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Vol. 2, Ostdeutschland (“Eastern Germany”)

One of a series of six charming small format booklets issued by the Königliche Eisenbahndirektion (“Royal Railway Directorate”) in Altona, Hamburg, and describing the Allgemeine Verkehrs-Mitteilungen und Sehenswürdigkeiten – general railway travel information and sights in the relevant areas of Germany. The organisation of railways in Germany prior to 1918 was somewhat complex but many railway companies were, effectively, nationalised as part of the Preußische Staatseisenbahnen (“Prussian State Railways”) and these booklets all show, in various forms, the Adler or Royal Eagle symbol of the railways as well as the “winged wheel” symbol that was much favoured by various continental railway adminstrations.

The booklets all contain the information that large numbers of visitors were now visiting Germany, many brought by the various steamship lines including Hamburg–Amerika (HAPAG) and the Norddeutscher Lloyd, and given the booklets were issued by the Altona-Hamburg office of the railways one suspects that copies were probably available on board the vessels to be given as publicity to passengers. The booklets were also available by post from the Altona offices. They are not dated but volume one has a manuscript date of ca.1905–07 and given the style this feels correct.

Although each booklet follows the same format each design is subtly different; all are in a loose “Arts & Crafts” style that would morph in Germany into the Werkbund movement and in France to an Art Nouveau style. This includes elements of the cover design, framing and lettering as well as aspects of the editorial text. The booklets contain detachable postcards for mailing and are each printed by a printer in the relevant area of Germany covered by the particular guide.

Volume 2 is for Berlin and Eastern Germany covering areas of Prussia and Saxony. The front cover shows Schloss Marienburg (Lower Saxony), the now lost Wissower Klinken cliff formations on Rügen, and the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin. There are outline maps of the railways in the area covered by the guide as well as of the suburban lines in Berlin. Mention is made of the newly opened first stages of the Berlin Hochbahn (now U-Bahn) and the back cover has a very Imperial series of symbols for the State Railways.

While most booklets (below) have custom lettering for the title, the cover for Volume 2 (above) is typographic: the featured typeface is the wide style of Mikado as cast by the Flinsch foundry in Frankfurt. “Heft 2” is in a German version of Antique No. 8. See the image captions further below for the period typefaces used inside.

At least Vol. 6 was printed by Hans Bleher at Verlags- und Handelsdruckerei Stuttgrart.

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Vol. 1, Norddeutschland (“Northern Germany”), with lettering similar to Kolumbus. The front cover shows the Lombardsbrücke in Hamburg, the Marktplatz in Bremen, and the steamship Deutschland passing the Alte Liebe lighthouse at Cuxhaven.

Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by mikeyashworth. License: All Rights Reserved.

Vol. 3, Mitteldeutschland (“Middle Germany”) with cover lettering on top of the Imperial Eagle. The vignettes are of the now vanished Kronentempel pavilion at Bodetal in the Harz, the Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel, and the famous Wartburg overlooking Eisenach.

Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by mikeyashworth. License: All Rights Reserved.

Vol. 4, Nordwestdeutschland (“North West Germany”). The cover, along with a steam locomotive and train, is in a rather high ‘Art Nouveau’ style including the lettering, and depicts the famous Kölner Dom.

Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by mikeyashworth. License: All Rights Reserved.

Vol. 5, Südwestdeutschland (“south west Germany”). The cover is almost Guimard in design and shows Heidelberg along with a cartouche of a speeding steam locomotive and train.

Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by mikeyashworth and tagged with “secession”. License: All Rights Reserved.

The title page to Vol. 1 features a winged wheel and text set in Berthold’s Secession (1901). The initial D is from Herkulanum, Schelter & Giesecke’s name for Mayflower (Conner, 1891).

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The introduction to Vol. 5 features a very similar typeface: it’s Werk-Grotesk by Ludwig & Mayer, likewise issued in 1901, with a drop cap from the licht (open) style.

