A scene showing a white desk top with a white wall behind it. There is a laptop in the middle with Glyphs software open to a g. Around the laptop are various typography themed books, plants, artwork, and tools plus a coffee mug and some little trinkets like dice and figurines.

Arcane Type Foundry is an independent type foundry located in Vancouver* Canada.

Here at Arcane Type Foundry we believe that fonts are magic and we want to share that magic with all of you! We endeavour to make fonts that meet your needs and never let you down. This means we use our deep understanding of the technical, aesthetic, and psychological aspects of type design whenever we make letterforms—both retail and custom.
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But a type foundry is more than just drawing letterforms. We also have fair and easy to understand licensing and frequently update and improve our existing font families.

Arcane may mean “mysterious and understood by few” but we make it our mission to share knowledge about this particular area of arcane arts and are very open about the process of making type & letterforms. Feel free to swing by one of Alanna’s type design live-streams on Twitch where you’ll get answers to all kinds of audience questions from “what is a double storey a?” to “why is sock-sorting the worst part of doing laundry?”

*I make fonts on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, in the place now called Vancouver. I’m grateful to call this beautiful place home, and I make typefaces with respect for the land, the languages, and the people who have cared for this place long before me.

Let’s work together!

I work with designers, agencies, and clients to make high quality letters that work the way you need them to.

Email Me →
A woman takes a selfie with a Pacific Northwest beach in the background. She is wearing a hat that says "buy fonts" and is smiling at the camera. The photo has been toned to be only shades of purple.

Alanna Munro

Type Designer, Certified Letter Nerd

My love and fascination with letterforms probably started while doodling bubble letters on my notebooks in English class. Later, I went to Emily Carr University of Art + Design to study communication design and emerged even more curious about letterforms and their place in design. I am now an independent type designer and lettering artist making magical retail and custom typefaces through Arcane Type Foundry!

My letterforms have been described as having ‘happy curves,’ which means that no matter the style, a friendly disposition is often infused into the vector drawings. But don’t mistake friendliness for frivolity; I am also a huge nerd and my fonts are always executed with the highest technical care. This ultimately results in typefaces and lettering with warm curves and technical precision, which is a win-win for your design projects!

In addition to fonts, I also make lettering pieces and create products featuring nice letters including stickers, cards, and even a book about being a huge letter nerd. I also stay involved in the local Vancouver design community by teaching typography at BCIT and co-organizing Type Brigade—a speakers series with talks on type-related topics.

Talks & Workshops

Is There Still a Place for Superfamilies: Type & Faces London, June 2026
Making Fonts Like a Nerd:
Letter Luvvers Bristol, June 2026
Creative Cross Training: Lettering:
Creative Pulse, Nov 2025
Fonts Are Magic: Type Brigade No58, Oct 2025
Combining Type Workshop:
Design Educators RGD, May 2025
Designing Custom Typefaces: Ladies Wine & Design, Jan 2025
Show Your Work: Creative Pulse, May 2024
Beyond The Static Letter: Using The Full Capability of Font Software Descan Awards Evening, Nov, 2023
A Look Inside Type Design: Guest lecture at Capilano University, Wilson Schools of Design, Emily Carr University, & Langara College, 2022-present
Creative Cross Training: Lettering Creative Pulse, Apr 2018
Typefaces in Time: Creative Mornings, Dec 2015

Interviews & Articles

Font Friday: Sahlia Pimp My Type, June 2026
Certified Letter Nerd, Talk Paper Scissors, Dec 2025
Font Friday: Stornoway
Pimp My Type, Jan 2025
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What Makes a Quality Font? Pimp My Type, May 2024
The Music of Type Design ILT, Apr 2024
Font of The Month: Amberwood ILT, Sep 2023
Font Friday: Kyoshi Pimp My Type, Oct 2023
Font Friday: Avona & Avona Serif Pimp My Type, Apr 2021

Colophon

Website

Typeface: Stornoway Variable
Development: Me looking up a lot of stuff
Tools: Webflow, Fontdue, Notion, Affinity, Claude
Built in: August 2025

Fonts

Tools: Glyphs 4, Fontspector, Hyperglot
Proofing: Affinity, Dinamo Font Gauntlet

AI Use

Arcane Type Foundry uses AI for only a few select tasks. Claude is used to help write Python scripts for Glyphs to cut down repetitive tasks and as an assistant in copywriting and business strategy research. No drawings, imagery, or layouts are generated by AI—these are all made by hand <3

Do you have some context now? Aren’t about pages great for that? What would you like to explore next?

FONTS ARE MAGIC