There's a font in your head. Perhaps it's something you saw on a sign the other day. Or maybe you have a mental image of the perfect typeface for your next design project, but you don't know if it even exists. Finding that font normally requires laborious searching through specimen books and websites.

Cut that tedium. Meet TypeNavigator: the world's first interactive visual font search system. "Visual" means you needn't know anything about what you're looking for — all you need is that image in your head. This system is unique in that you can identify fonts by memory alone.

TypeNavigator currently searches a large portion of FontShop's collection. New font libraries will be added over time, continually increasing the chances that you'll find exactly what you're seeking.

TypeNavigator is designed to be ultra simple to use, but the following short tutorial can help you get started:

1. We begin with the "Form" tab. You're presented with a selection of broad typeface descriptors, from "Humanist" to "Stamped". Don't worry if you don't understand all the terms, just pick the category which best fits what you're looking for, examples of each form are shown as you select them. Go ahead and click, this tutorial text will stay right where it is for now.
   
   
2. Now it's time to narrow things down. Once you've picked a Form, define your font's specific characteristics by selecting from the options in each of the rows. If you can't remember some of the qualities of your font, or a row simply doesn't apply, just skip it. TypeNavigator will generate results with any number of rows completed. This step only helps you narrow your search.
   
   Serif - Does your font have large or small serifs, flare serifs, or no serifs at all? The last two options represent slab (rectangle) serifs. Select the rightmost option if your font is mostly without serifs with an occasional exception, such as on the 'i' or 'l'.
   
   Width - Self-explanatory. Is your font wide or narrow?
   
   Proportional or Monospace - Are the letters designed to fill standard, varying widths or do all the letters share the same width?
   
   Angle - Most fonts are upright, but yours might be leaning forward (like an italic) or even back.
   
   Weight - This characteristic is different than Width in that we're looking at the stroke (or line) weight of your font. Is it thin and light or bold and heavy?
   
   Contrast - Does your font's stroke vary from thick to thin or is it the same weight throughout? The first option is for those rare cases in which a font has thicker horizontal strokes than vertical strokes.
   
   Axis - If your font has contrast, at what angle does the stroke width change from thick to thin?
   
   Contour - Think about the corners of your font. Are they sharp and rigid or soft and rounded?
   
   Tools - Some fonts are clearly made by a specific tool, be it a scalpel, round-tipped architect's pen, broad- or fine-tipped calligraphic pen, brush, or stamp.
   
   
3. Once you've defined everything you know about your font, click "search". That's it. This area of the page will display results that match your definitions. If there are too few results, go back and broaden your search by deselecting or changing options.
   
   

What about the other two tabs? TypeNavigator also offers Font name and Designer searches so you can look for fonts related to those from your results.