them.

--Kate Godfrey