This album combines two violin concertos performed by David Oistrakh (1908–1974) together with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra under conductor Alexander Gauk (who, like Oistrakh, was born in Odesa). Opus 44 by Nicholas Myaskovsky was recorded in September 1939 and Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 19 by Sergei Prokofiev in June 1953.

Period Records released the album in 1955, with a cover design by Lily Gruen Zepel.

[More info on Discogs]

Archon is a strategy/action video game developed by Free Fall Associates. Originally released on the Atari 8-bit, the game saw ports to a large number of systems, including the NES. While most releases used the original monochromatic boxart, the NES went in a very different direction, depicting two combatants breaking through the box.

The title and tagline on the back cover use Lydian. Dots have been added to the middles of the C and O. The rest of the back uses ITC Novarese.

Front cover to the album Burnt Weeny Sandwich by The Mothers of Invention, with art by Cal Schenkel.

According to Schenkel, the cover was originally meant for an Eric Dolphy album:

Originally done for an Eric Dolphy album, Moop Record, that Frank was supposed to produce. “It took about a day. I found all these interesting things and it just went together very quickly. But then the project was cancelled and the piece of art just sat there. Then Frank used it for Burnt Weenie.”

[More info on Discogs]

Front cover of the “Big Box” CD release for the Mac

A fediverse post showing the CD cover for The Incredible Machine 3 prompted me to write this up. The Incredible Machine, often abbreviated TIM, was a 1990s series of puzzle-solving computer games where players create a Rube Goldberg device. In fact, it seems to be responsible for creating the Rube Goldberg genre. The original TIM was published in 1993, and went on to spawn quite a few sequels, spin-offs, ports, and imitators.

TIM 3 is essentially a port of the DOS game TIM 2 to the GUI operating systems, principally Windows and Mac. The box art for TIM 3 uses Lithos and Modula Sans for the title, and Modular Sans for much of the secondary text. Two very iconic 1990s designs by two very iconic 1990s designers: Carol Twombly and Zuzana Licko respectively.

Artwork for the earlier versions relies on the obvious LTypi: ITC Machine. And since this is clearly a 1990s post, I had to show the interior of the manual for TIM 2 which features another landmark of the 1990s: Remedy.

Splashscreen for the original DOS version. Note the wordmark that’s based on modified ITC Machine.

The splashscreen for The Incredible Machine 2 is a much more straightforward LTypI.

Front cover of the manual for The Incredible Machine 2, using ITC Machine.

A right-hand page from the interior of the manual for The Incredible Machine 2, showing typical typography. Remedy is used throughout the manual for titles and subtitles.

Boogie Nights Halloween flyer, red backside (Instagram version)

Halloween flyers are some of my favorite designs to create because they tend to be fun and creative. This BOO-gie Nights flyer is one of my own personal favorite Halloween flyer designs that I’ve created over the years, thanks to the extremely dramatic composition, costumes, facial expressions, and lighting. The flyer was designed for the Boogie Nights Halloween party presented by DJ Frank G and Gil Cabrerra on Saturday, October 28th, 2023, at Islanders on 151 W. Alder St. in Stockton, California, featuring DJ Manuel C, DJ Frank G, and a special Michael Jackson impersonation performance by QStar.

The design features zombies, witches, demons, vampires, a vampire queen, and Día de los Muertos painted-faced girls. It utilizes the fonts Lycanthrope,Trajan, and Futura in the main section. The Islander’s logo utilizes Hawaiian Punk In addition, Cadeaulx and Century Gothic are found on the DJ Emir Logo tag in the right lower corner.

The Boogie Nights Logo was created utilizing the Lyncanthrope font with multiple layers to emphasize that the word BOOGIE is a play on words BOO-gie by highlighting the “BOO” in gold metalic font color over the eerie goulish green color for “BOOGIE”.

The flyer designs were created by DJ Emir and Extreme Flyer Designs as was the logo design for the DJEmir.com logo.

Boogie Nights Halloween flyer, front side (Instagram version)

Boogie Nights Halloween flyer, back side (Tall poster and flyer version)

Boogie Nights Halloween flyer, front side (Tall poster and flyer version)

From Wikipedia:

“Mis-Shapes” is a song written and released by English alternative rock band Pulp from their fifth album, Different Class (1995). Lyrically inspired by Cocker’s experiences socializing in Sheffield as an outcast, the song features lyrics that call for misfits to unite and take over. This lyrical theme would make Cocker uncomfortable with Pulp’s growing popularity with “townies” after the song’s release.