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The title page to Vol. 6 is set in the most popular of the so-called Neudeutsch typefaces: it’s Klingspor’s Eckmann (1900).

Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by mikeyashworth and tagged with “eckmann”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Table of contents for all six booklets as included in the final volume. Note the two forms of H (“Hamburg” vs. “Harz”) and s/ſ, as well as the use of letterspacing for emphasis.

While the title on the front cover is lettering, the blackletter seen on the back and the flap is Deutsche Schrift, used in two weights with both forms for the letter s (see “Ausſtellungshallen”) and the mandatory ligatures for ch, ck, tz. Note that the S in “S-Bahnhof” was added from a bold roman that approximates the logo glyph. Berthold’s Halbfette Lateinisch is a likely source.

A folder advertising Third Class fares on the Berlin S-Bahn to visit the exhibition grounds and Funkturm adjacent to the city's S-Bahn station at Witzleben. The diagram is interesting in that the system’s stations include the Third Class (3. Klasse) fare to Witzleben from the station of origin.

The folder is not dated but there are some clues and others with sharper eyes and better knowledge than me may offer more information! But the station Deutschlandhalle was named as such from Eichkamp in May 1936, and the Nord-Süd links through the city centre are not shown here; the S-Bahn station at Unter den Linden, shown here, opened in 1936 as the provisional terminus (following the catastrophic collapse of the railway excavations in the locality in 1935) and it was 1939 before the S-Bahn through to Potsdamer Platz was opened.

The folder gives other information including the advice that you can travel to the exhibition grounds by S-Bahn (suburban train, that the exhibition halls at the radio tower (Funkturm) are quick and easy to reach from Witzleben S-Bahn station and that you should purchase your return ticket when you travel to the exhibition grounds.

The folder is printed on stout card and, after some discussion with more knowledgable Berliners, it is likely to be original. It shows no ‘reprint’ data and the folds are well worn suggesting some age. The folder also shows both versions of the S-Bahn symbol or logotype; that of the S in a circle and that of the S in a tombstone shape – the latter being the original design by Fritz Rosen in 1930 that was changed to the circle in c.1936. There is also the Adler or eagle symbol used by the Deutsche Reichsbahn.

The station names aren’t typeset, but written by hand, in an inclined Blockschrift (cf. DIN 16). The fare info underneath the S-Bahn “tombstone” appears to be set in Berthold Block and Akzidenz-Grotesk.

The large black heading is written in a simplified textura. Interestingly, the letterforms don’t really follow the model drawn by Friedling in May 1935 for the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft, nor are they particularly close to any of the typefaces of this genre. The F with vertical, descending stem resembles the one in Element, but other details are off.

DVD front cover

The 1982 film The Beastmaster was released on DVD and VHS by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2001. This was the first time the film was made available on DVD, though it had previously been released on VHS with different cover designs.

For this release, a new logo was designed using Morpheus. The glyphs were modified slightly by unjoining the s’s and raising the heights of the t’s in “BeastMaster” (but not in “the”).

The new logo closely resembles that of the contemporary BeastMaster TV series (which used Mason Serif).

DVD back cover

VHS front cover

Two typefaces from Photo-Lettering’s library in chromatic use: the open and shaded E style of Dave Davison’s Carousel with blue top and brown bottom halves and slightly widened proportions, and Stars and Stripes – a patriotic offshoot of PLINC Madison – in red and blue, set on a circle.

Illustrator Edward Sorel’s rendition of the Great Seal of the United States depicts comedian David Frye as the (not so bald) American eagle having a tight grip on the targets of his impersonations, including Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, William F. Buckley, Hubert Humphrey, and Nelson Rockefeller.

The motto E pluribus unum is replaced by “And make no mistake about that”. The obituary for Frye published by The Record/Herald News in 2011 comments on the context of this line:

[…] his most memorable character by far was Nixon, whom Mr. Frye portrayed as a tortured soul with darting eyes, flaring brows, scowling lips and deep-seated insecurities. The longer the president stayed in office, the deeper Mr. Frye's impressions drilled into Nixon’s psyche.

