Nickelodeon’s iconic SpongeBob SquarePants celebrated its 25th anniversary with the launch of a new campaign and anniversary artwork “SpongeBob SquarePants 25th”.

The design is by Thanh Nguyen, Senior Designer at Nickelodeon, with art direction from Dana Kinlaw, using Asphalt by Frere-Jones Type. The celebration also included Wendy’s and Paramount partnering to launch Wendy’s Krabby Patty Kollab, as well as the release of a SpongeBob SquarePants special edition magazine by Den of Geek.

“Welcome to Times Squarepants”

Animation by Nicole and Jeremy Sawyer

Cover of the SpongeBob SquarePants 25th Anniversary Special Edition (art direction by Jessica Koynock). The Den of Geek logo is in DJR’s Bungee; the sans used for small type is Device’s Urbane Rounded.

Sarah Hall’s novel Helm was published by Faber & Faber. The “Indie & Website Exclusive” book jacket combines big typography with an illustration by Patrick Fox. The title and author’s name are set in Ergon Thin and Thin Italic, while the captions are set in Futura​​​​​​ Medium.

From Faber Books:

A 21st-century masterpiece: winner of the Orwell and Booker Prize, this politically resonant modern classic is now available in a new look.

For the new cover design of Milkman, Henry Petrides – designer at Faber Books – used Maroni Regular with tight spacing, combined with an abstract liquid illustration.

The animated presentation features Founders Grotesk.

Indie & Website Exclusive special edition

After years of touring and releasing singles, emerging house DJ and producer sunflwr was preparing to release his debut album head it in a dream at the top of 2025. He approached Wish You Well, a multidisciplinary creative studio, to assist with developing design direction for the vinyl LP he wanted to release as part of the rollout. In collaboration with photographer Zachary Ruddell, who spearheaded the album’s front cover, Creative Director Jaye Thompson drew inspiration from sunflwr’s signature blend of dreamy indie dance and atmospheric house music, to translate sound into form. For the LP’s backside, he developed a uniquely hypnotic typographical treatment, built around chromatic distortion and circular rhythm, echoing the entrancing qualities of the album’s production. The result is a design that feels like a visual vortex, inviting listeners into sunflwr’s vibrant sonic world.

Beyond the LP sleeve, the design direction expanded into a broader visual ecosystem. Wish You Well equipped sunflwr with animated assets and motion graphics derived from the core typography and creative direction, allowing the identity to live across announcements, social content, and rollout moments. This approach ensured the album wasn’t just released, but revealed through multiple touchpoints for fans to engage with the project beyond the music alone.

Following the release on Unbelievably Spectacular, the album charted on NACC’s year-end Electronic and Chill lists and has since generated approximately five million streams across major DSPs. While vinyl sales data is limited, multiple physical drops sold through, signaling a strong demand and resonance with fans. Beyond performance metrics, the project established a cohesive visual identity at debut, helping position sunflwr as a distinctive voice within the electronic and chill music space.

For Wish You Well, the project exemplifies the studio’s belief in building worlds, not just assets. Where music, design, and craft work together to create lasting cultural presence.

[More info on Discogs]

Artwork for German rapper Döll’s 2025 album Weg vom Weg. Design by Dominik Keller using a portrait by Robert Winter.

[More info on Discogs]

For the artwork on Margo Price’s latest album, Hard Headed Woman, the typographic palette echoes the grit and charm of classic Americana. Her name appears in Ars Nova from PintassilgoPrints—a decorative, Art Nouveau-inspired display face whose bold, squarish forms instantly signal a sense of time and place. The album title is set in Cottonwood, an Adobe Originals typeface from 1991 inspired by 19th-century Western wood type, adding a rugged, frontier-style texture to the composition. Smaller supporting text uses News Gothic, a quintessential American sans serif designed by Morris Fuller Benton for American Type Founders in 1908.

