Free Black Jack Font Is Perfect for Party Invitations

The season of party after party is fast approaching. We recommend branding your events like a Madison Avenue mogul with Black Jack (free), a modern brush script by Canadian designer Ronna Penner. Black Jack's style harks back to an era when men were mad and advertising still reveled in hand lettering (among other things).

One look at Black Jack and we knew Ms. Penner had a sense of humor, but then her resume includes a stint in the greeting card industry. Her Black Jack is not just a sweet font for sentimental thoughts. There's more whiskey than cola in the dips and changes of stroke from upper to lower case. Cocktail accoutrements cry out for a touch of Black Jack's attitude. Set Sip on a napkin or Smoke on a matchbook and voila, instant party souvenirs.

Like Don Draper, Black Jack has a few faults. Even Ms. Penner admits the font is not her favorite companion. Yet its playful curves and bouncy manner can score big if the right task is at hand. Upper and lowercase characters flirt nicely; the numerals pop on the page; and even the limited punctuation helps add a retro touch to book covers, address labels, and yes, the inside of custom greeting cards. By the way, Black Jack can be used commercially, but the font itself is not yours to resell. That honor belongs to Ms. Penner, who holds the copyright.

Do not attempt to write your memoir in Black Jack, and stay above 20 points if it's important to be legible. If you drift into the Shift key zone when keyboarding punctuation or numbers, watch your work: The characters @, #, \, and both brackets styles will appear, but in a substitute font. Avoid these items to stay in style. Do you really need them to appear sophisticated?

Signing up Black Jack as a party prop may not inspire you to wear a cravat or offer up nibbles of pimento cheese, but we predict your guests will toast you with more than a little envy. 'Tis the perfect season to turn on the suave and achieve the perfect pitch.

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