Here's another example of a font in use on a Percy Faith cover, as well as another example of a curly font. This time around the font is Photo-Lettering's Messick Exotic Bold (coupled with News Gothic). The album is a movie-music-themed compilation that was released exclusively through the Columbia Record Club.

[More info on Discogs]

Detail from back cover

French CD single front cover

This single from Dimitri from Paris’ retro-inspired debut album Sacrebleu features two frilly fonts: Holiday – and specifically its Extra Flair style – (song title, speech bubbles) and Viola Flare (Dimitri credit, stereo indication). Non-frilly Helvetica Compressed is utilized for the back cover and spine.

The song’s accompanying animated music video, with a plot that’s a cross between Pepé Le Pew and To Catch a Thief, has a mademoiselle pursued by a stereotypical Frenchman during her Paris sightseeing. All the while, more examples of Holiday and Viola (with liberal use of alternate glyphs) are present in almost every scene.

Based on the glyph sets I have seen for Holiday, there are no diacritics provided in that typeface. So, the é and ç in the title are likely custom modifications. Note the discrepancy in the title’s diacritics on the single cover and throughout the music video.

Visual credits on the single are given as follows: “Cover art Genevieve Gauckler. Characters by Kuntzel + Deygas.” I take ‘characters’ to mean the cartoon characters and not typography, as the music video is listed among Kuntzel + Deygas’ music-related work on their website.

[More info on Discogs]

UK CD single front cover

French CD single back cover

Source: open.spotify.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Minnie ’n Me: Songs Just for Girls album cover (1990), ft. the italic and roman styles of ITC Century Bold Condensed for secondary text

From The Disney Wiki:

Minnie ’n Me was a 1990s merchandise branding program from the Walt Disney Company featuring the comic character Minnie Mouse in her childhood days. Her youthful companions include Daisy Duck, Clarabelle Cow, Penelope “Penny” Pooch, Patti Pony, T.J. Turtle, Heather Hippo, Lilly Lamb, Minnie's dog, Fifi, and Daisy's kitten, Trixie. Later on, Disney added Figaro, Mickey Mouse, and Donald Duck to the mix. On the whole, this line of merchandise was mainly targeted towards elementary-aged girls ages 4–9.

There was a wide variety of Minnie ’n Me products, including dolls and other toys, trading cards and stationary, perfume and jewelry, luggage, bedding and more. The logo used for this brand is based on Sweetheart, and some of the merchandise, mostly books, actually uses the typeface.

Similar in design to Photo-Lettering's Bonaparte and Lettergraphic's Spring, Sweetheart features terminals and tittles decorated with hearts and an alternate B with a heart-shaped counter. Additionally, its f, t and ! have arrow-like qualities that suggest Cupid and his bow.

Source: www.etsy.com License: All Rights Reserved.

My Favorite Book: A Book of Verse (1990)

Source: www.amazon.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Where's Fifi? book cover (Little Golden Books, 1992)

Source: maryam.crpsy.com License: All Rights Reserved.

What Will I Wear? book cover (Little Golden Books, 1991)

Source: www.etsy.com beanandbearstoreUS. License: All Rights Reserved.

Minnie’s Slumber Party (Little Golden Books, 1992)

Source: archive.org License: All Rights Reserved.

Spread from Cooking Together: A Book of Recipes (1990). The text typefaces are Century Schoolbook and Helvetica.

Source: www.mercari.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Toy china tea set

Source: www.etsy.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Audio cassette that came with the book When We Grow Up (1990), additionally featuring ITC Century Bold Condensed Italic and Helvetica (incl. Helvetica Condensed)

Source: www.etsy.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Trading card packs with card pack box

Source: www.ebay.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Paper plate

No More Jinx (Chrysalis Records, 1986) [More info on Discogs]

From Billboard magazine (June 28, 1986, p. 18):

Chicago-based band Wild Blue is playing Midwest dates through July supporting its Chrysalis debut album, “No More Jinx.” The album’s first single, “Fire With Fire,” is also the theme song for the Paramount Pictures' movie of the same name.

From Billboard magazine (July 19, 1986, p. N-5)

Noting that Chrysalis spent the first half of of 1986 developing bands like Icehouse, the Art of Noise, and Wild Blue, [Fran] Musso says, “It might take longer to break new acts, but I think labels are still definitely open to getting new talent across.”

