Overall communication and visual identity for the Osterfestspiele Salzburg—design by Off Office (Johannes von Gross and Markus Lingemann), with Leonie Seitz and Robin Christopher Körner.

Based in Vienna, Austria, Off Office developed the identity of the annual festival around the use of Millionaire Script and Roman (Altiplano), paired with ABC Diatype (Dinamo). The combination of Diatype’s modern efficiency with the baroque–neoclassical expressiveness of Millionaire, all brought together through remarkably precise and thoughtful typographic composition, perfectly reflects the festival’s ambition:

The festival crosses the boundaries of classical music, featuring a world premiere by choreographer Sasha Waltz and an immersive electro performance.

Spring and Easter stand for the reawakening of life. In this spirit, and with reference to the 2024 festival’s focus on Italy, the design brings marble statues of Roman fountains to life. For the first time, they feel the heat of the sun, the freshness of the water, and—after centuries of rigidity—finally move to the music of the great Italian masters.

The festival was nicely documented by Vincent Forstenlechner and Erli Grünzweil.

The design of this packaging example for Luxury Box Sicilia stems from the packaging producer’s desire to transform two iconic symbols of Easter tradition – the dove and the chocolate egg – into “collectible objects capable of communicating craftsmanship, delicacy and care through a refined and contemporary aesthetic”.

The script typeface – Nautica by Resistenza – helps define the identity of the project, with a thin and sophisticated line that recalls handwriting, while maintaining balance and readability. The quote by Erri de Luca and other information are set in Adobe Garamond Italic.

Front of the wrapper for Tony’s Chocolonely milk chocolate (Dutch version)

The design of Tony’s Chocolonely chocolate wrappers was created in 2005 by Arjen “Klink” Klinkenberg, then-creative manager at Dutch design studio def.

The letters that make up the name of the ethical chocolate brand were cut by hand, but they were subsequently turned into a proprietary font called Chocolateletter, which is seen on the back of the wrapper. Other text uses ITC American Typewriter. These two fonts are also used in advertising, on the Tony’s Chocolonely website, and in other materials.

Klinkenberg explains the process of designing the wrapper in this video.

Back of the wrapper for Tony’s Chocolonely milk chocolate (American version), with nutritional facts in Helvetica

Color variants for four of the standard flavors (Dutch version)

Billboard in the UK

Wrapper for Tony’s Chocolonely chocolate Easter eggs

Cover of the Tony’s Chocolonely annual report 2021/2022

Spread from the Tony’s Chocolonely annual report 2021/2022

Spread from the Tony’s Chocolonely annual report 2021/2022

Spread from the Tony’s Chocolonely annual report 2021/2022

Electric Circus is an iconic typeface designed by the famous New York studio, Brownjohn, Chermayfeff & Geismar for the legendary Electric Circus nightclub. A few months ago, Fonts In Use contributor Quinn Davis noted that the typeface was likely based on Anzeigen-Grotesk / Neue Aurora IX. This makes a lot of sense, as Anzeigen or Aurora was used as a secondary face on this (uncredited) concert program, and on many other designs by the firm.

Performing at the 1968 Electric Easter concert were electronic music pioneer, Morton Subotnick; a light show by Anthony Martin and Jerry Brandt; Medieval and Renaissance ensemble, New York Pro Musica; and psychedelic soul band, The Chambers Brothers.

Semana Santa, or Holy Week, is a deeply rooted celebration in Spain. In the city of Cuenca it has been declared of International Tourist Interest. It is a religious and tourist claim. For the publicity of this event, Orpheus was used. The narrow Gothic lettering for the tagline (“Declarada de Interés Turístico Internacional”) is custom drawn, based on the inscription on a funerary sculpture.

Bichromatic Cruz Swinger with drop shadow, for “a basket of Easter fun & music” recorded by the Mr. Pickwick Players and released on Pickwick Records in 1975. Cruz Swinger is a design by Ray Cruz. On the back cover, the similar Tuggle Swash is used in all caps.

Happy Easter!

