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Letterhead by José de Ros

Josep de Ros was an industrialist from Figueres, Spain, born in the manor house of Les Olives into an aristocratic family. Around 1917, he started a business in the fertilizer sector and opened the Camponal liquor distillery a few years later. He had a warehouse on Vilallonga Avenue in Figueres, near the railway station, close to the border with France. He died in 1935.

In the shown letterheads by Josep/José de Ros from around 1930, the difference between typography and lettering is difficult to appreciate (thanks to the staff of Fonts In Use for the clarifications).

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Detail of the letterhead: “José de Ros / Abonos, cereales y despojos / Figueras”. All three styles are lettering.

The name is in an English script close to Stempel’s Künstler-Schreibschrift, known in Spanish as Inglesa Artista semi-negra, with an ornamented J and a characteristic loop around the stem of the R. Josep de Ros i Moner (father) and Josep de Ros i Reig (son) were descendents of Ros de Olano. In Stempel’s 1918 specimen book for the Spanish market, the name of Ros de Olano is set in Inglesa Artista (it’s misspelled as “Olona”; another page in the same book has the correct spelling).

“Figueras” is drawn in a serif with inline. The structure is very close to the Bravour typeface designed by Martin Jacoby-Boy for Stempel in 1912), but with sharper serifs, and a wider letter U with a small spur. I have made a comparison with the solid Bravour negra and the decorated Bravour adornado (Verzierte Bravour).

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Comparison of the lettered inline caps to the Bravour typeface

From the obituary for the father in La Veu de l’Empordá, 27 December 1919 (translated):

[…] Josep de Ros was from a noble family, from the stately house of Ros located in the town of Les Olives, although the one they owned in this city could also be considered a manor. Among the ancestors of the house are the famous General Ros de Olano, who was a minister of the Crown and commanded an army corps in the African War during the years 1859 and 1860. The last Prior of the Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll also came from the Ros family.

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Detail of the letterhead featuring Merveille, Kleukens, and Venus, all by Bauer/Neufville

The Camponal letterhead is typographic: it’s set in the typefaces Merveille, Kleukens-Kursiv and Venus-Grotesk, all by the Bauer type foundry (Merveille originated in the United States under the name Laclede), and distributed in Spain by the Neufville branch in Barcelona. Bauer’s typefaces were the most commonly used ones in Catalonia before the Franco dictatorship (1939). This letterhead helped to locate the forgotten Camponal distillery.

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Label featuring Venus schmal dreiviertelfett, Fette Grotesk-Kursiv, and Clio a.k.a. Kleopatra

The Camponal identity uses other typefaces by Bauer and Neufville, like Antigua Mercedes (the Spanish name of Tages-Antiqua), Bernhard-Antiqua, Fette Grotesk-Kursiv, Carnaby (Marocco), Grotesca Estrecha (Neue enge Zeitungs-Grotesk), Florentiner Mediaeval, and Majestic.

A few typefaces could have been sourced from different type foundries based in Madrid and Valencia, like Clio (Ludwig Wagner, 1903) distributed by Neufville/Bauer as Kleopatra and by Gans as Aurora; or Aurora Grotesk (Wagner & Schmidt, 1908) sold by Gans as Grotesca Ideal and by Fundición Tipográfica Nacional as Grotesca Estrecha.

Typography and lettering also coexist in other elements, such as in the Camponal liquour labels and packaging.

Learn more about Josep de Ros and the Camponal distillery.

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Camponal label featuring lettering (white letters), Kleukens-Antiqua, and Majestic

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Label featuring Kleukens-Antiqua, Venus, and an unidentified typeface (similar to Stempel’s Holzhausen-Antiqua, but with a different M)

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Bottle label ft. lettering, an unidentified grotesk for “Licor de Hierbas ‘Camponal’” (similar to Grotesca Favorita by Gans), and Bauer’s Kleopatra

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Packaging ft. lettering (the reversed letters at the top), Marocco a.k.a. Carnaby for “Cura estómago e intestinos”, Majestic for “G. Garriga”, and other unidentified typefaces

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Camponal ad ft. Bernhard-Antiqua, Universitäts-Antiqua a.k.a Druckhaus-Antiqua, Neue enge Zeitungs-Grotesk, Tages-Antiqua a.k.a. Antigua Mercedes, and others

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Point-of-sale display ft. Columbus, a version of Edel-Grotesk (probably Groteska Moderna by Fundición Tipográfica Nacional), and Schmale halbfette Etienne

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Camponal ad ft. Bernhard-Antiqua, Tages-Antiqua a.k.a. Antigua Mercedes, Universitäts-Antiqua, Florentiner Mediaeval, Kleukens-Antiqua, and an unidentified grotesk

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Address label ft. Etienne Sombreada (Gans’s version of Umstochene Etienne by Schelter & Giesecke), Venus, and Antigua Veneciana (Gans’s version of ATF’s Cheltenham)

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Propulsion is an American IT and cybersecurity company in the technology sector, based in New York. Its branding and corporate identity was created by Company Policy and set in HAL Timezone, published by HAL Typefaces, and accompanied by Dalton Maag’s Effra.