“Mis-Shapes” was released as a double-A sided single with “Sorted for E’s & Wizz”, the second single from Different Class after “Common People.” Like its predecessor, the single reached number two in the UK charts and has since seen critical acclaim.

[More info on Discogs]

Typography-wise, the single follows the choices made for the album, with Chromium One for the band logo (also by The Designers Republic) and Windsor Extra Bold Condensed. The palette is completed by italic Poster Bodoni and Helvetica.

Tru Calling is an American TV series that aired from 2003 to 2005. It was canceled after only a few episodes of its second season. The story centers on Tru Davies (played by Eliza Dushku), a young woman with a unique calling. Working at a city morgue, she has the ability to hear the pleas of the recently deceased. When one of them asks for help, time rewinds to the beginning of that day, giving Tru a chance to prevent their death and change the course of events.

The logo of the show was designed by using Copperplate Gothic. This version was used for promotional purposes only. The second version was created by using Rotis SemiSerif. This typeface was also used throughout the opening credits for the actors credits.

Opening credits with Rotis SemiSerif

The New Generation was a 1970s US studio vocal group. This is the only album they released. It came out in 1973 on the RCA Camden label. Fonts that are used in half of the titles are in Bookman Swash and Uncle Bill. The songs titles are set in a version of Stymie.

[More info on Discogs]

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]

Source: archive.org Internet Archive. License: All Rights Reserved.

The photograph on the dust jacket is by Christian Zuber (Bruce Coleman Ltd) and shows a coconut sprouting on a tropical beach.

In 1984, when the BBC first aired the 12-part nature documentary The Living Planet, Collins together with BBC Publications also published a book of the same title. In the preface, David Attenborough explains:

The book was written at the same time as the programmes were being filmed. The one is not, therefore, the direct descendant of the other. Rather the two are cousins, both descended from the same body of research and years of travel.

For the typography, the book’s designers followed the lead of Margaret Perry’s titles and likewise used Ageratum as the titling typeface.

Source: archive.org Internet Archive. License: All Rights Reserved.

Title page

Source: archive.org Internet Archive. License: All Rights Reserved.

Chapter opening with the title in all-caps Ageratum

Source: archive.org Internet Archive. License: All Rights Reserved.

The body text was set in Monophoto Ehrhardt by Jolly & Barber Ltd, Rugby.

Source: archive.org Internet Archive. License: All Rights Reserved.

The Book Club Associates edition features the same basic design for the book jacket, but has all text in yellow, with a black contour.

When Marinski Heartmades ceramics pivoted from playful dreaminess towards elegant-slash-feminine dreaminess, it was time for a remake. And the typefaces chosen for such direction were Estilo Pro and Synerga.

Each piece of Marinski ceramics is a small, unique ode to nature. Just like each letter is.

Art direction for the exhibition Year of the Horse: Hoofbeats through Time at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. This exhibition celebrates the enduring power, beauty, and symbolism of horses in Chinese art and culture. Across millennia, the horse has galloped through China’s imagination—as chariot puller, zodiac sign, loyal companion, and poetic metaphor.

The graphic design of this exhibition is made by the MIA team: David Hastings (graphic designer) and Bobby Rogers (Head of Design and Editorial), while Yang Liu is the chair of Asian Art and Curator of Chinese Art. This exhibition also features an artwork in the entrance wall by Yang Yongliang, a contemporary artist that builds digital landscapes, often inspired by traditional Chinese paintings.

They used Large by Alexandre Créquer for the title in the entrance as well as titles of the panels. The longer texts are set in Mia Grotesk, a custom version of Post Grotesk developed for the museum by Sharp Type. The Chinese calligraphy is probably custom.

De Roma is a historic cultural venue and community hub known for its carefully curated program of live music, film screenings, and social events. Run by a large network of dedicated volunteers supported by a small professional team, the organization has built a reputation for combining cultural quality with strong local engagement. Originally revived in 2003 through the initiative of a small group of cultural organizers and hundreds of volunteers, the venue continues to operate through this strong collective spirit.

In 2024, designer Rob Marcelis developed a complete redesign of De Roma’s logo and visual identity, updating the system to better reflect the venue’s contemporary programming and its increasingly digital communication channels. The venue’s logo itself is based on a modified version of Beatrice Deck, the high-contrast flagship style of the Beatrice superfamily designed by Lucas Sharp with Connor Davenport and released through Sharp Type.

