CD cover

Flood is the third album by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released in 1990. The front cover features a union seal-style emblem. From Wikipedia:

The photograph used for the cover of the album depicts a man rowing a boat made out of strung-together washbasins. The image was captured by Margaret Bourke-White as part of a series taken to document the Ohio River flood of 1937. The cover, which was designed by band member John Flansburgh with Elizabeth van Itallie, originally featured only the photo; however, an emblem including the band's name, inked by Flansburgh's former coworker Barbara Lipp, was later added. The emblem resembles the logo of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

It’s not clear if the contoured caps for the title are from a font. The Black Extra Condensed style of Neuzeit-Grotesk comes close. Copperplate Gothic is used for the band's name and album title on the vinyl’s back cover and disc labels, while the Black Extended style of Univers, is used for the track listing on the LP, and for the band name/album title/track listing on the CD. It was also featured on the back of a promotional flat.

[More info on Discogs]

Vinyl cover

Obverse of a 1779 $40 note. “Forty Dollars” at the top is in Union Pearl, and “DOLLARS” at the bottom is in English Scriptorial No. 1.

From 1775 to 1779, the Continental Congress issued almost 200 million dollars of Continental currency in order to finance the Revolutionary War. The banknotes were printed by Hall & Sellers in Philadelphia – formerly B. Franklin & D. Hall, the printing business founded by Benjamin Franklin.

The notes were printed using William Caslon’s types, alongside three of the Grover foundry’s typefaces, dating from the turn of the century: Double Pica Union Pearl, Pica Scriptorial, and English Scriptorial No. 1.

The Scriptorials are also referred to as Cursorials. The same three fonts are shown together in a specimen published by Benjamin Franklin Bache, Benjamin Franklin’s grandson.

Obverse of a 1778 $20 note. “Twenty Dollars” is in Union Pearl (except for the D), and the italic text (including “DOLLARS” at the bottom right) is in Pica Scriptorial.

Reverse of a 1775 $5 note. “PHILADELPHIA” is in English Scriptorial No. 1.

Reverse of a 1775 $7 note. “HALL and SELLERS” is in English Scriptorial No. 1.

A specimen of English Scriptorial No. 1, from the 1782 auction catalogue of the John James foundry. John James had bought the Grover foundry in 1758.

A specimen of Pica Scriptorial, from the same source

An advertisement promoting the use of Grover’s Scriptorials for legal documents, published in The Observator, February 11–7 [sic], 1708. The word “Scriptographia” is in Union Pearl, and the majority of the rest of the text is in Pica Scriptorial.

From the website of Ohio University Press:

Masked Gods is a vast book, a challenging and profoundly original account of the history, legends, and ceremonialism of the Navajo and Pueblo Indians of the Southwest. Following a brief but vivid history of the two tribes through the centuries of conquest, the book turns inward to the meaning of Native American legends and ritual—Navajo songs, Pueblo dances, Zuni kachina ceremonies. Enduring still, these rituals and ceremonies express a view of life, of man’s place in the creation, which is compared with Taoism and Buddhism—and with the aggressive individualism of the Western world.

The book was written by Frank Waters (1902–1995) and first published in 1950. Shown here is the paperback edition published in 1970 by Ballantine in their Ballantine Walden Edition, a series “aimed primarily at a college audience”. The cover design by Jim Driver features a photo of buffalo dancers by the New Mexico Department of Development. The bold caps with double inline are from Metropolis licht, a design by Willy Schwerdtner that was first cast by Stempel in 1928, and copied by Baltotype under the name Homewood.

This printer’s trade card / business card from the 1870s was printed in three colors on gloss coated stock. It features five different typefaces. The bichromatic caps filled with stars and stripes are from Johnson’s National, designed by Julius Herriet, Sr. and patented 1856.