Company Policy published some notes on their design:

In today’s digital world of business, strong cybersecurity is essential. is redefining how businesses leverage security technology—not just to solve problems, but to drive growth. We partnered with the Propulsion team to launch their brand. Delivering strategy and design solutions that position them as leaders in IT infrastructure, AI automations, and cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity has a perception of being counted on when things go wrong. Propulsion aims to change that perception by believing that technology should be an enabler of growth, not a barrier to entry. The founding team recognized a gap in the market for an IT partner that could provide businesses with the same level of expertise, support, and access to advanced technologies enjoyed by their larger counterparts.

Our visual identity for Propulsion was inspired by their name and mission. To stand out from a crowded market as being both premium and trustworthy, we crafted an identity focused on the upward momentum that Propulsion brings to any business. We positioned Propulsion as not just problem solvers but as proactive partners crafting an identifiable and motion forward mark and brand system.

As Propulsion entered the crowded IT and cybersecurity market, the brand needed to appear as a leader with the industry. We built a robust set of brand applications to position the team as different, innovative, and experts in the future of business growth and technology, with an edge.

Ad in LIFE magazine, October 11, 1968

New imaginative styles by Peter Max. Three wild designs to choose from. Repeat alarm wakes you – lets you snooze – then awakes you again. Daring and decorative – great gift.

Every time I come across a Peter Max work, whether it’s a pair of jeans (ad) or the cover of his own magazine—my eyes literally overdose on all the colors and swirling forms. Peter Max is not just another “hippie” artist, rather he’s a kind, caring and loving person who’s influenced a whole generation of artists and people abroad. Even if his name has never crossed your eyes or ears, you’ve probably seen his art somewhere. So many others around the world admire Max and his artwork, although these days it absolutely breaks my heart to see how others treat him in his current state.

Let's move on to something lighter… literally!

From 1968 to 1970, Peter Max was commissioned to design clocks and a poster for General Electric. The poster, advertising some absolutely wonderful wall clocks is set in Millstein Orientale for “New from General Electric” and below, with some Helvetica for the tinier text.

Moving on to the 1970 Snooz-Alarm clocks advertisement which shows Norton Futuramic, a Photo-Lettering face that was issued in the 1940s, paired with Obese E, a Psychedelitype (link two) released in 1967—note that this wouldn’t be the first or last time Obese would be used in Max’s work. Jefferson Aeroplane appears for the Symmetry clock, and Davison Arabesque for the Spectrum clock. Aura is just Futuramic, repeated, and below the three is presented in Futura for the price and bold words, Bodoni for the quoted text.

The actual Symmetry clock uses an illustrated form of Obese, Spectrum uses Art Nouveau-esque numericals not unlike Benguiat Laurent, and the Aura clock uses custom numerals not specific to any phototype… but still looks rad anyway!

Ad in Courier Journal, March 22, 1970

Symmetry

Spectrum

Aura (black version)

Flower Girl

The 74th Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) took place from 15 to 25 February 2024, and is considered one of the most important film festivals worldwide.

Claudia Schramke was responsible for the visual design of the festival for the fourth time. This time, she devoted her full attention to the Berlin Bear, which she depicted in various poses. “The bear is the symbol of Berlin and of the Berlinale. It is a robust and inquisitive animal, intended to emanate optimism, willpower, and strength on behalf of the international film festival during the challenging times of our world”, writes Schramke on her website.

What makes the bear design special is that she created it entirely by hand using stamps. “It was a great honor and pleasure for me to once again create the posters and graphics for the Berlinale! I put a lot of love and care into the blue bear of this edition; every single hair of the fur was individually placed with self-made stamps.”

GT Flexa by Grilli Type from Switzerland was chosen for the typography; it was designed by Dominik Huber in collaboration with Marc Kappeler. Since its release in 2020, it has been available in an impressive 112 styles.

GT Flexa breaks with the classic understanding of font as a static system. Instead, it sees itself as a dynamic tool that responds to the demands of modern design. This is exactly what Claudia Schramke does in her design by deliberately replacing letters in the expanded family. Also noteworthy is the attention to detail, with the font sometimes colliding with the bears and sometimes blending in with them.