Unfortunately for Wild Blue, their brush with a national audience did not last much beyond 1986. However, this brief foray with major label exposure did provide us with examples of Photoscript’s France in use as their band logo.

Art direction and design for the No More Jinx album is credited to Ria Lewerke. No design credits are given on the “Fire With Fire” single.

Close-up of band logo from their album's record sleeve.

“Fire With Fire” single. (Chrysalis Records, 1986) [More info on Discogs] The other fonts present beside France, from top to bottom, are Friz Quadrata, Eras, and Futura.

Some interesting customization was done for the title: double underlines that blend into certain letters; a flourished, angled crossbar and differing leg lengths for the A; and extended and shifted arms of the & and swash M.

While most community cookbooks have a reach limited to a specific time and place, some do go onto wider acclaim and use, as is the case with some of the cookbooks produced by Junior League associations. One example of such a cookbook is the Rochester chapter's Applehood & Motherpie. The cookbook has gone through at least 17 print runs, numbering over 250,000 copies. In 1990, it was inducted into the Walter S. McIlhenny Hall of Fame for community cookbooks.

Applehood is set overwhelmingly in varying weights of ITC Bookman, with titles and other key text using swash alternates. The one small exception is that the opening initials to passages dedicated to anecdotes and tips use swash neo-Bookman Bold Italic instead.

A green apple next to a recipe indicates that it ranked very well amongst the cookbook’s testers.

An example of the anecdotal text interspersed throughout the cookbook, seen here with a swash neo-Bookman A.

The Rochester area is a large producer of apples, thus the title and motif (and numerous recipes featuring the fruit).

The crease that runs horizontally across the cover is designed to be bent so as to allow the book to stand upright.

The Jones Girls were a vocal group made up of sisters Shirley, Valorie, and Brenda. Known for their masterful harmonies, they spend years performing as background vocalists before getting a chance at their own album in 1979.

For the cover of their sophomore album, Papirtis Taj Mahal, a faux Devanagari, was chosen by designers Ed Lee and Phyllis H.B. The reasons for this choice doesn’t seem to go beyond the Jones sisters’ vaguely sari-like garb. I initially thought that it was perhaps due to the song “Nights Over Egypt” – the faux Devanagari being mistaken for faux Arabic – but that song isn’t on this album but the next one.

The typeface’s overline is extended to form a frame, a technique that reminds me of how I've seen Face Photosetting’s Oxford used. (For example, this record by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop or this record by cabaret act Gotham.)

[More info on Discogs]

Sandwiched between (and some would say overshadowed by) Dance to the Music and Stand!, Sly and the Family Stone’s Life continued the group’s brand of psychedelic-tinged funk-rock-soul. For the US market, the album produced only one single – the title track “Life” backed with “M’Lady” – which had little impact on the charts.

Above a photomontage of the band as a theater full of people, the uncredited designer chose to juxtapose the filigreed 19th-century Ornamented No. 1539 with the sleeker, more modern Palisade Graphic. For the bichromatic setting of the former, the specific font in use probably is the phototype adaptation made by Headliners in 1964 as part of their Morgan Press Collection.

[More info on Discogs]

Billboard ad (July 13, 1968, p. 19). This time the album/single's title has added (handdrawn?) quotes. The other fonts present are Folio Extra Bold and Kabel.

He’s not so good in a crowd but when you get him alone
You’d be surprised,
He isn’t much at a dance but when he takes you home
You’d be surprised

Sheet music of Irving Berlin’s 1919 song released to capitalize on the success of a 1940 cover by Bonnie Baker with Orrin Tucker and His Orchestra.

The song title and songwriter are in Phenix American, with faux small caps, while “By” is added in Quick. All other text is hand lettering.

From the inner flap:

“Just wait till you have children of your own” is one of the classic threats that parents have resorted to when all else fails to influence their offspring. And it takes on added comic force here as two of America's foremost family humorists present a hilarious look at teenagers of today.

The first edition of this book by writer Erma Bombeck (1927–1996) and cartoonist Bil Keane (1922–2011) features a very contained use of Bookman Meola. The only alternates – the s, the C, and the O – all twirl inwardly instead of swashing outwardly. I interpret the design choice as a way of portraying an otherwise composed parent coming ever so slightly undone by their children.

