# Berkshire Swash font

> A bold, upright display face with curled swash capitals and unjoined lowercase, in one weight.

Berkshire Swash is a decorative display typeface designed by Astigmatic, with heavy strokes, curling swash capitals and lowercase letters that stand apart instead of joining. Berkshire Swash has one Regular style with 372 glyphs for Latin and Latin Extended. It is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 and suits logos, labels, menus and short headings.

## Facts

- Classification: [Display](https://trendhub.net/fonts/category/display)
- Designed by: Astigmatic
- License: SIL Open Font License 1.1 (https://openfontlicense.org/open-font-license-official-text/)
- Styles: 1 (Regular 400)
- Variable font: No
- Glyphs: 372
- Character sets: latin, latin-ext
- Last updated: 2025-09-11
- Official source: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Berkshire+Swash
- Page: https://trendhub.net/fonts/berkshire-swash
- Tagged for: Headlines, Logos, Branding, Packaging

## About Berkshire Swash

Berkshire Swash is a decorative display typeface with a bold, soft-edged stroke. Its capitals carry swashes: in the specimen A opens with a curled entry stroke, H has a looped crossbar, and K, Q and R trail long tails. The lowercase is upright and unjoined, with teardrop terminals on a, c, f and r and marked contrast between thick stems and thin joins. The figures are old-style, dipping below the baseline at 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9. There is one Regular style and no variable axis. The font has 372 glyphs covering Latin and Latin Extended. Astigmatic is credited with the design; the copyright notice names Brian J. Bonislawsky and sets “Berkshire Swash” as a Reserved Font Name under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. The official source files it under handwriting, but the letters are not connected.

## License

SIL Open Font License 1.1. Copyright (c) 2012 by Brian J. Bonislawsky DBA Astigmatic (AOETI) (astigma@astigmatic.com), with Reserved Font Names "Berkshire Swash"

Allowed:
- Use the fonts in personal and commercial work, in print, on the web and in apps.
- Modify the fonts and build new versions from them.
- Redistribute the fonts, on their own or bundled with software, as long as the license text and copyright notice go with them.

Conditions:
- The fonts cannot be sold by themselves.
- A modified version must stay under the same license and cannot use a Reserved Font Name without the copyright holder's permission.
- The authors' names cannot be used to promote a modified version without permission.

Summary only, not legal advice. Full text: https://openfontlicense.org/open-font-license-official-text/

## Where it works

- **Food and drink labels**: Heavy strokes and curled capitals hold a product name on a jar, bottle or bakery box.
- **Café menus and chalkboard-style signs**: A section title in Berkshire Swash sets off a list of items set in a plain text face.
- **Wordmarks**: A swash capital followed by unjoined lowercase gives a short name a distinctive first letter while staying readable.
- **Card and invitation headings**: The teardrop terminals and old-style figures give a date or greeting a decorative, hand-drawn warmth.
- **Book and album titles**: One bold weight with strong thick-thin contrast carries a title at cover size.

## Things to know

- **One style**: Berkshire Swash has a single Regular style. There is no lighter weight, bold or italic.
- **Every capital has a swash**: A line set entirely in capitals looks busy, as the capital row in the specimen shows. The capitals are drawn to start a word.
- **Not a joined script**: The lowercase letters do not connect, so the face behaves like a decorative serif more than like handwriting.
- **Romanian is incomplete**: Latin and Latin Extended are covered, except that not all letters for Romanian are present.

## FAQs

### Is Berkshire Swash free for commercial use?

Yes. Berkshire Swash is published under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, which allows personal and commercial use, modification and redistribution. The fonts cannot be sold on their own, and modified versions stay under the same license. A modified version may not use the Reserved Font Name “Berkshire Swash” without permission.

### Who designed Berkshire Swash?

Berkshire Swash was designed by Astigmatic (AOETI), the foundry of Brian J. Bonislawsky, who is named in the copyright notice.

### Is Berkshire Swash a script font?

Berkshire Swash has swash capitals and calligraphic details, but its lowercase letters are upright and unconnected, so it works as a decorative display face.

### How many weights does Berkshire Swash have?

Berkshire Swash has one weight, Regular 400, and it is visually bold.

### Which languages does Berkshire Swash support?

Berkshire Swash includes the letters needed for English and most Western and Central European languages, such as French, German, Spanish, Turkish and Polish.

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Source: https://trendhub.net/fonts/berkshire-swash (trendhub)
