Park Avenue Font

Robert E. Smith designed Park Avenue in 1933 for American Type Founders. The publisher describes a light pen-drawn script with freely formed capitals. Its historical name should be kept distinct from the modern digital edition through which it is now distributed.

Read the publisher’s family page for the source account and the edition currently offered. Keep a family name distinct from its particular release, width or optical branch.

Long ascenders and descenders contrast with a small x-height, producing its delicate texture. Combining capitals and lowercase is central to the described appearance. A line of capitals alone does not show the same rhythm as a mixed-case name or greeting.

Use the original publisher specimen to inspect those features. An alternative can share a broad role without having the same letter shapes, metrics or character coverage.

Try an invitation name line and a short personal greeting. Leave vertical room for the tall strokes before setting line spacing. Inspect the thin details on the actual paper or background, with supporting addresses and dates in a companion suited to smaller sizes.

For independent comparisons, try Pinyon Script and Sacramento. Use the same wording and approximate output size. The related style guide provides broader design context.

Use URW / MyFonts to try the original and investigate the files, styles and terms for your intended workflow. This site does not distribute or serve Park Avenue font software.

The editable alternatives here have their own source profiles and included licenses. For the difference between a font file and copied characters, read Unicode text versus fonts.