R&S Records

The Aphex Twin – Digeridoo EP

Nathan Prost — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 09:52:40 +0000

Contributed by Nathan Prost

Source: f4.bcbits.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Front cover

Cover art for the EP Digeridoo by Richard D. James, released in 1992 on the R&S label. This record marks the first use of the alias Aphex Twin. The font in use is the bitmap version of Susan Kare’s Chicago, originally designed as system font for Mac OS. Alina Sava’s Sysfont (2021) is a recreation that brings back the jagged look.

More info about the genesis, creation, and release of and reactions to the EP in Lanner Chronicle’s article on its thirtieth anniversary.

[More info on Discogs]

Back cover

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use

Aphex Twin – Xylem Tube EP cover

Nathan Prost — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 18:34:38 +0000

Contributed by Nathan Prost

Apollo Records. License: All Rights Reserved.

Front cover

From Wikipedia:

Xylem Tube EP is an EP by the English electronic music producer Richard D. James under the pseudonym of Aphex Twin, released in June 1992 by Apollo Records [a sub-label of R&S Records]. It was his second release under the Aphex Twin alias. Xylem Tube EP was released exclusively on vinyl in June 1992.

The cover design is by Paul Nicholson a.k.a. Number 3, who in 2017 commented:

Based on the Aphex Twin logotype, this typeface was intended for the sleeve of Xylem Tube, released in June 1992. Richard and I had started working on some ideas for the sleeve, but due to miscommunication, R&S went ahead and created ‘Star Fish’ artwork. The typeface remained unused. OTF and TTF font files will be available soon.

The font named Xylem was remastered in 2015. None of the glyphs in the specimen shown below are a match for those on the cover. The title as well as the track names and the credits on the back cover are set in all-caps Chicago.

See also T-Mag’s interview with Nicholson from 2021.

[More info on Discogs]

Glyph set with (lowercase) glyphs and numerals

Grid and construction for the Xylem typeface

Numerals

Back cover with track list and credits

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use

Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85–92 album art

Nicolás Chávez — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 09:58:45 +0000

Contributed by Nicolás Chávez

Double LP front cover (R&S Records).

Selected Ambient Works 85–92 was Richard D. James’s first full-length album under the Aphex Twin name, and upon its release in November 1992 on Apollo Records, a sublabel of R&S Records, changed the way we perceive and make electronic music forever. From Wikipedia:

The album’s sleeve prominently displays the Aphex Twin symbol, designed by Paul Nicholson who was also a stage dancer at several of James’s live gigs. Nicholson stated that the duo’s intention for the logo was to be an “amorphic and soft form with no sharp lines”.

The album typography appears to combine two contrasting weights of Helvetica [see comments], with tightened spacing.

[More info on Discogs]

Double LP back cover (R&S Records). Headings for sides B to D are hyphenated. The prime in the duration is straight.

Compact cassette J-card with track list (AMB 3922 MC, R&S Records, 1992).

See preliminary and developmental sketches for the Aphex Twin logo by Paul Nicholson below.

Cover of an unidentified pressing. The typeface used here is Arial, see comments.

Double LP back cover (R&S Records), probably of a later repressing.

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use