This is an exceedingly rare card, I only know of one example. Its exact date is unknown. Greenback, the bold upright cursive with split shade, was designed by Herman Ihlenburg in 1870 and patented by MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan a year later, so it can’t be any older than that. In 1879, one Robert Malcolm was publishing The Masonic Newspaper from the mentioned address at No. 49 Cedar Street, New York.

“Steam” is in Antique Extended and “New York” in italic caps from a Modern/Scotch. The grotesque used for “Near William” is unidentified.

For a second example of Civil War-era patriotic type, see the “God and Our Native Land” envelope. It features a typeface that is not exactly the same as the one shown here.

Front cover, featuring the firemen with their instruments. Group name set in Tuscan Egyptian (Vanderburgh-Wells, 1877); album title and catalog number set in Karnak (Black Condensed; Ludlow, 1936). “GOOD TIME JAZZ” set in a yet-unidentified ornamental Tuscan typeface – seems to be a more decorative version of Tuscan Ornamented #3 (Figgins, c.1846). “Trade Mark Reg.” set in a generic Scotch typeface.

Goes South! is the fifth album from the Firehouse Five Plus Two after their four-part Story series, first released in 1954 as an EP by Contemporary Records through its Good Time Jazz imprint. As well as showcasing the seven firemen and their musical talents as they travel the hallowed ragtime lands of Dixie, the album features Walt Kelly’s famed Southern swamplander Pogo Possum on the back cover as an unofficial member.

The songs on the album – all of which are now in the public domain – are led by Disney lead animator Ward Kimball (trombone and siren) alongside fellow Disneyites Frank Thomas (lead animator; piano), George Probert (assistant director; clarinet, ocarina and soprano sax), Danny Alguire (assistant director; cornet), Harper Goff (production designer; banjo – second recording session only) and Jimmy MacDonald (sound effects supervisor; drums – third recording session only); they are joined by Dick Roberts (banjo – first and third recording sessions), Ed Penner (tuba) and Monte Mountjoy (drums – first two recording sessions).

[More info on Discogs]

Back cover, featuring Assistant Fire Chief Pogo charming a hose snake using a clarinet (illustrated by Walt Kelly). “WHY POGO DOES NOT ENDORSE THIS ALBUM” set in P.T. Barnum (ATF, 1933); “By A Tinwhistler’s Mother” set in Alternate Gothic (No. 1; ATF, 1903). Kelly’s essay set in Times New Roman (roman and italic; Monotype, 1932). Liner notes, track listing and credits – as well as other indicia – set in ATF Garamond.

One year after MGM Records released The Very Best of Hank Williams, they followed up with a second compilation album. This time, the art department opted against a portrait of the legendary country singer, and for an entirely typographic cover design.

Williams’ name is set in a version of Egyptian Ornamented. “The very best of” is added in caps from Akzidenz-Grotesk Extra. Each of the twelve song names is shown in a different typeface. Or almost: one typeface appears twice. Can you spot it?

[More info on Discogs]

The Philadelphia Museum of Art, in collaboration with design studio Gretel, rebuilt its identity with the goal of putting the institution in direct conversation with the city that surrounds it. Typography is the primary device for achieving this. The type palette mainly works on two levels: outside-and-inside, or community-and-institution.

Inspired by Philadelphia’s rich visual texture of storefronts, street vendors, and murals, the vernacular type palette brings the voice of Philly into the museum and injects the identity system with contrast and spontaneity. The current library is curated (exemplified by the likes of Shatter, Cooper Black, and Balloon), but it is designed to continue growing over time. Each of these display typefaces can be used on various seasonal activations, or specifically assigned to exhibitions or departmental roles. ITC Pioneer was used for the recent exhibition The Time is Always Now, a survey of contemporary Black and African diasporic figurative art. Purple Haze is the designated typeface for PMA Members, and Megazoid is used for PMA Kids.