Source: chroniclingamerica.loc.gov US Library of Congress: “Chronicling America”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: chroniclingamerica.loc.gov US Library of Congress: “Chronicling America”. License: All Rights Reserved.

This ad in The Salt Lake Herald., April 18, 1880, demonstrates the ingenuity of late nineteenth-century typographers. Given the cost of producing and printing engravings, newspaper ads rarely used illustrations at that time. So companies sometimes turned to type to draw attention and express themselves. This layout evokes rug patterns and borders as if seen from overhead in a floor plan, grabbing the eye on an otherwise dense page.

The designer put three very different typeface styles to use: The “Carpets.” at top and bottom appear to match MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan’s four-line pica Gothic, No. 3, a style we list as Grotesque No. 5 / 396–399. (The word at the top may use a C from a different font.) Meanwhile, the light and narrow Condensed No. 3 contrasts nicely with the extra broad and bold Title Extended. All of these typefaces were likely created within a couple decades before this printing. They originated at German or Eastern U.S. foundries and made their way across the country to Salt Lake City in time to show up in service of the Walker Brothers Carpet company.

The redesign of L’Alliance New York was handled by Eddie Opara’s Pentagram team, using Inferi and Rules from Blaze Type, while the new logo is based on Dahlia by VJ-Type. From the case study:

L’Alliance New York, a key player in French culture in New York and beyond, offers immersive French language courses and a wide range of multidisciplinary programming. This independent non-profit organization celebrates the diversity of Francophone cultures and creativity worldwide. Formerly known as the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), the institution was renamed to better reflect its openness and role as a bridge between Francophone cultures and the New York public.

Pentagram redesigned L’Alliance’s visual identity by creating a framework that highlights its dynamic and welcoming spirit. The use of expressive typography and the creation of an apostrophe brand mark symbolize the organization’s lively approach to language teaching. The fonts chosen include Dahlia, a creation by the VJ Type foundry known for its dramatic curves, along with Inferi and Rules from the Blaze Type foundry, which bring an elegant and modern touch. This new visual universe, with its vibrant and contemporary colors, aims to engage a broader and more diverse audience.

What’s more psychedelic than Arnold Böcklin? Right on, Böcklin in all caps! Here it’s used compleat with its weird H that follows the fraktur construction and the N with the enlarged lowercase form. Props for replacing the original J-like I with a plain form that performs better in all-caps settings.

The Latin species names are set in the IBM Selectric version of Univers.

This newspaper advert from Ann Arbor Sun, April 22, 1976, likewise uses Arnold Böcklin, in combination with handwritten text. Note the hand-drawn Böcklin numerals for the zip code.

After its comeback in March 2024, Gonzaï finally publishes its second issue. On its green cover, the famous producer and artist Mirwais breaks his silence in a surprising interview. Also in this issue: the story of an engineer who became an internet star; the comeback of Suzi Ronson (David Bowie’s former hairdresser); the must-have book, album, show of the summer and much more to discover inside. All guaranteed free of adverts — except the fake ones.

The French tabloid periodical designed by Quentin Hourie is set in News No. 2 and Etrusco Now and printed in two colors.

The Gonzaï logo is based on Futura. Secondary typefaces used in issue Nº2 include FT88 and Brush Script.

This is a newspaper ad from Dec. 13, 1983, placed in the Montreal Gazette. The mall’s name is set in neo-Thunderbird, while the body text is Monotype Old Style.

Shown here are two newspaper ads from the Montreal Gazette. One from 1968 and another from 1983, both advertising the Plaza Côte des Neiges shopping centre. This mid-sized shopping centre was built in 1968 and houses about 100 stores.

Of particular note is the use of neo-Thunderbird for the mall’s wordmark. This wordmark was in use roughly between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s.

This is a newspaper ad from Nov 21 1968, placed in the Montreal Gazette. The Plaza Côte des Neiges wordmark is set in neo-Thunderbird. The “Here Comes Santa Claus” text appears to be custom drawn. Most of the body text is set in Metro No. 2. There’s also a line in caps from Twentieth Century Medium Condensed Italic [or rather Spartan Bold Condensed Italic, see comments].

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Texas-based Ponderosa Steak Houses have had a variety of logos since their founding in 1959. From 1975 to 1977, the logo was set in Frank Bartuska's Bartuska Satanic at certain restaurants in the chain. This includes the slogan, “Square Meal Square Deal”.

According to Fandom,

This logo was introduced alongside a new restaurant layout called Concept II, which toned down the excessive garish cowboy imagery and replaced it with a family dining atmosphere with Western accents.