“My administration has taken crime out of the streets,” Mr. Frye’s Nixon said in one Watergate-era routine, “and put it in the White House, where I can keep an eye on it.”

Mr. Frye perfected his impression by matching Nixon’s vocal tones and modulations, by adopting a few of the president’s catch phrases, such as “Let me make this perfectly clear,” and by creating a few of his own, including “I am the president, and make no mistake about that.” He practiced in front of a mirror every day.

Whether he intended it, Mr. Frye transformed nightclub mimicry into sharp-edged political satire that drew a national following. The mere title of his best-selling 1969 comedy album “I Am the President” managed to make Nixon sound both pompous and weak-kneed.

[More info on Discogs]

Shared Tomorrows is an anthology of science fiction short stories written in collaboration. Edited by Bill Pronzini and Barry N. Malzberg, the books includes 12 stories by 24 authors.

The jacket design is by Andy Carpenter, featuring art by Gary La Sasso and Bill Farr’s Inverserif. The display typeface with the “inverse serifs” is here used in all caps, and supported by ITC Avant Garde Gothic Condensed.

Barry N. Malzberg died December 19, 2024, aged 85. Locus magazine has an obituary. See more books by Malzberg on Fonts In Use.

[More info on ISFDB]

Inverserif is also used on the book’s spine. The back panel of the jacket list the authors in a regular-wide style of ITC Avant Garde Gothic, with text on the inner flaps set in Times New Roman.

The cover depicts Germania holding a torch in her right hand and a shield with a double-headed eagle in her left. The silver text uses Preciosa with its decorated capitals.

Bauer was a German type foundry established by Friedrich W. Bauer and Karl Rupprecht in Stuttgart in 1880. It’s not to be confused with the Bauer (or Bauersche) foundry in Frankfurt am Main, which was started in 1837 by Friedrich’s father, Johann Christian Bauer. Bauer jr. left the company in 1887, but the established Bauer & Co. name was continued. Rupprecht added a branch in Düsseldorf in 1892. On 9 November 1897, Bauer & Co. was acquired by the H. Berthold AG in Berlin.

This is their 1895 type specimen book titled Neue Gesammt-Probe (“New comprehensive specimen”). Stiftung Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin digitized a copy from their Günter Gerhard Lange Collection. Shown here are the cover, the title pages, the foreword, and the opening pages for the four sections.

The main typefaces used for the book design are Preciosa and Carmen, two typefaces that were released by Bauer & Co. shortly before.

In 2022, I made a digital interpretation of Carmen named Amabilis Veneriana. It covers the two original weights plus an open Hollow style. I found the base character set in the third edition of Ludwig Petzendorfer’s Schriften-Atlas from 1898.

The half-title page features Carmen in regular and bold.

The ornate title page combines Preciosa and Carmen. The small type at the top is set in the English cut of Mediäval-Antiqua, with oldstyle figures. “Neue Ausgabe 1895” uses the corresponding Kursiv.

Page with room for a dedication. The company name at the top is in Carmen again. The text integrated in the sign held by the girl on the stairs is set in Gutenberg-Gotisch, “gewidmet” is in Triumph-Schreibschrift, and “Anmerkung” in Mercantil-Kursiv.

Foreword with a headline in Carmen and text in Mediäval-Antiqua with halbfett. The initial D is taken from Preciosa.

Title page for the first section with Werkschriften (“work[horse] typefaces”) and Zeitungsschriften (“newspaper typefaces”), in Fraktur and Antiqua styles. The typography pairs Enge verzierte Altdeutsch and Altdeutsch. The latter is Bauer & Co.’s recutting of Caxton Black. The small text uses their Schwabacher.