Jacket design credited to Patricia Saville Voehl.

Source: www.amazon.com License: All Rights Reserved.

The Jacket I Wear in the Snow (1989)

From Something About the Author, Vol. 134:

Neitzel is best known for her series of "rebus and rhyme" books, illustrated by Nancy Winslow Parker. Together the two have produced a number of picture books that combine cheerful rhymes about common situations, such as getting dressed to go out into the cold and packing for an overnight stay at Grandma’s, with rebus illustrations, so that pre-readers can begin to practice word recognition and enjoy their success at “reading” pictures.

Of the nine rebus books Neitzel (1941-2023) and Parker (1930-2015) created, the first eight follow a similar typographic pattern: Windsor is used on the cover and title pages for the book title and the names of the author and illustrator, but then all other text (with the exception of some type incorporated into illustrations) is in Seagull.

Source: archive.org License: All Rights Reserved.

I’m Taking a Trip on My Train (1999)

Source: archive.org License: All Rights Reserved.

The Bag I’m Taking to Grandma’s (1995)

Source: archive.org License: All Rights Reserved.

I’m Not Feeling Well Today (2001)

Source: archive.org License: All Rights Reserved.

Our Class Took a Trip to the Zoo (2002)

Source: archive.org License: All Rights Reserved.

We’re Making Breakfast for Mother (1997)

Source: archive.org License: All Rights Reserved.

The inner flaps of The Dress I’ll Wear to the Party (1992)

Source: archive.org License: All Rights Reserved.

The House I’ll Build for the Wrens (1997)

Steve Dahl

Not a sentiment I agree with at all, but a noteworthy use of Shatter nonetheless!

On July 12, 1979, Chicago’s Comiskey Park, in an attempt to reinvigorate ticket sales, offered a special promotion with early shock jock Steve Dahl. The promotion? Bring a disco record for discounted admission and Dahl will explode the collected vinyl after the first game. The result? Thousands rushing onto the field, property damage, riot police, the forfeit of the second game, and what has come to be seen as the key event that heralded the decline of disco’s heyday: Disco Demolition Night.

Who exactly is responsible for this use of Shatter has been hard to determine. In all the photos I’ve seen of Mr. Dahl in this shirt the legibility of the copyright credit has been poor. From the clearest photo I’ve come across (found in the book Disco Demolition: The Night Disco Died) the credit appears to read “squealer est.”

A banner at Comiskey Park the night of the promotion/demolition

Another angle of the same banner. This still is taken from the American Experience episode “The War on Disco.”

Bert & Ernie Sing-Along (Sesame Street Records, 1975) [More info on Discogs]

Two sing-along albums with the cast of Sesame Street, featuring traditional selections (“Row Your Boat”, “This Old Man”) as well as originals from the show (“C is for Cookie”, “The People in Your Neighborhood”). Despite what can be drawn from their covers, the Bert & Ernie album is set entirely within a bathroom (with Bert being constantly thwarted from leaving his bath) while the other album takes place during a bus trip.

I find this use of Photo-Lettering's Accelera to be so perfectly suited for the Sesame Street brand that if I was told that the font was designed by the Children’s Television Workshop I wouldn't second guess the claim. The font is bold and bright yet soft and friendly – the same descriptors a parent would likely look for in the toys they give to their toddler.

Robert Pierce was the art director for both albums. Cover photography was done by Charles Pike Rowan (Bert & Ernie Sing-Along) and John Barrett (Sesame Street Sing-Along).

Sesame Street Sing-Along! (Sesame Street Records, 1982) [More info on Discogs] “Complete Lyrics Inside!” is in Helvetica.

During the 1970s, promotional copies of albums released by or distributed through Warner Bros. Records (or one of the company's sublabels) would sometimes feature this hot pink sticker stuck on their cover. Doing a few searches on Discogs, it appears that these stickers were primarily used from 1972 to 1979.

One variation of the sticker featured the WEA logo in yellow. It seems this version was used into the very early 1980s. The pictured example is from a copy of The Rolling Stones’ Sucking in the Seventies (released March 1981).