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“Juicy Steaks at Rare Prices” newspaper ad, May 1975, ft. Times New Roman

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“Every Tuesday night is Family Night” newspaper ad, October 1975

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“This week is extra special” newspaper ad, 1976

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“Tuesday Family Night” newspaper ad, 1975, ft. Gill Kayo and Helvetica Condensed

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“Highchairs and Bibs” newspaper ad, December 1975, ft. Gill Kayo and Helvetica

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“Hats off to America” newspaper ad, July 1976, ft. Windsor

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“Buy a soft drink and keep the glass” newspaper ad, June 1976, ft. Kabel Black

Spanning the vibrancy and ‘liberated creative expression’ of Africa’s mid-century cultural resurgence from its era of independence to contemporary times, Brooklyn Museum’s Africa Fashion exhibition stands as a testament to the continent’s enduring creativity and stylistic influence on a global scale. Running from June to October 2023, this premiere showcase, unparalleled in scope, brought together an eclectic mix of over 180 artefacts – including couture, photographs, and an array of multimedia displays – to narrate a story of innovation and tradition, weaving together the diverse threads of African and diaspora experiences to reflect on fashion’s integral role in societal transformations. Meanwhile, maintaining and contributing to the ongoing dialogue between past and present design sensibilities.

Courtesy of Director of Graphic Design and Brand Creative Adam O’Reilly and his team, the exhibition identity for Africa Fashion, which took over physical and creative spaces – from enormous flag signage to tactile digital films – opted for a typographic approach that mirrored the show’s confidence, consideration and vitality. With a robust sans and sans serif combination of ABC Diatype by Dinamo and Grilli Type’s GT Alpina for practical secondary text, O’Reilly leant into the dramatic versatility of NaN Holo Compressed from NaN as the headline typeface.

Unconventional in its take on neo-Grotesks, NaN Holo’s contrasting rectangular and rounded details, warm character and rigorous structure made for a hero font that embodied the uncompromising and avant-garde nature of the exhibition, offering something that feels both familiar and remarkably original. This choice of typeface mirrored the exhibition’s thematic exploration of blending tradition with modernity, reflecting the dynamic interplay of historical legacies and contemporary innovations within African fashion. Through such meticulous attention to typographic detail, the exhibition’s visual language itself became a narrative tool, encapsulating the essence of African fashion’s transformative journey.

Launched in January 2013, Gonzaï magazine is one of the first French media to jump on the direct-to-fans system. This underground independent title talks about music, cinema, literature, geek and pop culture.

After its suicide at the end of 2022, Gonzaï came back in March 2024 as a newspaper that’s free of adverts – except for false ones. Its purpose? To tell the story of today's underground culture by revisiting the fundamentals of yesterday’s freepress. This new tabloid periodical, designed by Quentin Hourie, is set in News No. 2 and Etrusco Now and printed in two colors.

The Gonzaï logo is based on Futura. Secondary typefaces used in issue Nº1 include FT88 and Tiny.

Walmart’s Scoop Fall 2023 campaign was designed by SYLVAIN, using Romie by Margot Lévêque for the typography:

Scoop, an iconic and influential fashion institution born in NYC, is now in its revival era under the creative direction of fashion designer Brandon Maxwell. As a Walmart brand, Scoop can now truly embody the idea of making high fashion accessible.

Identity and exhibition design for Kunstnerforbundet’s 2023 Christmas exhibition. Design and application by Parabol Studio, using the typeface Reply by Approximate Type.

Kunstnerforbundet (“artists’ association”) is an artist-run gallery in Oslo.

A 1936 print advertisement for the National Theatre Supply Company, which specialized in manufacturing theater equipment and accessories.

“Behind The Scenes” is tracked out Franklin Gothic, and “National Service” uses the medium weight of Signal, with an enlarged exclamation point. The body text uses Metromedium, Century Bold and Bold Italic, with the name of the company using caps from Cheltenham Bold Extra Condensed.

US print ad featuring one the film’s alternate titles, Planet of Horrors, set in Earth

US print ad and lobby cards for Galaxy of Terror featuring one of its earlier alternate titles, Planet of Horrors, said to be the original title of the screenplay for the film. Another alternate title, seen on an early trailer, was Mindwarp: An Infinity of Terror. During production, the film was also known as was The Quest, which is the name of a spaceship in the film.

From Wikipedia:

Galaxy of Terror is a 1981 science fiction horror film produced by Roger Corman through New World Pictures and directed by Bruce D. Clark. It was distributed by United Artists. It stars Edward Albert, Erin Moran, Ray Walston and Taaffe O'Connell.