The typographic mix feels rooted in time, and a little rebellious, by blending vintage influences with a modern confidence that mirrors Price’s own blend of country: true Americana and outlaw soul. The typography extends across the album packaging, the deluxe boxed set, and merchandise—giving the entire release a cohesive, unmistakably American voice.

[More info on Discogs]

Source: sarahjmaas.com License: All Rights Reserved.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses is a fantasy romance series by Sarah J. Maas, started in May 2015 with the publication of the titular first book. It was concluded with A Court of Silver Flames, a New York Times #1 bestseller, in February 2021.

When Bloomsbury started reissuing the books in 2020, Patti Ratchford was in charge of the cover designs. The hardback edition got yellow titles against a colored background. This color palette was reversed for the paperback edition, which was released simultaneously.

For the ornate art, Ratchford brought in Violène Pont and Patch Monnier of Happypets, the Lausanne-based illustration and tattoo studio. For the typography, she exclusively worked with Grand Central by Tobias Frere-Jones, alternating between stacked-and-staggered, right-aligned and center-aligned title settings.

Chances are the all-caps serif typeface with roots in the French Oldstyle genre was selected for its thorny R – a hallmark glyph that appears at least five times on every cover. With over more than 13 million copies sold in total (across the editions), A Court of Thorns and Roses probably represents the most visible use of Grand Central to date.

Source: sarahjmaas.com License: All Rights Reserved.

A Court of Mist and Fury

Source: sarahjmaas.com License: All Rights Reserved.

A Court of Wings and Ruin

Source: sarahjmaas.com License: All Rights Reserved.

A Court of Frost and Starlight

Source: sarahjmaas.com License: All Rights Reserved.

A Court of Silver Flames

Source: www.thalia.de License: All Rights Reserved.

Box set with the paperback editions of the five books

Source: www.books2door.com License: All Rights Reserved.

The dust jackets for the hardback edition have colored titles against a gray background. The final book, A Court of Silver Flames, represents an exception, featuring orange cover art and white type.

Source: www.books2door.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Box set with the hardback editions of the five books

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

Spine lettering on the jackets of the hardback edition

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

Night Court Edition

Standard album artwork

Find El Dorado is the new album by Paul Weller, released in July 2025.

The standard cover uses RG Gaueko in uppercase – with the exception of the i which appears in lowercase. The combined O and R in the word “DORADO” is an example of the standard ligatures available in the typeface.

RG Gaueko can be seen across various branding associated with the album release, for example the official online shop.

Art direction and design by Richard Andrews, with cover art by Miriam Jacobi, and additional art direction by Weller himself.

[More info on Discogs]

Amazon exclusive double LP edition

CD edition

Online store at the time of the album release

Released in celebration of Tomasz Stańko’s 80th birthday, the album Wooden Music I features previously unreleased live recordings of his Quintet from 1972. The rebellious, at times intense and restless nature of the music is reflected in the blood-red typography, reminiscent of titles from old gangster films.

The tree trunk cross-section, mysteriously emerging from the background, references the Quintet's lineup, which, apart from the trumpet, consisted solely of wooden instruments. The shape of the cross-section is no coincidence; it visually echoes the bell of the trumpet, from which pure free jazz flows.

The album was released in two versions: a standard edition with black vinyl and a limited edition with red vinyl.

It includes a booklet featuring photographs of the Quintet taken during that period, along with a detailed narrative that explores the history and context of the time when the music was created.

The project was honored with the Rosław Szaybo Special Award at Konkurs 30/30 in 2023.

[More info on Discogs]

Wesley Verhoeve's first photo book, NOTICE, was published in 2021. For a crowdfunded fine art photo book published during the pandemic, this was a rousing success with two printings of 1,000 each, including special editions (red cover). The printing was done in the Netherlands by Wilco. Cover and titles are set in Caslon’s Egyptian; in the book interior, it is paired with Adobe Caslon and Caslon Classico (used for small caps). NOTICE was also the first title published by my newly founded New Style Publishing in Amsterdam.