Title page of the second section with Auszeichnungsschriften (“typefaces for emphasis”, i.e, display type) and Accidenzschriften (“jobbing typefaces”), with more Mediäval-Antiqua and Preciosa

The third section comprises Kursivschriften (“italic typefaces”), Rund- und Schreibschriften (“typefaces for circulars and script typefaces”), Zeichen (“symbols”), Initialen (“initials”) and Verschiedenes (“misc.”). The featured typefaces include Triumph-Schreibschrift, Mediäval-Kursiv, and Mercantil-Kursiv.

The fourth and final section deals with Polytypen (″polytypes”), Einfassungen (“borders”), Vignetten (“vignettes”) and Zierat (“ornaments”).

Russian Post logo with the double-headed eagle of the Russian coat of arms

The logo of Russian Post (Почта России) is based on Roslyn Gothic. It is used to design advertising branches, stickers, and brand logistics vehicles. It’s unclear who designed the logo. It was probably introduced in 2002, when the current company was established, and was definitely in use in 2003.

The logo of the affiliated Post Bank (Почта Банк) is based on Roslyn Gothic, too.

Square version of the Post Bank logo

An illuminated sign with the logos of both Russian Post and Post Bank, seen in 2019

A Kamaz K5 postal truck

A GAZelle post delivery truck, photographed in November 2020

Post Bank sign in an office in Moscow, 2016

Post office in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, in 2015

Post office in Yakutsk, Siberia, documented in 2008

The Russian Post logo on a Tupolev 204S, spotted in 2017

The BND, short for Bundesnachrichtendienst, is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Chancellor’s Office. Since 2019, the BND headquarters is located in central Berlin. The BND’s current recruitment campaign uses Cy by supertype.

It’s the first application of the BND’s new identity including a new logo featuring a stylized eagle and a BND wordmark in Linotype’s DIN Next, which is also used for accompanying text. For security reasons, the name of the responsible agency will not be made public.

“We’re looking for terrorists (m/f/d). Find them with us.”

“Imagine that YOU are wanted by the BND. As part of the team.”

“No shaking, no stirring. Simply applying.”

“Get behind it.”

The station as seen in August 2015

Vladivostok railway station is the eastern terminus of the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway, connecting Moscow in the west with Russia’s far east. Construction started in May 1891 after plans by architect P.E. Bazilevsky. The station building opened its doors on November 2, 1893.

The sign on the roof is much younger, even though the typeface used for “ВЛАДИВОСТОК” dates back to 1904: it’s a Cyrillic adaptation of Arnold Böcklin. The Jugendstil design originated at the Otto Weisert foundry in Stuttgart, Germany. Chances are the sign was installed during restoration works carried out between 1994 and 1996. A photo from 1992 shows a different sign.

Close-up, July 2019

The illuminated sign at night, September 2015

In September 2004, the second line reading “Вокзал” (station) was still missing.

The sign in Arnold Böcklin was already installed in December 1999, when this photo was taken.

For Finnish rap artist Costi’s second Playmaker drop, the objective was to design a Western-and US-themed collection inspired by collegiate apparel, prominently featuring a distinctive collegiate-style with stretched Mesquite on a curve.

The collection includes two shirts in black and white and a crewneck with fitting track pants, all showcasing the same artwork in different styles. The track pants, as shown in the video, feature various college-type logos from up to down, inspired by several sport apparel from the NBA, incorporating the initials P and M for Playmaker. Additionally, the U-shaped horseshoe serves as a subtle reference to “University.”

For the logo on the track pants, we chose Vivaldi for its subtle and nostalgic feel. Its understated design ensures the logo blends in without standing out too much. In between the prints you can find a little quote – “There’s gold in the river” – written in the font used in his latest album cover for Coast to Costi, Celtic Garamond.

The “Sheriff” badge pairs Bernard Condensed with an unidentified slab serif.

Poland. Key to Europe, featuring Peignot gras dramatically staged with shadow effect and a sloping baseline

Two books written by Raymond Leslie Buell and published by Alfred A. Knopf, both with Peignot used for the title.