On the other hand, the institutional typographic voice serves an evergreen role: echoing the museum’s classical character while embodying Philadelphia’s industrial sensibility. The core typeface, Fairmount Serif—named for the Fairmount neighborhood—was custom-drawn by Ryan Bugden after a study of Philadelphia’s typographic history. Searching for a balance between the industrial structure of 1930s American sans-serifs and a classical features brought Hess Neobold forward as a key reference. Its designer Sol Hess attended PMSIA—the precursor to the museum—and later succeeded Frederic Goudy as Philadelphia-based Lanston Monotype’s type director. Fairmount Serif evolves the Hess Neobold model while incorporating more contemporaneous industrial cues. It remains relatively neutral alongside the museum’s broad palette of display faces while providing a distinct, authoritative voice of its own. Fairmount Serif was also used as a starting point in rendering the various institutional logos.

For the more workhorse level, Klarheit Grotesk serves as the museum’s body text typeface. It is set at small sizes across branding, materials, signage, and exhibition text.

See more images in Gretel’s case study.

Mockups of exhibition catalogs

Banners.

Seasonal program.

Toulouse Olympique Aviation Club was founded on October 4, 1944, through a
merger of Toulouse Olympique XV and the Omnisport Aviation Club Toulousain. Since March 6, 1990, the club from the capital of France’s southern Occitanie region is known under the name Toulouse Olympique Aérospatiale Club (TOAC).

This membership card from 1945/1946, issued to Joseph Goulounes (1924–2001), features the club’s emblem with a winged dragon and a compass rose.

“Membre actif” is set in Elegant-Grotesk licht, an all-caps inline version of Stempel’s Futura follower, Elegant-Grotesk. The specific version likely is Universelles éclairées, a local copy sold by the Dutreix foundry in Limoges.

The plain sans has German roots as well: it’s Simplex, a variant of Berthold-Grotesk with a monocular a, produced by Fonderie Olive in Marseille.

The italic serif used for “Année” is Cheltenham with the alternate swash A, available in France from Fonderie Caslon. The wide grot used for the club’s name is yet unidentified.

The headline mixes Romanisch Kursiv No. 20 with Koch-Antiqua fett. The latter is used with both forms for s, but the former isn’t. The question mark is added from Cooper Black, while the smaller copy is set in Futura.

This 1931 group tours brochure was issued by the MER – Mitteleuropäisches Reisebüro G.m.b.H. – of Berlin. The brochure gives details of organised holiday tours across Europe, by train and ship, as well as an extensive tours of the USA, out via the HAPAG line and returning on the Norddeutschen Lloyd for a cool 2,800 RM. The brochure also has numerous adverts for resorts, hotels and travel companies.

The various adverts, a selection of which I have scanned here, are also interesting from a typographical and design standpoint. Many are in the very latest German ‘style’ and feature some interesting and often relatively new typefaces. This advert, with a variety of typefaces and a decorative border asks “Kennen Sie schon die volkstümlichen Gesellschaftsfahrten des MER?” (“Are you already familiar with the popular group trips offered by MER?”) It gives a list of destinations within Germany and abroad as described elsewhere in the brochure.

MER was formed as a Central European Travel Agency in Berlin in 1917 and grew to include the travel interests of the Austrian and Hungarian railways. Many of its services were similar to those of say, Thomas Cook, in the UK. The company was heavily implicated in the crimes of the National Socialist era and in post-war years the company, in both East and West Germany, underwent several complex reorganisations but survives under the name of DER Travel.

“Shakespeare’s hometown is the quiet, picturesque market town of Stratford-upon-Avon in the county of Warwickshire.” Motor can be seen in early use, featuring a non-standard narrow R.

“Don’t miss a chance to visit Lake Lucerne and its eight mountain railways during your trip to Switzerland”
Two weights of Memphis plus a drop cap from Schaefer-Versalien.

Schaefer-Versalien and all-caps Memphis for “Lucerne Lido, the Swiss lakeside resort”

“Finland – the idyllic land of a thousand lakes. A new travel destination!” More Motor – with a narrow alternate N.