Bilateral is a photographic work by Samuel Gratacap that explores the passage of exiles in southern Italy and the Alps. It captures landscapes and people on both sides of the border, while addressing geopolitical challenges and the crisis of migration management.

The book was published by Poursuite Edition in April 2023:

For several years, Samuel Gratacap has been visiting territories that bear the traces of a precarious, temporary occupation, of a passage and of a contemporary history: that of the paths of exile on the Mediterranean rim.

Bilateral echoes the presence – real or suggested – of exiles on the French-Italian border, and the question of their passage through this transalpine sector.

It is also a work on the landscape, on both sides of the border, the one that separates and unites us in turn. Samuel Gratacap tried to put his eyes on it and to listen to the people he met, in an effort to criticize the media images and the traditional representations that are proposed.

The photobook is designed by Grégoire Pujade-Lauraine and features texts by Michel Agier. The only typeface used is Euclid Triangle. A special edition includes a copy of the book accompanied by a print (22×27 cm, numbered and signed on the back) in a die-cut slipcase.

Bilateral was shortlisted for the Paris Photo – Aperture PhotoBook Awards 2023, Arles PhotoBook Awards 2023, and the Athens Photo Festival Book Award 2024.

From Wikipedia:

Audio Vertigo (stylised in all caps as AUDIO VERTIGO) is the tenth studio album by British alternative rock band Elbow, released on 22 March 2024 via Polydor Records. It received acclaim from critics, and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the band's fourth number-one album in the UK.

Titles are set in all-caps Mostra Nuova. Art direction and design by Richard Andrews at Supermatic. The geometric sans use for “elbow” is yet unidentified.

[More info on Discogs]

Indie Exclusive edition

Art for single “Balu”

Art for single “Lovers’ Leap”

Source: store.uk.charlixcx.com 

Brat is the sixth studio album of pop star Charli XCX. The cover font – Arial – is stretched and of low resolution. ABC ROM Mono is found on the vertical labels. Text on the inner sleeves is in LL Unica77, and “charli xcx” on the back cover is in a yet unidentified sans [edit: probably ITC Avant Garde Gothic, see comments].

From Wikipedia:

The cover, a low resolution lime green square with the title disproportionately imposed on it, was met with criticism. In a cover story interview for Vogue Singapore, she told Chandreyee Ray that the criticism led her to question why fans feel “ownership over female artists” so much so that they demand their photograph be on all of their work; she had previously dubbed it “mysoginistic [sic] and boring” on Twitter. She further explained the album cover and particularly the colour choice, deeming green heavily oversaturated in the media and fashion “as of late”: “I wanted to go with an offensive, off-trend shade of green to trigger the idea of something being wrong. I’d like for us to question our expectations of pop culture—why are some things considered good and acceptable, and some things deemed bad? I'm interested in the narratives behind that and I want to provoke people. I'm not doing things to be nice.” People’s Sadie Bell linked the album cover with the nature of the album, which Charli XCX dubbed “confrontational”.

Designed by Brent David Freaney at Special Offer, Inc., with art direction from Imogene Strauss and Charli XCX.

[More info on Discogs]

Source: www.instagram.com Terrence O’Connor.

Photography by Terrence O’Connor, styling by Chris Horan.

Source: store.uk.charlixcx.com 

Source: www.instagram.com Special Offer, Inc.

Source: www.instagram.com 

Source: www.instagram.com 

Source: www.instagram.com Special Offer, Inc.

Source: www.instagram.com 

Source: www.instagram.com Special Offer, Inc.

Source: www.instagram.com Special Offer, Inc.

Source: www.instagram.com 

Source: www.instagram.com 

Source: store.uk.charlixcx.com 

Source: store.uk.charlixcx.com 

Source: store.uk.charlixcx.com 

Source: www.instagram.com 

Source: www.instagram.com Henry Redcliffe.

Stage graphics at a concert. Creative direction and scenic design by Imogene Strauss. Drape design by Special Offer, Inc.. Photo by Henry Redcliffe.