Buell (1896–1946) was an American social scientist who at the time served as president of the Foreign Policy Association. In Poland. Key to Europe, he points out the importance of Poland maintaining its independence and thus saving Europe “from the domination of either Fascism or Communism”. It was published in April 1939 – a few months before Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and soon after attacked Poland. Isolated America followed in May 1940, when German troops invaded France and the Low Countries. In this book, Buell expressed his stance against U.S. isolationism. One and a half years later, the United States abandoned its neutrality and entered World War II following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.

Peignot was pretty new in 1939. A.M. Cassandre’s groundbreaking design with the novel mix of capital and minuscule forms was first released by Deberny & Peignot in 1937. The bold weight, Peignot gras, followed in 1938. On the jacket for the first book, it’s paired with Egmont and Ariston. “Key to Europe” is handlettering. It appears to mimick Ariston (see the spine panel) – or is it the other way around? The text on the inner flap is set in Monotype Bodoni.

The bold geometric sans on the second book jacket is Vogue, used with some of its alternate glyphs. The author’s name is lettered, again not too far removed from Ariston.

Second edition jacket of Isolated America with a blurb by William Allen White

Brand identity, typography, and packaging design for Imperio De Reyes, a Los Angeles-based winery.

Design by Hype Type Studio using FKT Sinvoll Serif Mono Stencil and FKT Sinvoll Sans Mono from Formerly Known type foundry.

Less than two years after the first Lettera compendium was published in Zürich, Schmalfette Grotesk had already reached New York, as evidenced by its appearance on this LP cover designed by Milton Glaser. It is used here for the title and the conductor’s name (though the latter misses an umlaut on the O), while all secondary information is in News Gothic Condensed.

[More info on Discogs]

The plaque that was left on the moon, with the signatures of the three astronauts; Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr.; and US President Richard Nixon

Paul Renner’s Futura played a significant role in the Apollo 11 mission, being the chosen typeface for various communication aspects within NASA’s systems. It was extensively used in labels, equipment controls, and spacecraft interfaces, providing clarity for astronauts, and aiding in their understanding and operation of the spacecraft. Its widespread use in the mission established it as a key visual element, ensuring streamlined communication and functionality.

The plaque left on the moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts bears an inscription written in Futura, making it the sole typeface to have ever reached the lunar surface. This choice represents Futura’s unique distinction as the selected font for immortalizing the historic moment of mankind's first steps on the moon.

Futura is a registered trademark of Bauer Types S.L.

Space food packaging

Lunar map with the Apollo Zone of Interest

Apollo 11 badge with a bald eagle planting a branch on the Moon

Patches with embroidered lettering

Cabin repress instructions

Labels inside the spacecraft

Detail from an Apollo Training Manual

Pottsville, PA, March 20, 2018 – D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc., America’s Oldest Brewery®, is adding a new beer to its iconic core product portfolio, Yuengling Golden Pilsner, a modern pilsner crafted with the perfect balance of hop and malt character for crisp, smooth refreshment. Born from six generations of brewing expertise, Golden Pilsner is Yuengling’s first year-round beer to debut in 17 years.

We also love the design of the Yuengling Golden Pilsner packaging because it complements the design of our core brands’ packaging. The bright yellow gold and white colors reflects the color of Yuengling Golden Pilsner beer.

The design uses three fonts from the Burford typeface family; Burford Inline, Burford Drop line and Burford Base. The Burford family is a layering typeface with small wedge serifs.

Branded tap with stacked caps from Burford Inline

From the Yeungling brewery website:

D.G. Yuengling & Son, Inc., America’s Oldest Brewery®, is celebrating 190 years and six generations of family brewing. In 2019, Yuengling will commemorate its 190th anniversary by offering fans exciting packaging, promotions, special beers, and celebratory events throughout the year.