Adverts for the San Marco Schiffahrts-Gesellschaft Venedig and Palace Hotel in Tunis, Tunisia. “San Marco” shows Motor’s narrow N again, and features yet another alternate glyph, this time for S. “Dalmatien” is in Berthold Block. The description of the hotel uses Koch-Antiqua.

Adverts for Jadranska Plovdibda D.D. Sušak and Dubrovačka Parobrodarska Plovidba, with several Futura weights and three sizes of Neuland

Abilene FLF

The second season of Batman: The Animated Series (or The Adventures of Batman & Robin, as it was temporarily known) differs from the first season both in only consisting 20 episodes (versus the first season’s 65), and in using digital fonts (where the first season used dry transfer lettering).

Times Bold

Times New Roman Bold (compare the counter of the R in “Trial” to that of the one in “A Bullet for Bullock” above)

Flambard (or Studio?), heavily squeezed

Murray Hill

Unidentified

Abilene FLF

Times Bold

Chevalier

Univers 49

Filmotype Hudson

Chevalier

Ticonderoga

Plakette

ITC Ronda

Florentine

Stencil

Ad Lib

Helvetica

Premier Lightline

Quel Chantier! Attention, cerveau au travail (“What a Project! Watch out, brain at work”) is a children’s educational publication by La Pastèque that explains how the brain works in a fun and accessible way, with amazing illustrations by Stéphane Poirier. Printed in three spot colors and black, the book is divided into several sections (evolution, anatomy, the senses, the brain in action, and taking care of it).

The Radio Planet is a science fiction novel written by Roger Sherman Hoar (1887–1963) under the pseudonym of Ralph Milne Farley. The third instalment in his Radio Man series, it was first serialized in Argosy, in six parts, starting 26 June, 1926.

This is the first book edition, published as Ace Book F-312 in 1964, with cover art by John Schoenherr. The (uncredited) typography combines Peignot Bold with Latin Bold.

Fun fact: in his other life, Hoar served as state senator and assistant Attorney General for the state of Massachusetts.

[More info on ISFDB]

The Muppet Show Book was published in 1978 by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. The book adapts material from the first two seasons of The Muppet Show, with illustrations by Tudor Banus.

The main text font used throughout the book is ITC Souvenir. The characters’ names and initials are each set in a unique font, see the image captions for details. A few minor characters’ names are in ITC Souvenir.

“Introduction” is in the roman style of Bookman Swash. The character-specific fonts are Art Gothic for Kermit the Frog; Sweetheart for Miss Piggy; Yagi Link Double for Sgt. Floyd Pepper; Benguiat Laurent (with Psychemat effect) for Dr. Teeth [edit: rather Bullseye, a copy of PLINC Capricorn, see comments]; ITC Neon for Zoot; Crayonette for Janice; and Shatter for Animal.

Second page of the introduction, ft. Interline for Statler & Waldorf (without the pattern fill in Statler’s case); Scorpio/Hoopla for Fozzie Bear; and Burst Caps for Crazy Harry. The sound effects (“BANG”, “HA HA HA …”) are in caps from Caslon No. 471/540 or similar.

ITC Bookman Demi with swash caps

“THE NEW GO-FER” is in Franklin Gothic Extra Condensed.

An outline version of Cooper Black is used for Scooter and Hobo for George the Janitor.

Reward poster for Kid Fozzie, ft. Figaro

The typeface chosen for Rowlf is Reklameschrift Secession.

Moore Computer features for Kermit’s robot doppelgänger.

“GONZO THE GREAT” uses more of the aforementioned Caslon caps. The character font is Lydia.

Sam the Eagle is presented in a chromatic setting of Stripes Caps.

Cloud Bank for Dr. Julius Strangepork and Countdown for Captain Link Hogthrob

The initial I is from Thunderbird.

The initial S is unidentified.

Microgramma Condensed is used for Nigel

The formal script used for “The Lives and Loves of Gonzo the Great” is Typo Script Extended.