Leeds Art Gallery is thrilled to present a major retrospective of British documentary photographer Peter Mitchell:

Known for documenting Leeds throughout his career, the exhibition explores and reflects upon key bodies of work from Mitchell’s remarkable career and feature works previously unseen by the public. Peter Mitchell has a long-rooted connection with Leeds and Nothing Lasts Forever marks nearly half a century since Mitchell’s first exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery in 1975.

Nothing Lasts Forever is his poetic title for the exhibition, which is accompanied by a new publication; together they create a timely opportunity to enjoy work by one of the most important early colour photographers of the 20th century.

Marketing and exhibition design was created by Leeds Museums & Galleries in-house creative designer in consultation with Peter Mitchell. Rusty reds and vernacular type prominent across Mitchell's photographs informed the interpretation headings set in Altivo Black by Kostic Type Foundry, paired with the gallery’s house font GT Walsheim.

Leeds Art Gallery, 17 May – 6 October 2024

The exhibition catalogue was designed and published by RRB Photobooks in April 2024, with an essay by Diane Smyth and a preface by Jane Bhoyroo. It addition to the softcover trade edition, there’s also a special hardcover edition bound in red cloth and limited to 250 copies (shown here). 148 pages, 24.5×24.5 cm

Luminosity Lab’s work on Smoke and Mirrors, directed by Caleb Cain Marcus, delves into the mystical with a photo book capturing magic and mysticism through 78 tarot-inspired portraits. The special edition has the inverse colors and a custom box to hold the book and the Polaroid tarot deck.

The project, designed for artist Justin Aversano, mirrors the enchantment of NFTs in a tangible format, using a custom typeface inspired by the Golden Dawn’s cipher, alongside Romie Regular and Italic (designed by Margot Lévêque).

Page with the unnamed custom typeface inspired by the Golden Dawn’s cipher

Cover of the original hardcover edition

The cover of the 1973 edition of Diane Wakoski’s Dancing on the Grave of a Son of a Bitch uses Salem, set stacked and staggered, with the author’s name separated from the title by a row of floral ornaments.

Salem was introduced by the Keystone Type Foundry in Philadelphia in 1901 and advertised as “a witchey typeface” (cf. the Salem witch trials). It came accompanied by topical ornaments.

Design by Barbara Martin. The letterpress work was done by Noel Young, who started as a printer (including tons of work for Black Sparrow Press) and then founded Capra Press.

See also the contribution by Joshua Bodwell about the 2022 edition of the same name, which is actually a different book (with some overlap).

Zangezi is a contemporary reinterpretation of Salem, started by Daria Cohen in 2018. This animation shows the book title in Salem compared to a resetting in Zangezi’s Regular style. Zangezi is less bold and a good deal narrower than the original. See also the different treatment of details like the counter in D or the terminal of r.

Incidentally, if you plan to dance on a grave typographically, you can do so for free: Daria’s EULA waves the licensing fee for any designs related to death.

“Deluxe Issue, one of five copies specially bound and designated for author, publisher, and a few individuals within the inner circle of the press, this one marked ‘Binder’s Copy’ and is signed by the author on the colophon.” This copy is for sale from Captain Ahab’s Rare Books.

The title page has the book’s title set in all caps, printed in two colors. The secondary typeface is Bulmer. In the second printing from 1974, the title page is printed in black.

The colophon is set in Monotype Bodoni’s italics.

Collector’s edition of David Lowery’s The Green Knight by A24. Design by Actual Source (Davis Ngarupe and JP Haynie) using Weiß-Gotisch (Delbanco’s digitization) and Almost Roman (Poem). Drawings by Sophy Hollington. Creative direction with David Lowery.

The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics will be kicked off on July 26 this year. Exactly one thousand days before that moment, French sports newspaper L’Équipe dedicated a special issue to this event. “1924–2024, Cent ans de Jeux en France” builds a bridge between the Paris games of 1924 and the upcoming ones one hundred years later. In fact, this year the French capital will host the Olympic Games already for the third time, the first time being 1900 when they were held in conjunction with the world’s fair.

