The cover of this 10-inch record published by Philips Records uses Ultra Bodoni Italic for the title of the record. It looks like the type was modified photographically to tilt the angle even more. The letters are not merely rotated but skewed by shearing them. The tell-tale sign is that all the stems stay flat along the baseline. The letters are also shifted off the baseline to create a bouncing baseline look, common in the 1950s. The bouncing probably alludes to this being a bar-themed record.

Andreas Michalke comments:

The album is a showcase of the Philips label instrumental pop catalog, ca. 1955, in combination with a ‘bar’ concept: added background noise, chatter, clapping, glasses clanking, interrupted by the Polychord organ of Conni Amberg. It’s like a radio play without the speakers—you hear only the background sounds.

The illustration on the front is by well-known German illustrator, Hans Jürgen Press. Michalke:

I’ve loved the drawing style of Hans Jürgen Press since I was a child, so I recognized it immediately when I saw the album cover of this 10″. The clear, slightly broken lines, the big noses and the light-hearted humor are typical for this outstanding German artist. Probably because it was not directed towards children, the design is not as overcrowded with detail as his usual work. There is a well hidden small signature in the far upper right corner. Just as well hidden as the clues that Press was known for placing in his picture puzzles in The Adventures Of The Black Hand Gang.

The back cover of the record is set in Futura and Futura Condensed (used on the catalog numbers).

The long, justified ATF Garamond body copy is typical of early 20th-century advertising, but the Futura headline reflected a new trend in 1930s design, having recently arrived in the U.S. from Germany. It’s also the right companion for Dorothy Shepard’s modern, streamlined illustration.

This clipping is held in the Dorothy and Otis Shepard Collection at Letterform Archive, some of which and can be seen in the library’s Online Archive.

“The Civil War” (No. 310) ft. reversed Filmotype Quentin.

Covers for various clip books of line art issued in 1961 by Harry Volk Jr. Art Studio, Pleasantville, New Jersey. All typefaces used for these covers were available from Filmotype. See the previous post about the clip books issued in 1955 for more information on Harry Volk Jr. Art Studio.

“Family” (No. 312) ft. Filmotype Quail.

“Status Symbols” (No. 83) ft. Filmotype Ebony, an oblique variant of Filmotype Flare. These were issued before 1955 and are the heaviest and widest styles in Filmotype’s series of sans serifs with vertical terminals, see also Filmotype Ford.

“Commerce” (No. 308) ft. more Filmotype Ebony.

“Expressions” (No. 317) ft. Filmotype Fairbanks.

“Groups” (No. 320) ft. Filmotype Veteran, an outlined variant of Filmotype Free, issued sometime after 1955.

“Food” (No. 323) ft. Filmotype Vanity, an outlined and shaded derivative of Filmotype Ginger.

“Sales” (No. 331), again with Filmotype Ebony.

“Office” ft. Latin Wide.

In 1931, the Limited Editions Club in New York commissioned Jan van Krimpen to design a two-volume series for the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer. Shown in the images, the Odyssey is hard-bound with a dark blue cloth surface, contained in a yellow slipcase.

The book title "The Odyssey of Homer" only appears on the spine in all caps, embossed in gold. Other than drop caps, there is no illustration inside. The pages' top edge are gold glided, and the reading edges are deckled. Some pages are not even cut open.

There are four kinds of watermark on many pages, indicating this paper is specially made for the job: lettering "The Limited Editions Club"; lettering "Homer's Odyssey"; ornament; and human figure.

This Homer was also the first use of Van Krimpen's own typeface, Romanée, casted at 16-point. Romanée was an upright style originally conceived to accompany Enschedé's Kleine Text Cursyf ("[for] Small Text Italic" in English), rediscovered in its archive. At that point, Van Krimpen had yet to design his own Romanée italic. Therefore the introduction, which is set completely in italic, uses Monotype Van Dijck.

This book has an edition of 1500, all signed by Van Krimpen himself. Photos are taken from my own copy, No. 352.

Peter Matthias Noordzij of TEFF (The Enschedé Font Foundry) partially digitized Romanée with Fred Smeijers in 1995. This digital Romanée was based on the 16-point metal, and only has an upright. It was used to set a Van Krimpen biography, titled Adieu æsthetica & Mooie pagina's, and also a subsequent small booklet, presumably an exhibition catalog, titled The Aesthetic World of Jan van Krimpen. Perhaps because the italics were never completely digitized, TEFF's digital Romanée was never released.

In TypeCon 2016 I met Smeijers, and asked him why it stalled. He responded, "[he and PMN] had a difference of vision" in how the italics should be digitized.

Watermark: “The Limited Editions Club”

Watermark: “Homer’s Odyssey”

Watermark: ornament.

Watermark: Human figure.