The film is said to have been heavily influenced by Ridley Scott’s Alien, released in 1979. James Cameron also worked as Production Designer and Second Unit Director on Galaxy of Terror, forging an almost direct connection between the film and the Alien franchise, as Cameron would later go on to direct Aliens.

The film’s alternate title, as seen on this US print ad and lobby cards, is set in Earth, which was also later used on Cameron’s The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Furthermore, Ernest D. Farino, who designed and later supervised the title sequences seen in the first two Terminator films, also worked on Galaxy of Terror as Graphic Animation Designer.

Artwork by Charo. Designer/s unknown.

US lobby cards featuring one of the film’s alternate titles, Planet of Horrors

Closer look at a US lobby card featuring one of the film’s alternate titles, Planet of Horrors

This banner – the work of illustrator Cristina Daura and designer Jabier Rodríguez – has been placed by the Avaaz Foundation and comes a few hours after the only face-to-face debate between Alberto Núñez Feijóo (PP) and incumbent Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez (PSOE), in the 2023 Spanish general election on July, 23 (J 23).

Avaaz, an international organization whose name means voice in Sanskrit, calls for the mobilization of the progressive vote to avoid “a great hate pact at the national level on July 23”. They do so by inviting us to reflect “on how a victory for the PP, supported by Vox votes, would open a huge hole in our democracy, facilitating a fierce wave of attacks against the rights of women and the LGBTIQ+ community”. The illustration reveals the face of Santiago Abascal Conde, leader of the right-wing political party Vox, underneath the face of Feijóo.

Full-page ad in the newspaper El País

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The logo, as seen in a vintage TV advertisement

ShowBiz Pizza Place was a chain of family-oriented pizza restaurants that opened its first locations in 1980, and—similar to Chuck E. Cheese, their one-time competitor which they eventually acquired—featured an animatronic band show and arcade games.

The original logo was set in Frankfurter Bold. The logo of their animatronic "house band", The Rock-afire Explosion, was based on a Bookman, with a generous use of swashes and alternates.

ShowBiz Pizza acquired their competitor Chuck E. Cheese in 1984, and in the early 1990s gradually phased out all ShowBiz Pizza theming in favor of Chuck E. Cheese. The restaurant and, in particular, the band have become something of a cult favorite, and The Rock-afire Explosion was even the subject of a 2008 documentary.

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Restaurant signage

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Plastic sign with the band logo

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The members of ShowBiz Pizza’s animatronic band, The Rock-afire Explosion

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Print ad with coupons featuring Helvetica Compressed

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The stage setup for the animatronics

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A set of five vintage Rock-afire Explosion dolls

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The Bloomingdale, IL, Showbiz Pizza Place, opened in 1981 and closed circa 1988. The sign above the door uses ITC Korinna with faux small caps.

Swiss 721 was used by French graphic designer Paul Faure in the communication design for the 10th edition of the Museumnacht Gent (Ghent Museum Night) in 2016, including posters, leaflets, press banners and billboards.

To celebrate the 10th edition of the event, the ten partner museums of the night are honored in a playful collage of their logos.

Graham Clifford Design, the team behind the recently launched We Love NYC campaign, writes about the project:

How does one expand on a pure original and stay true to its spirit? We were asked to design the system around the sequel to the original Milton Glaser mark as part of a campaign to celebrate our extraordinary city. Since the phrase now involved “we” and the famous acronym, we needed to make it as versatile as possible: not just boldly expressive in all media and environments, but also making the phrase modular, with emojis replacing the heart to express all the vitality and variety of the five boros. Proud to be a part of it.

On March 20th, 2023, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and the Partnership for New York City launched “We ❤ NYC” — “a civic campaign to showcase the city’s strengths and mobilize New Yorkers in every community.”

According to the official website of the City of New York:

The citywide campaign will kick-off with a celebration of New Yorkers who are making a difference through community service and will identify volunteer opportunities where everyone will have the opportunity to contribute.

There are three typefaces used in the system thus far:

The logo uses caps from the Black weight of a Helvetica – possibly Neue Haas Grotesk, which is distinguished from Neue Helvetica by a shorter middle bar in E. It might also be another version, with customizations. According to Graham Clifford, the logo is meant to invoke the subway system’s use of Helvetica: “The subway system is the veins or the beating heart of the city,” he told the New York Times.

The secondary display type is New York Line, designed by Coert De Decker and published by Kustomtype.

The typeface used on the website and for text is Proxima Nova, designed by Mark Simonson, published by Mark Simonson Studio.

Graham Clifford Design worked together with agencies MaryamB and Founders and illustrator Rox Cristaldo.

From a tweet by the campaign, with replies tellingly disabled.