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Wishbringer by Infocom

Contributed by Nick Saglimbeni on Jul 24th, 2015. Artwork published in
March 1985
.
Wishbringer by Infocom 1
Source: www.filfre.net @1985 Infocom. License: All Rights Reserved.

Wishbringer: The Magick Stone of Dreams, the interactive-fiction classic by 1980s gamemaker, Infocom. The Wishbringer title font and supporting cover text uses the bold weight of Weiss, while the inside booklet uses the regular one for standard non-title text items. The Infocom logo uses Zorque, designed by Ray Larabie, although it appears this font was actually created based on the company’s logo, given that Larabie would have only been 7 when Infocom’s first game, Zork, was released in 1977.

Wishbringer by Infocom 2
Photo: Nick Saglimbeni. License: All Rights Reserved. Artwork by Nick Saglimbeni.
Wishbringer by Infocom 3
Photo: Nick Saglimbeni. License: All Rights Reserved. Artwork by Nick Saglimbeni.

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8 Comments on “Wishbringer by Infocom”

  1. Thanks, Nick! I removed the Zorque tag since it is a font created after the logo, so definitely not used by Infocom. Thanks for adding it your description, though — we’ll keep the link in there for those interested in similar typeface.

  2. Hi Stephen,

    No problem, happy to post my first submission. Question: is there a reason the Wishbringer cover image doesn’t show as the profile pic? (Is it a rights thing?) Because I could take a picture of the cover on my end, I think it would be more recognizeable to someone searching 1980s, similar to your AD&D post which instantly made me a fan of Fonts In Use. What a great resource this site is!

  3. Hi Nick, no, that was an arbitrary choice I made when moderating your submission. You are right, it makes more sense to use the cover — I’ve changed it. For the future: You can choose the thumbnail yourself. In Edit mode, click on the image in question and select “Edit Thumbnail”.

  4. There are some subtle (and not-so-subtle!) differences between the Zorque font, and Infocom’s logo.

    As well as the shorter arms on the 'F’, there are various curve radius differences:
    Screenshot showing differences between Zorque font and Infocom's actual logo.

  5. Gary Graham says:
    Mar 3rd, 2023 7:13 pm

    I made my own Infocom font based on a high resolution scan of their printed material.

    khaibitgfx@gmail.com

  6. Simon Kane says:
    Feb 20th, 2024 12:39 am

    The Infocom logos currently available in vector format on the internet seem to be based on the Zorque font (i.e. they are not accurate to the original Infocom logo). I recreated a faithful version of the logo in SVG/vector format based on a high resolution scan of a 1988 copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (I actually have the original physical package). It’s posted at Wikimedia Commons. [Top new rendering, Bottom logo on diskette sleeve]

    Infocom Logo - Redrawn in 2024

  7. I was also looking for a quality version of the Wishbringer logo – which is clearly based on Weiss Bold. However there are enough differences to suggest that the logo as it appears on the original box art is redrawn or optically altered. Posted below is a sample of the original Wishbringer packaging with original logo at top, below is the redrawn logo. Below that is a sample of the original Wishbringer “W” compared to stock Weiss Bold.

    Infocom Wishbringer logo redrawn (2024)
    Infocom Wishbringer logo comparison – original vs redrawn (2024)

    Wishbringer logo “W“ vs stock Weiss Bold (blue outline)
    Wishbringer logo “W“ vs stock Weiss Bold (blue outline)

    Wishbringer logo “W“ vs stretched Weiss Bold (blue outline)
    Wishbringer logo “W“ vs stretched Weiss Bold (blue outline)
  8. there are enough differences to suggest that the logo as it appears on the original box art is redrawn or optically altered

    Possible. But keep in mind that it could also be a different version of Weiss Bold than the one you compared against. This was made in 1985 and might use a predigital version. Also in terms of digital fonts, there’s more than one Weiss Bold. As of today, there are five different versions available on MyFonts, not all of which are derived from the same basic digitization. For example, here’s Linotype’s (green) compared to Bitstream’s (red):

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