A variation of a variation. The only non-yellow WEA sticker I've seen is this red one used for Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack (released November 1974)

From Cash Box (July 18, 1970):

Take one established British session singer, add an excellent record company that knows what it’s about, sprinkle in arrangers and musicians of style and taste building on rock solid songs and you have some idea of what this premier LP from Kiki Dee is like. But not quite. Here’s a girl with one of the finest new voices around who has been struggling for some time in England with the wrong material. Suddenly, as happened when Dusty Springfield moved to Atlantic, Kiki’s voice is finally liberated. Best cuts include “I Can’t Give Back The Love” and the moving “Jimmy.”

The “excellent record company” that “liberated” Kiki Dee's voice was Tamla, the label that brought to prominence such soul acts as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles. It's quite clear from the design of the cover (and the title’s nod to Dickens) that Tamla didn't want there to be any ambiguity about the singer’s country of origin.

Pinto Flare is used for the album title and artist name, interestingly taking no advantage of the ‘flare’ – the swash alternates – referenced in the typeface’s name. The designers seem to have been more attracted in the tightness of the font’s letterforms. Microgramma (or maybe all-caps Eurostile Extended) is used for the song titles with Univers taking up the remaining text.

Art direction by Curtis McNair, and cover concept by Tom Schlesinger. Photography by Jim Hendin.

[More info on Discogs]

Vikki Carr’s Superstar is one of the four(!) albums the singer released in 1971.

The design of the album is very straightforward and no-frills. There are no additional photos beside the portrait provided on the front cover. There are no liner notes or taglines. I cannot help but feel that the album’s aesthetic took some cues from Carole King’s Tapestry, a hit album released earlier that year whose “So Far Away” is covered by Carr.

The majority of both the front and back cover is done in varying weights of Virginia. The remaining songwriting, publishing, and manufacturing information is in Helvetica. Virginia’s alternate lowercase a is used for the artist name and album title.

Ivan Nagy is credited for the cover photo, but no credit is given to any designer.

[More info on Discogs]

Front cover of LP edition of the album

Cibo Matto (Italian for “crazy food”) was a band formed and fronted by Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda, two Japanese expatriates living in New York City. Other members have included Yuko Araki, Timo Ellis, Duma Love, and, most notably, Sean Lennon.

Viva! La Woman, the band’s first full-length album, showcases their singular fusion of disparate genres and influences. Every song on the album is in some way related to food or drink, such as the tracks “Know Your Chicken” and “Sugar Water.”

The band’s name appears to be a roughly hand-drawn recreation of Graphique with a slightly deeper shadow. The album’s title is in all caps Rossetti, a wonky digitization of Harrington.

Art direction and design by Mike Mills, with design assistance from Garland Lyn. The cover illustration is by Thomas Thurnauer.

[More info on Discogs]

Front cover of CD edition of the album.

From Goodreads:

In 1989, George Beahm’s Stephen King Companion appeared on the scene and became an instant hit with King fans. It was an orgy of King information, packed with interviews, essays, inside information, rare photographs, and tantalizing trivia. The “Companion” leaped onto the bestseller lists, was snapped up by the book clubs, and became known as an essential resource on King and his work.

Shown here is the first edition published in paperback by Andrews McMeel, Kansas City, 1989.

Choc is used for “The” while Letraset's Carlton is used for both “Companion” and the editor credit. However, it is the red, foil-stamped “Stephen King” that has the most interesting characteristics. The horror writer’s name is done in ITC Fat Face that is so tightly squeezed one might think it is LSC Condensed (aka Fatface Condensed.) The descender of P reaches down to touch the O in “Companion” while the descender of the G appears to suddenly shoot to the left, morphing into an underline.

Book design is credited to Edward King, and typography to Connell-Zeko Type & Graphics. The cover photo of King at the gates of his mansion is by Carroll Hall, courtesy of the Bangor Daily News.

A less compact setting of “Stephen King” appears on the spine.

This picture book by celebrated children's author/illustrator Eric Carle (1929-2021), as the title suggests, is about a little girl named Monica who longs to play with the moon and asks her father to somehow get it. The book acts as a whimsical exploration of the phases of the moon.

All text - the title, the story, the copyright page, etc. - is set in Litera.