The wider visual identity relies on Trois Mille. First introduced in 2016 as Marc Rouault’s TypeMedia thesis project and later distributed through Sharp Type, Trois Mille quickly attracted attention in a field where innovation often moves slowly. Initially inspired by the work of French typographic master Roger Excoffon, the typeface combines dynamic forms with an expansive construction that helped redefine contemporary display typography. In De Roma’s communications – from posters to event announcements – Trois Mille provides a distinctive, energetic voice that balances expressiveness with clarity, demonstrating how a singular display typeface can anchor an entire cultural identity.

Cielo is a natural wine bar in Berlin’s Friedrichshain quarter. The friendly typographic approach and essential color palette convey its Mediterranean soul and Italian cuisine.

The concept is inspired by the sky, ever-changing like the menu and the selection of natural wines. The interior “Blu Corner,” illuminated by a neon cloud, is in dialogue with the brutalist exterior signage, blending tradition and contemporaneity. Dishes celebrate sharing in an open and inclusive space, far from conventions: “We all live under the same sky.”

Ivano Pirolo, a chef originally from Avellino, Campania, graduated from the hospitality institute in his hometown before continuing his training with a Master’s in contemporary cuisine in Girona. After various professional experiences across Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and Germany, he developed the desire to open his own restaurant.

In recent years, he refined his technique and culinary vision while working at the restaurant Les Solistes by Pierre Gagnaire in Berlin, and later continued his journey at Celler de Can Roca in Girona. Returning to his adopted city, Berlin, he joined the kitchens of Facil and subsequently Kink. It is here that the idea of opening his first restaurant, Cielo, took shape.

For this project, he turned to Attico36 with the aim of developing a minimal and contemporary visual identity, while still evoking the authentic flavors of Irpinia, combined with the creativity and elegance of Italian and Mediterranean gastronomic tradition.

Kaligari proved to be the ideal choice: the client wished for a reference to the scripts of old restaurant, winery, and delicatessen signs from Campania. Kaligari succeeds in reinterpreting that kind of imagery in a modern and contemporary way.

Magic Canoe is a non-profit charitable organization whose mission is to build solutions to the polycrisis that are locally-driven and draw on deep wells of creativity, natural abundance, and local knowledge.

The identity was designed by Vancouver-based Zak, using IvyOra Display Thin for headlines and IvyOra Text for body text, combined with Futura PT for navigation. The logo is based on Times New Roman.

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.

Victor Verhelst and Corbin Mahieu collaborated on a bold new identity for Kunsthal Mechelen. The designers were inspired by the ironwork in archival photos of the garage and developed a font for Kunsthal Mechelen, based on the existing KTF Labyrinth by Kyiv Type Foundry. Times New Roman Bold Condensed is used on the website and posters.

Kunsthal Mechelen is a generous house for contemporary art that extends across several locations in Mechelen, both indoors and in public spaces.

I have developed the launch campaign for Biche, a luxury pet beauty brand based in New York City and founded by Alex Pauly. Centered on the tagline “Beauty for the Beast,” the concept reimagines 1980s masculine fragrance ads, with photography by Ryan Duffin. The campaign features men alongside their dogs, utilizing tightly spaced Goudy Oldstyle. This typographic choice references Ford’s 1984 “Forward Thinking” advertisement.

The editorial series Sinapsi (“synapses”) collects texts published in the journal Nodes since its foundation, as well as unpublished content. It delivers different writing forms: essays, interviews, scientific articles and of wide circulation. The intention is to make accessible to readers, on the one hand, contents that are no longer available and, on the other hand, topics and writing never published before.

Volume 6 is titled La ricerca sulla sinestesia. Un contributo tra neuroscienze e design. This text retraces the main stages that have marked the research on synesthesia and detects two barely addressed issues: the history of synesthaesia and its future prospects. First, the role and historical importance of Italian scholars (physiologists, aestheticians, historians, linguists) in identifying the synaesthetic phenomenon will be outlined, given how they are too often left out from the scientific production. Second, some applicative prospects drawing from the neuroscientific knowledge on synesthesia in the field of design for content accessibility and the design for health and well-being will be further explored.

Size: 12.5×18 cm / 24 pages, Italian / Risograph print on recycled Favini paper

Cats in Pants by illustrator Naomi Tipping uses Cafeteria by Frere-Jones Type. From publisher Batsford:

Cats in Pants is a hilarious swing through the underwear preferences of several cats with lots of personality. Uniquely hand-illustrated in a charming and textured style by Naomi Tipping, this book is guaranteed to be a hit with children and adults alike.

Each page is equally divided into three parts so that the head, body and (clothed) tail-end of the cat can be swapped around with the respective parts from other pages to create a huge number of cats.