Round Rosie is the font used for Vincent Price’s initials … 

… and Smoke is the one chosen for Uncle Deadly.

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew is set in Gemini.

Filmotype Pixie was spec’d for Hilda.

Another Bookman Swash

Manuscript Capitals for “Bein’ Green”

The P from Mira identifies Koozebanian Phoob.

Chianti is used for Robin.

Kermit the Pig is in an unidentified font similar to Rubens and Duerer.

Playbill is used for J.P. Grosse. On this page, the o’s in Scooter’s name are altered to look like his glasses.

The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics is a compilation edited by Paul Gravett:

Paul Gravett edits and Peter Stanbury designs The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics. This is a 480-page collection of 24 mean, moody masterpieces, many painstakingly restored by Stanbury. They range from classic newspaper strips and notorious uncensored pre-Code comic books to the finest in American, British and European graphic novels.

The line-up includes: Dashiell Hammett & Alex Raymond, Will Eisner, Johnny Craig, Mickey Spillane, Bernie Krigstein, Alan Moore, Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, Neil Gaiman, Alex Toth, Jacques Tardi, Jordi Bernet, Paul Grist, Jack Cole, Charles Burns, Max Allan Collins, and José Muñoz & Carlos Sampayo. Highlights include the first comic book appearance by Mike Hammer’s prototype written by Spillane and shot from the original comic book artwork, and the never-before-reprinted last ever comic book by EC genius Bernie Krigstein, a bizarre 87th Precinct tie-in to Ed McBain’s famous characters.

The entire book (outside of the comic reprints, of course) uses two fonts for everything: Tarnation and Cooper Black. Even the legalese and barcode! The cover illustration is by Jordi Bernet and design is credited to Peter Stanbury.

A Victorian-era ticket with a unique border and striking typefaces. The star of the show is Bank-Note Italic, a variant of John F. Cumming’s Bank-Note Italic (c.1863) in which the top halves have diagonal hatching. Charles E. Heyer added it to the catalog of the Boston Type Foundry in 1875. 

Opening Party at Fox’s Hall, South Worcester, N.Y.
Thursday Evening, Dec. 15, 1887 Music by Belcher's Full Band.
Yourself and lady are respectively invited.
Bill $1.50
J. D. Beard, Manager. E. Fox, Prop’r.

Business card (4⅝″×2½″) by Hills & Winship, manufacturers of “bench and moulding planes of every description”. A quick dig finds that this partnership likely began in 1832, the assumed date that this business card was created. The 18pt Caslon Italian line at the top has especially crisp edges all around, clearly from metal type, perhaps brand new type.

This compilation with “The Very Best of Chevalier” brings together a dozen hits by French singer, actor, and entertainer Maurice Chevalier (1888–1972), including “Valentine”, “Louise”, “Mimi”, and “Thank Heaven for Little Girls”. It was released in 1964 by MGM Records.

The big caps for “CHEVALIER” appear to be custom lettering, loosely based on Broadway (Condensed). The rest of the uncredited cover design is exclusively typographic, featuring twelve styles from ten typefaces (Peignot is represented by two weights, and Ultra Bodoni by roman and italic styles). Broadway also appears in unmodified form, for “Did You Ever See a Dream Walking”. Can you spot the LTypI?

[More info on Discogs]

Certificates like this one were issued by the Chinese consulate-general in San Francisco to show that the holder was exempt from the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned Chinese laborers from entering the United States. The Chinese exclusion policy remained in effect until it was lifted in 1943.

The heading combines a Celtic with Ronaldson (also used for the word “SEAL” at the bottom left), and the following paragraph combines Title Text Open No. 3 with Spencerian Script. The word “DESCRIPTION” is in Old Style Extended, while the labels for each item are in a Modern/Scotch. The italic at the bottom is in a style that was presented by MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan as a companion to Ronaldson (Old Style, No. 4) as well as to Bradford Old Style (Old Style, No. 2) and Binny (Old Style, No. 3). The Chinese signatures aren’t typographic.