[More info on Discogs]

Poster for the Aldermaston to London march on Easter 1962, designed by Ken Garland. From Wikipedia:

The Aldermaston marches were anti-nuclear weapons demonstrations in the 1950s and 1960s, taking place on Easter weekend between the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire, England, and London, over a distance of fifty-two miles, or roughly 83 km. At their height in the early 1960s they attracted tens of thousands of people and were the highlight of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) calendar.

The design prominently features what now is universally known as the peace symbol (☮︎). Initially it stood for “nuclear disarmament” – Gerald Holtom designed it by superimposing the characters N and D of the flag semaphore. Its first major appearance was at the original Aldermaston march in 1958, which ran in the opposite direction, starting in London. You can learn more about the symbol and its history on 99% Invisible and in Mark Sinclair’s article for Fast Company.

For the typography, Garland combined two typefaces. The wide heavy caps are from Annonce Grotesque, arranged with tight spacing, as if the letters were linking arms and joining a protest march, too. Some of the glyphs seem to be hand-made. At least the repeating numerals (see 2 and 3) aren’t identical, nor do they match the original glyphs. Chances are that Garland worked with transfer lettering – Annonce Grotesque was among the first typefaces to be adopted by Letraset, and is shown in a catalog from 1960. He either ran out of numerals, or, more likely, worked with sheets that didn’t contain these glyphs in the first place: according to a later catalog from around the mid-1960s, the largest size, sheet IL 130 in 26mm/96pt, offered capitals only. For lowercase letters, one had to get sheet IL 131. And those who wanted to use numerals had to settle for a smaller size, IL 132 in 36pt – they simply weren’t available in 96pt.

The condensed sans used for the stations is Monotype Grotesque Condensed (series 318). The digital version is not an exact match in all the details; see a specimen of the original here.

Garland donated nine of his posters to the Design Museum’s permanent collection, including this one. The poster is also in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum and on display at V&A South Kensington.

Via Giles Booth

Detail

Detail. The numerals were apparently added by hand.

Typography on eggs. This year’s easter campaign “Das Gelbe vom Ei” for VetRad partners was a series of still life typographic easter eggs. Each egg shows an individual letter and was part of a little quiz. The German title literally translates to “the yellow of the egg”. In the figurative sense, it stands for something like “the real deal”, or “the cat’s pajamas”. VetRad offers telemedicine, education, remote and on-site training for veterinarians.

The font in use is Poppins from Indian Type Foundry.

Madrid’s Semana Santa, or Holy Week, is the popular celebration of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ in the capital of Spain. For advertising this year’s event, Tres Tipos Gráficos used bb-book Contrasted and bb-book B by Benoît Bodhuin:

The campaign works with images around the figure of Jesús de Medinaceli, the Christ of Madrid: his singular crown of thorns, the cord of his robe and the censer of the Basilica of Jesús de Medinaceli. Throughout the campaign, the purple hoods of the Nazarenes, the Paschal Candle and the image of flowers, so representative in offerings and decorations, are also used.

The procession of the Christ of Medinaceli, on Good Friday, is the most popular in the city and runs through the streets of the center every year. This year Holy Week will be held under strong restrictions and each brotherhood will exhibit their image within their canonical seats.

Photos: Geray Mena

Source: www.ebay.de the-concert-poster. License: All Rights Reserved.

Lots of big bichromatic caps from Optex (Letraset, 1970) on the posters for the Easter Rock Festival organized by Mama Concerts in 1977. The secondary typeface used for date and venue is Albert Boton’s Chinon (Mecanorma, 1972).

The festival stopped in four German cities; Offenbach (Stadthalle, 7 April), Cologne (Sporthalle, 9 April), Nuremberg (Messehalle, 10 April), and Ludwigshafen (Eberthalle, 11 April). The lineup included Black Sabbath, The Ian Gillan Band, AC/DC, and Doctors of Madness. On some days, they were supported by Caravan, John McLaughlin’s Shakti, and Jane.

Source: www.highwaytoacdc.com Highway To ACDC. License: All Rights Reserved.