The front page of the special edition reflects on that long history designwise. The huge photograph (by Franck Seguin) on top shifts from black-and-white to color and depicts two superstars of today: Kylian Mbappé, Parisian footballer, and Cléopatre Darleux, goalkeeper of the French handball team, who respectively talk about their Olympic ambitions and experiences. While the layout of the page follows the expected pattern for a newspaper, the combination of typefaces is quite extraordinary.

The three fonts used to typeset the headlines draw an inspiring line through French type design history.

To begin with, you see Robur used for Darleux’s name and the quote beside the smaller picture of Mbappé. Robur was designed by George Auriol and published by Peignot & Fils between 1907 and 1911. In general terms, it is a bolder display variant of Auriol’s first typeface Auriol. It has its roots in Modern Style and the discovery of the Asian pointed brush as a writing implement by Western calligraphers. Auriol and Robur were very popular in France deep into the 1930s.

Next up in chronology is Cassannet, used in two contrasting weights for the big headline “1924–2024, Cent ans de Jeux en France”. Released in 2011, it was designed by Ismael González and draws its inspiration from the constructivist Art Déco lettering style of A.M. Cassandre who, back in 1924, had just begun his stunning career as a graphic and type designer.

All remaining headlines are set from Mars. This sans serif was designed by Alaric Garnier, who took cues from Venus, a typeface published by the Bauer type foundry around the same time as Robur. It is available from Production Type in three widths, two of which are used here: Mars Condensed is what you see in the all-caps lines and in the intro to the text about Darleux, Mars Standard was used for “Je veux vivre les Jeux de Paris”. Not on view here is the widest style, Mars Extended.

The reading text is typeset in ITC Cheltenham, a narrow and thereby economic roman with short sturdy serifs and roots in the early 1900s. “Sommaire”, the headline to the table of contents, is set from Engravers Old English, a broken script stemming from about the same time. The “Football” and “Handball” headings appear to be reproduced directly from an old newspaper. It’s unclear if these words use handdrawn letters or a typeface – Basuto is similar.

Taylor Swift continues to take Swifties on a diverse typographic journey with her latest album The Tortured Poets Department using Big Caslon designed by Matthew Carter for Carter & Cone with Nitti Typewriter designed by Pieter van Rosmalen for Bold Monday. The typefaces are used throughout the website and album artwork.

This will be the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, set for release on April 19, 2024, through Republic Records.

Suntup Editions is publishing a new limited letterpress edition of Richard Matheson’s seminal horror novel Hell House from 1971. The story was the basis of the 1973 film The Legend of Hell House, and was referred to by Stephen King as “the scariest haunted house novel ever written”.

The new edition, set for release in summer of 2024, features illustrations from William Basso (who sadly passed away shortly after completing the illustrations), introduction by R.C. Matheson, foreword by Mike Flanagan, and afterword by Nancy A. Collins.

The edition is offered in three states: “Artist” (750 copies, with dust jacket), “Numbered” (250 copies, ostrich leg leather binding), and “Lettered” (26 copies, full ostrich leather binding with goatskin headbands in quarter goatskin box). Five orders of the book will also be selected at random to win a copy with a unique red colored spine.

The book was designed by Michael Russem (who has designed several other books for Suntup Editions) using the Fanwood typeface (based on Fairfield) for body text, and my own Margo typeface (based on classic film and bookjacket lettering) for titling, headings, and initials. I was happy to see Margo’s contextual alternate stairstep ‘ll’ pair make an appearance in the title.

The novel is broken up between dates and timestamped sections following the events of the story. Russem used large initial caps of Margo for new sections, however the initials appear partway into their respective lines, preceded by the smaller timestamp text. Stylized brackets from Monotype Bell enclose the running headers, facing ]out[, and page numbers, facing [in].

The book is available for preorder from Suntup Editions.