This picture of a typographic freight car is reproduced from an article that appeared in the June 1896 issue of the Inland Printer. It reads:

A Large Shipment of Type
The accompanying illustration was made from a photograph of the first carload of type ever shipped from St. Louis. The shipment was made by the American Type Founders’ Company to their Texas agents, the Scarff & O’Connor Company, of Dallas. The car contained over 30,000 pounds of type, and was turned out with other orders between February 6 and the date shipment was made—March 25. This is pretty good evidence that there is some material being used in the Southwest, and also that St. Louis is well able to supply the demand.

The wagon was used as a self-referential billboard on wheels, with a sign on the side that advertised its contents – out-of-home advertising in the 1890s. The text is rendered in a wide roman with considerable contrast. It’s way too large to be itself typeset and printed, of course. This was a job for a sign painter. Still, I’d like to think that the letterforms were loosely based on a typeface, making this an example of fonts in indirect use.

The typeface that served as the model is De Vinne Extended. At least that’s what the C with the distinctive underbite suggests. In addition to weight and proportion, other shared characteristics include the big-headed R with diagonal leg, the E and F with thin long arms, the u with angled top terminals, and the r with ball terminal. Granted, the S is not really a match – but then again, it just as hard to faithfully copy an S as it is to draw a good one. One more reason that speaks in favor of De Vinne Extended is that this style was a brand-new product at the time, having been introduced the same year.

Carload of type for
TEXAS PRINTERS
Bought by
SCARFF & O’CONNOR CO.,
Dallas, TEXAS
of the
American Type Founders’ Co.,
Via Frisco St. Louis, Mo.

Composite image with specimens for De Vinne Extended from ATF’s Desk Book of Type Specimens from 1900

The Berkeley Tribe is possibly the most famous “New Left” newspaper. Centered in Berkeley, California, it (like other publications) focused on revolutionary subject matter (Black/Women's Liberation, Gay rights, Antiwar Movements, etc.). Their headquarters were at multiple times bombed or shot, with the FBI surveilling their operation.

The masthead, like with many famous magazines, such as TIME, is a custom lettering.

Crediting designers for each issue can be tricky, as intimidation from attacks and police prompted staff to remove their names from the masthead. However, East Bay Media is noted to have served the tribe's publishing and at least some graphic design from 1971, the time of this issue here (it is possible other Berkeley area shops filled a similar role during the paper's run, too).

Early covers and hand lettering are credited to designer Gary Grimshaw, who possibly did not work on this particular specimen.

Shown here are the cover and a selection of eleven of the twenty-four pages, featuring most of the display fonts used in the editorial design at least once. Text is set in Univers and Century Schoolbook.

Headlines in Dom Casual (“The Unknown Defendant”) and Clarendon (“Justice We Don’t Expect From You”)

Publicity Gothic (“No Future Rev No Family”) and Clarendon

“Weather Sister Ripped Off At Flicks” is in Roberta.

Headlines in Antikva Margaret (“U.S. Bombs”) and Windsor Elongated (“Thoughts On Being Human”)

Grotesque No. 9 for “SIERRA” and “feedback”

Franklin Gothic for the “Pusherman” headline, De Vinne for “Human Culture Time-Line”

Cooper Black and Haas Inserat Grotesk for “War-Season’s Greetings from JAPAN” . The ad below features two weights of Blippo (equivalent to Burko and Harry) and City.

Profil for “OKINAWA”. The ad for Midnight Films uses Mistral.

More Inserat-Grotesk for “The Sacred Tree is Dead”. Times New Roman is used for the poem at the bottom right.

The “KILL ’EM” headline is set in Windsor. Smoke and Futura feature for the Free Store ad and Helvetica for the one by Sound City.

The “Masturbation” headline is in Jay Gothic. Fonts used in the ads include Flash (“Native Son”) and Commercial Script (“MANDRAKE’S).