Handsome was designed by Nick Shinn and published by Shinntype. Handsome contains 14 styles and family package options.
Handsome was the first digital typeface to resemble nice, ordinary, fully cursive handwriting. Or neon.
In 2005, Handsome Pro was one of the first script typefaces to utilize the OpenType format to simulate the natural quality of writing, by automatically substituting alternate contextual glyphs. The effect follows the conventional “joining rules” of calligraphy, which are a formalization of the way in which letter forms are modified in cursive handwriting for the sake of speed and efficiency-and also perhaps to make life more interesting.
For the look of real handwriting, Handsome is most convincing at around 15 pts. At much smaller or larger sizes it works differently. At display size, the feel of the non-nib styles is very slick, more like a speedball Kauffman, owing to the smoothness of the finish.
As script fonts go, Handsome has a relatively large x-height, which can be useful if you don’t want the “writing” to look too small.
