Let’s take a moment to pay some attention to the charming chameleons of the typography world: Stylistic Alternates (sometimes referred to as ‘Bonus’ or ‘Extra’ Glyphs). They can be subtle or obvious and can change everything!
What’s a Stylistic Alternate?
Before we answer that, let’s zoom out and discuss what a glyph is. If you’re picturing ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, you’re not entirely off. In modern typography, a glyph is essentially any individual mark within a font; Including letters, numbers, punctuation, symbols, and all those fun extras like swashes and ligatures.
Those ‘fun extras’ are where we find the answer to our original question; These are often referred to as stylistic alternates. Not all fonts have them, it’s not always necessary, but those that do can be great to work with!
A Designer’s Secret Lettering Weapon
Alternates are the cufflinks to a suit, and the socks to sandals. Sure, you can strut out in a plain black dress, but pair it with a statement necklace, and voilà! These fancy glyphs add nuanced details, they bring extra personality, rhythm, and character to your typography. Giving it a more customized appearance.
For instance, a flourish on the capital ‘T’ or a decorative ampersand can add a touch of elegance to a wedding invitation. Similarly, unique symbols, swashes, and doodles that were designed specifically to work with the font can help tie the type with the rest of your creation.
How to Enhance Your Designs with These Powerful Glyphs
To fully embrace the glyph glory, you first need to know where to find them! Design software such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, allow you to access a font’s full glyph panel, where you can swap in these great extras by having the type box active and selecting the glyph you want.
Don’t have Photoshop or Illustrator? No worries! With Character Map software (free and paid versions available for both Windows and Mac) you can simply copy your selected glyph from the font and paste it into your design software. This includes the popular cloud design software, Canva. Providing you have Canva Pro and the font installed on their system.
Don’t go crazy!
Just like any design element, using these fancy guys is all about balance. Overcrowding your design with a carnival of swashes and symbols is likely to end in a mess. Simplicity is often key. Think of stylistic alternates, ligatures, swashes, and symbols as seasoning. No amount of seasoning fixes a leathery steak. Nail the design and if it needs a little extra, you know what to do.
Here are some fonts to get started
It would be a damn shame to go through all this effort and not share some of my fonts with you. I have plenty with fancy swashes, symbols, and extras. To make life easier, some of the families have separate ‘symbol’ fonts where you can type (for example) the letter ‘A’, and an arrow or scribbled circle will appear.
Seraphine
Meet Seraphine – a serif font family with a delicate, handcrafted touch. With 12 fonts in total, Seraphine comes in both rounded and regular styles, each available in light, regular, and bold weights, plus true italics for a bit of extra flair.
The Hamilton Archive Collection
Introducing the Hamilton Archive Font Collection—a beautifully crafted set of fonts that blend vintage charm with modern functionality
Designed to capture the feel of early 20th-century print design, this collection brings a handcrafted aesthetic that’s perfect for timeless branding, bespoke editorial layouts, wedding invitations, and more.
Emberline
Step into a world of wonder with Emberline, a handcrafted display font family that exudes charm, mystery, and a dash of magic. Emberline features light, regular, bold, and round styles, each offering a creative selection of stylistic alternates to further enhance your creative projects.
Wonderling
The ‘Wonderling’ Font Collection is a robust yet elegant tribute to vintage typography, perfect for projects that demand character and versatility. Drawing inspiration from classic serif typefaces of years past, Wonderling combines timeless elegance with handcrafted charm, resulting in a collection of adaptable fonts suitable for a range of design applications—from logos to invitations, packaging to branding, and everything in between.