The tickets used stacked-and-justified Optex, too, here with green and red letters. The small print is set in Helvetica.

Source: www.flickr.com Bernd Nzau2. License: All Rights Reserved.

Ticket for the concert in Cologne.

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

Ticket for the concert in Ludwigshafen.

“The Wedding” (No. 268) ft. Bookman Swash Bold in all caps italics with three swash alternates.

Covers for various clip books of line art issued in 1975 by Harry Volk Jr. Art Studio, Pleasantville, New Jersey. See the previous post about the clip books issued in 1955 for more information on Harry Volk Jr. Art Studio.

In most issues from this volume, “Clip Book of Line Art” is set in a light weight of ITC Avant Garde Gothic, with alternates for A and e.

While Volk predominantly used phototype styles from Filmotype’s library in the late 1950s and early 1960s, they had switched to Photo-Lettering (and later ITC) by the end of the 1960s. The covers in this post also feature a number of faces that originated elsewhere. Burko was issued by Headliners (and copied by Facsimile Fonts as part of the Blippo series). Checkmate started out at Schaedler (and was adopted by Photo-Lettering). Yagi Double is a Facsimile Fonts creation. Their Bob Trogman claims credit for Uncle Bill. Zipper and Premier Shaded are Letraset originals. Archie and Rock Opera may have been created at Lettergraphics (the latter is a derivative of Letraset’s Frankfurter).

Or did Volk maybe tap into Formatt’s library of faces for dry-transfer lettering? Their catalog no. 5 from 1974 shows several of the styles used on these covers, including Rock Opera, Tip Top, Eurostile, Uncle Bill (as Brother Bill), Checkmate (as Tournament), Copperplate (as Broker Shaded), Archie (as Chuckle), Yagi Double (as Circuit Double), and Titan.

“Holidays” (No. 269) ft. Benguiat Caslon.

“Entertainment” (No. 271) ft. ITC Neon, set on a curve.

“Telephones” (No. 272) ft. Cooper Black Italic with swash caps and Folio with biform alternates.

“Occupations” (No. 273) ft. Eurostile Bold Extended and Akzidenz-Grotesk.

“Winter” (No. 274) with one of the adaptations of Mexico Olympic, probably Hotline by Lettergraphics.

“Men” (No. 276) ft. Checkmate.

“Spring” (No. 279) ft. Saphir.

“Holidays” (No. 277) ft. Archie.

“Circus-Fair” (No. 628) ft. West Barnum Ultra.

“Spring & Summer Sports” (No. 629) ft. more Eurostile Bold Extended.

“The Farm” (No. 630) ft. ITC Busorama with its alternate glyphs.

“Summer” (No. 631) ft. caps from Tip-Top.

“Medicine” (No. 632) ft. Columna.

“Media” (No. 635) ft. Burko.

“Homemaker” (No. 637) ft. Zipper.

“Human Relations” (No. 638) ft. Columna Solid with what looks to be a customized R, or maybe an alternate that was exclusive to some (VGC’s?) phototype version. Bauer’s original (open) Columna has two forms for this letter, none of which matches the one seen here.

“Fall & Winter Sports” (No. 639) ft. Revue with EndcapS.

“Christmas” (No. 640) ft. American Uncial Initials for “Christmas”, with the text version used for the line below. [Thanks, Bryson!]

“Crowds” (No. 643) ft. Premier Shaded.

“Couples” (No. 644) ft. Yagi Double.

“Safety” (No. 645) ft. Stencil (Ludlow).

“Teens” (No. 647) ft. Rock Opera AKA Shady Deal, a copy of Frankfurter with a line pattern fill.

“Groups” (No. 648) ft. Uncle Bill.

“Industry” (No. 649) ft. Blippo Black.

“Children” (No. 650) ft. Davida.

“Borders” (No. G60) ft. Orbit Shaded. The logo of the Grafika subseries is in ITC Fat Face. The script appears to be lettering.

“Pointers” (No. G53) ft. Novel Gothic with arrows.