In celebration of its 190th anniversary, Yuengling will release a series of five limited-edition, collectible Yuengling® Traditional Lager beer cans. Between January and May, a new 12-ounce can design will hit stores each month and showcase the evolution of Yuengling’s iconic eagle imagery that has graced labels since 1829, when the brewery was originally called the “Eagle Brewery.

The collectible can series was illustrated by Steven Noble. The graphic designer is unknown. The celebration lettering is set in Burford, and the text on the lager can is set in Cheltenham and some form of Clarendon.

This catalog with items produced at Bruynzeel’s factories was issued in c.1932 (Invaluable Auctions), 1936 (Art Institute of Chicago), or c.1937 (eMuseum). The typography and design is by Piet Zwart (1885–1977), with the vignette on the cover drawn by Vilmos Huszár (1884–1960). The book measures 17.5×12.5 cm and is distinguished by round corners and a thumb index that allows the reader to quickly access the various sections. Most pages are printed in three colors: orange, blue, and black. Technical drawings are combined with photomontage. For the typography, Zwart used two sans serifs of wide proportions throughout the catalog: the bold Annonce Antieke and the light Kaart-Antieke.

Both typefaces were available from Typefoundry Amsterdam. Annonce Antieke originated at the punchcutting company Wagner & Schmidt in Leipzig and also went under various other names, including Aurora-Grotesk V breitfett at Weber. Amsterdam issued their version around 1913 (and again in 1955, then as Vette Annonce). Hans van Maanen digitized Annonce in 2006 for Canada Type. I believe that Kaart-Antieke is a version of Inland’s Litho Gothic from 1910/1911, but due to a lack of comprehensive samples, I can’t say for sure. Zwart famously used Kaart-Antieke for his never officially published essay about modern typography called “Van oude tot nieuwe typografie”. Florian Schick’s Trio Grotesk is a digital interpretation based on that use.

C. Bruynzeel & Zonen was founded in 1897, by Cornelis Bruynzeel sr. (1842–1901) and his two sons Willem (1873–1918) and Cornelis jr. (1875–1955). The company initially produced wooden floorboards, planing products and, by 1911, school desks. After the steam carpentry plant de Arend (“The Eagle”) burned down in 1919, the company relocated from Rotterdam to Zaandam in 1920. There, they built three specialized factories: one for doors, one for floorboards, and a planing mill. In the 1930s, Bruynzeel branched out to other product groups such as cabinets and pencils.

In 1939, Piet Zwart designed the company’s first kitchen. Already before, Bruynzeel commissioned modernist architects and designers like Jan Wils and Bart van der Leck – who, like Huszár, were founding members of De Stijl. Both Zwart and Huszár worked for Bruynzeel over a long period of time, see for example these catalogs from the 1960s. With the reconstruction after World War II, Bruynzeel products were in great demand. By 1965, the company had twenty-eight factories in fourteen countries, employing a total of 12,000 people. The factories in Zaandam were decommissioned in the 1970s, and broken down in 2016. The company is still in business, after more than 125 years, with separate branches for kitchens, home products, and storage.

Index page with an explanation of the thumb index. The eight sections are: 35mm and 40mm interior doors; balcony and garden doors; veneer doors; locks, moldings; dust sills, plinths, buttresses; cabinet shelves, and the vertical French cleats and horizontal laths that hold them in place. V for vloeren (“flooring”) looks like a last-minute addition that gets highlighted in the top left quarter, together with the contact info. At the bottom left, in all-lowercase letters: the names of the designer and the printer, Luctor et Emergo.

Door profiles are shown at actual size. Kaart-Antieke is mixed with Annonce for emphasis.

The Bruynzeel door model 11. Note the use of proper multiplication signs (×). The superscript 5 following the length (in cm) appears to indicate five millimeters.

More door profiles shown at actual size

Balcony and garden doors, models 83 and 84

Veneer doors: “the door is and will remain level”

“Bruynzeel doors remain superior”. The reflection in the door shows the silhouettes of two people, one of them giving the OK sign.

This image and the ones below show a different edition dated c. 1932, with a slightly different thumb index.

Debut album by Spanish musician Gabriel Cassina, better known as Regal, released in 2021 at Involve Records:

Remember Why You Started is meant to be a message for everyone to look back to the roots – where anything is influenced by nothing but passion. The album tells the story of Regal’s personal struggles and self-discovery. A dark insight into the DJ’s life, influenced mainly by Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, where Dante has to cross all the layers of hell and purgatory to arrive in paradise.

From earth-shuttering sounds, hard punching kicks, 303 acid-lines, disjointed drum breaks and electro drum patterns up to EBM- and Hip-Hop-leaning tracks, this album gives an insight into Regal's mind and creativity.

Designed by Juan Vàzquez, using New Eddy, supported by Helvetica or similar.

[More info on Discogs]

Inside of unfolded invitation, 10″×14″

For The Paris Review’s 2019 Spring Revel benefit invitation design, Topos Graphics conveyed a broad range of book design with 18 carefully-selected bookish typefaces. Topos provided this explanation by email:

We designed a book shelf environment for text elements to be placed, composing texts as if they were individual titles. Different volumes of content got different character treatments. This functioned to compartmentalize the invitation’s hierarchy of info, but it also allowed us to approach each individual element anew. Like a personal library, the result takes on a character of its own. Tinged with old- and new-era sensibilities, we felt the selections—and the suite's ​ color palette—connected to The Paris Review’s 1960s advent and a contemporary moment—both in literature and typography. Book collections, like font collections, showcase a rich diversity of history, form and taste.

The invitation unfolded to a 10″×14″ posterette, with the front and back sides designed as a kind of A-Side, B-Side of a wooden bookshelf. The shelf cubbies gave us spaces—a semblance of a grid—to place information within. And that grid functioned through the event’s other collateral, like its printed program.

The annual event’s title “REVEL” is spelled out of book spines and a clever crop of Schmalfette Grotesk’s R. Strategic moves in hierarchy, with color, scale, and type orientation, create an engagingly graphic reading of a large amount of text. The books are energetically stacked, with the bookshelf bolstering as a grid to group and separate information.

Additional typefaces reflect different eras and aesthetics of book design: elegantly readable Garamond Premier, Paperback, and Study; mid-century classics like ITC Franklin Gothic and Lydian; genre-novel signifiers Ballast, Bookmania, and Cortado; stoic and structural ITC Lubalin Graph, Swiss 721, and Sentinel; contemporary and inventive Minérale and Canela.

Larger book spines use display typefaces to prioritize the most pertinent information, like the event location and speakers. Smaller type used uniformly suggests the repeated design systems of book series—Study for the board of directors and Schmalfette Grotesk for list of hosts.

The opposite side of the unfolded invitation provides a peek at the book blocks from behind the shelves and a quiet background for a mailing label. All information is repeated from the graphic side, set more traditionally in Garamond Premier. The attention to hierarchy persists, and ruled lines parallel the organizational function of the bookshelf.

Front of folded invitation. The Paris Review’s logo is segmented on book edges.

Outside of the invitation, unfolded

Close crop of the vector artwork

Close crop of the vector artwork

Close crop of the vector artwork

Close crop of the vector artwork. Garamond Premier is used in various of its optical sizes.

Close up of Minérale, Schmalfette Grotesk, Paperback Italic, and a little bit of Chrysaora

Close up of the writer hosts section using Schmalfette Grotesk

The luxurious Mexican art magazine Artes de México devoted its 66th issue to the historical figure of China Poblana and its interior was entirely composed with Rayuela (Alejandro Lo Celso, PampaType). The main text was set in Rayuela Gris, the titles in Rayuela Chocolate, the drop caps in Rayuela Luz. Art directed by Carolina Martínez Treviño.