“Conrad Zilch” (No. G51) ft. Banco …

… accompanied by “Cora Zilch” (No. G56).

“Design Devices” (No. G54) ft. Titan, a Baby Teeth follower of unclear origin.

“Money” (No. G59) ft. Bond Shaded AKA Bond Shaded.

“Contests” (No. G61) ft. Orbit Rimmed.

The typography on this poster design by Peter Max is quite different from the “Penney’s Rainbow Lane” poster he created around the same time. There’s only one typeface, and while Cooper Black isn’t exactly a shy choice, it’s a lot less eccentric than the faces Max combined for the fashion show announcement. The restrained color palette and the slightly misaligned registration might be blamed on the limited budget, see below. Note that the artist’s signature doesn’t yet use the logo in Reklameschrift Secession.

According to the biography on the artist’s website,

Max’s Be In poster inspires several hundred thousand “hippies” to gather in New York City’s Central Park, and immortalize the Summer of Love.

From Wikipedia:

The Easter 1967 be-in was organized by Jim Fouratt, an actor, Paul Williams, editor of Crawdaddy! magazine, Susan Hartnett, head of the Experiments in Art and Technology organization, and Chilean poet and playwright Claudio Badal. With a budget of $250 they printed 3,000 posters and 40,000 small notices designed by Peter Max and distributed them around the city. […] An estimated 10,065 people participated in the event at the Sheep Meadow in Central Park. […] Less than a month later, on April 15, another anti-war rally took place as a part of the “Spring Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam”. Once again the number of demonstrators grew drastically to an estimated 100–400 thousand attendees. This peace rally, which assembled and started off in Central Park and then marched to the United Nations, was said to be the largest of its kind at its time.

Milton Glaser’s poster for an Easter Sunday concert by American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson (1911–1972) was printed in two versions — one facing right and the other facing left — so that the two could be shown side-by-side to create a rainbow.

Current status: “The Dreamy Easter Bunny”. Regular service will be resumed shortly.

This A4 booklet with an illustrated Easter story for children was first published in 1974 by Pestalozzi-Verlag, Erlangen. The image shows the 9th edition from 1983.

The title typeface is Manessa by Georg Wilkens, set in three curved lines, with an alternate a/ä. Wilkens originally created the letterforms while working on a food packaging design. On the initiative of his schoolmate Günter Gerhard Lange, Manessa was made into a typeface and included in the Berthold Fototypes library in 1971. [Klingspor-Museum]

The oblique Tabarnak (Patrick Griffin, 2012) is a digital reinterpretation, or in Canada Type’s own and slightly bigheaded words, “an assessment and correction of an old concept by George [sic] Wilkens. The original idea was for a bold upright alphabet reminiscent of Oz Cooper’s work, but ornamented with some shocard/signage traits. That idea was radically redrawn and reinvented to become a simple 21st century font made to turn heads and induce a friendly rush.”

“To occupy and distract children under 8 years … with eggshells”

See the complete booklet in the Flickr photostream of Pilllpat (Agence Eureka).

Пасхальний рейв

“The Eggbot is an open-source art robot that can draw on spherical or egg-shaped objects from the size of a ping pong ball size to that of a small grapefruit.” — egg-bot.com

Via @H_FJ

Paschal candle design for 2013. For use in several catholic churches and lit at the Easter Vigil service. Candle is 75mm diameter and 0·9m high.

The fifth in the second letterpress series. (The first was started in 1986 while at the RCA.)

The German post authorities pay tribute to the country’s most popular author/illustrator of children books, Janosch. (Critical voices might call such an issue rather a commercial plug than a tribute, since Janosch is fortunately alive and kicking.)

The two stamps, Segelboot (Sailboat) and Ostern (Easter) feature his best-known character, the Tigerente (Tiger Duck), next to others. For the typography, both styles of FF Hands by the Letterror “random twins” have been used: Just van Rossum’s FF JustLeftHand for the year and, in all-caps, for the country; Erik van Blokland’s FF ErikRightHand for the value.