Title page

Even after many years of collecting ephemera there is still the joy of a remarkable find whilst browsing through a shop; even allowing for the rapidly dwindling number of secondhand bookshops even antique centres can still turn up the odd item. So, I was very surprised to see this brochure in a pile of ‘ephemera’.

Shell-Mex and BP Ltd, the petrol and oil marketing concern, were well known in the 1930s for the quality of their publicity and advertising. The unavowedly modernist approach was due to the company’s advertising manager, Jack Beddington. This brochure is typical of the approach. Written by Arthur Elton, who authored several technical books and publications for Shell, it looks at the technology behind the “Self Changing or pre-Selective Epicyclic” gearbox and transmission system that had started to be fitted to a number of models of both motor cars and commercial vehicles. The most common type was that known as the “Wilson” after its designer Walter Wilson who in 1928, with backing from John Siddeley of Arnstron Siddeley, set up Improved Gears Ltd., later known as Self-Changing Gears Ltd. In time SCG became a Leyland subsidiary and variations on the transmission and control systems were fitted to a wide range of buses and post-war British Railways diesel-multiple units.

This brochure looks at the technology behind such a gear/gearbox and describes its operation along with various illustrations and diagrams. Spirally bound, the booklet, printed by the Bradford based Lund, Humphries & Co. Ltd., is distinguished by the quality of its layout, typography and graphic design, these being remarkable examples of the contemporary movement of modernist design. It was designed and illustrated by Zéró – Hans Schleger, the noted German-Polish typographer and designer who had settled in the UK in 1932 and became one of the most celebrated artists in his field. It uses the ‘Lubrication’ figure that was designed for Shell-Mex and BP by Edward McKnight Kauffer, the American born designer and artist who first came to prominance following early commissions for his work from Frank Pick of London Underground in the immediate post-WW1 year years.

The photographs used are from Maurice Beck, the famous photographer whose work varied from Vogue magazine to montage style posters for London Transport, along with stills from the G.P.O. Film Unit, one of the pioneering and most highly regarded of early documentary film producers that had been set up in 1933 under John Grierson.

The typography features Beton (Bauer, 1930) throughout. Heinrich Jost’s modernist slab serif is used in several styles, including the open and shaded capitals from Beton licht.

All in all the whole brochure is a compendium of modernist British graphic design, typography and designers. Although undated it is mentioned in the 1935/36 edition of Modern Publicity and both the V&A and Birmingham University Libraries give 1934 as a credible date for publication.

Endpapers

Introduction

Lubrication

Lubrication by Shell

Colophon and diagram cover

The visual identity of Clutch Automotive, designed by Houston based agency Parker, uses the typeface Plaak in different sizes, paired with a custom drawn logo in two variants. The identity comes with a handful of ephemera like T-shirts, mugs – and a set of oil cans. They are client loyalty gifts, intended to be used as whole bean coffee packaging.

Nacero accelerates a cleaner future with products that enable everyday drivers to reduce carbon emissions. Their new brand experience was created by Edenspiekermann:

The new identity was built around two core concepts: A logo mark that underscored their new approach to an old industry, and a brand strategy that centered around the idea that you can change the world without changing your car. This visionary spirit was reflected accross all touchpoints—a fresh visual palette, aspirational lifestyle photography, and innovative service experiences.

The headline font is IvyPresto. It is combined with FF Mark for navigation. The wordmark is custom.

Chaco by Rubén Fontana was selected by YPF as the typeface for celebrating the company’s centennial.

YPF S.A. (formerly Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales) is a majority state-owned Argentine energy company, engaged in oil and gas exploration and production, and the transportation, refining, and marketing of gas and petroleum products. [Wikipedia]

In 2022, the company turns 100 years old. For this occasion, YPF introduced a special logo and the slogan “Impulsando lo nuestro” (“Promoting what is ours”).

Sligoil is a fictional (evil) company that appears in Unknown Number, an upcoming puzzle game by Godolphin Games based on voice recognition. The Sligoil website is one of the leads gamers need to follow in order to solve some clues. The outdated look of some elements like the glossy buttons and 3D icons convey the feeling that Sligoil is an outdated company.

Sligoil is also the name of a typeface, which is used both in the titles and body text of the website. This monospace open-source font with large inktraps was designed purposely for the game by me, Ariel Martín Pérez. Its contrast allows it to be used at small sizes. The icons contained in it are put to good use as bullet points or to mark headers.

Some sections of the website, inside the “employee intranet”, use Mister Pixel and some hints of Anthony. All of these typefaces are published by Velvetyne Type Foundry. The Sligoil logotype employs an unreleased font. The website was coded by freelance webdesigner Freja Smith while the board photoshoot was conducted by fashion photographer Raphael Bliss.

City of St. Louis Park, Minnesota

The fourth logo used by Zayre, a chain of department stores founded in June 1956 in Hyannis, Massachusetts, was designed by Alan Berni & Associates, and rolled out at the beginning of February 1971. Zayre stretched from Massachusetts, west to Minnesota, and south to Florida at its peak.

The name of the store is presented in Roc Mitchell’s then-newly released typeface Dimensia, issued by Alphabet Innovations either in late 1970 or in early 1971. It’s used in a mix of upper- and lowercase characters, slightly obliqued.

The Z mark was presented in many color combinations, mostly orange-and-black, blue-and-black, and blue-and-purple. By early 1976 only the wordmark was in use upon the introduction of an asterisk motif, which in July 1976 was the basis of a new logo set in Cooper Black.

Dimensia is also used for the slogan “Shoppers City”. City of St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

Zayre Shoppers' City Discount Department Store in West Duluth

All the Kelly kids had nice hot baths.
All the Holden kids had was a nice long wait.
How come?
Gas makes the big difference.

This magazine ad from 1967 was jointly sponsored by various gas equipment manufacturers in the U.S., in cooperation with the American Gas Association, Inc. The display typeface appears to be a phototype adaptation of Plantin Bold, with a non-standard “Venetian” e, that is a form with a diagonal bar. One version that goes by the name Plantin Ad Bold has such an alternate, but it’s different in other details. The copy is set in Futura (with liagtures for fi and ff), the small print in all-caps Trade Gothic.

Cooper Black with superscript dollar signs and swashy Wi ligatures for an ad by Flying A, a gasoline brand by Tidewater Oil Company, featuring Axelrod, the basset hound. The amount on the check uses Eurostile with a vertical stripes pattern.

Crillee in use for Spritkönig (“Fuel King”), a chain of service stations in Austria. From the series Middenstandsroyalty (“Middle-class royalty”) by Dutch Flickr user Maurits van den Toorn.

Crillee is an italic-only typeface originally designed by Dick Jones for Letraset in 1980. In the following years, it was subsequently expanded to five styles. There are digital versions available from ITC (four styles, lacking the Light) and Scangraphic (four styles, lacking the Inline Shadow).

Bello is used for this provoking holiday card.

Instead of a cheering holiday greeting with a nice beach picture it points out what “happens” at the moment. I used Grime Art aesthetics to add an oily layer to the subject. The eagle that normally stands for freedom is covered by sticky oil. I wanted to address sea pollution and its impact on animals. The curvy letters of Bello add to this effect.

Source: twitter.com Ad van der Zee. License: All Rights Reserved.

Several months after the successful Apollo 11 mission, Shell somehow belatedly jumped on the moon craze bandwagon and issued a series of coins commemorating milestones from the history of aviation and space travel. The motifs range from Icarus and Daedalus to Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. Gas station customers could obtain coins for every bigger purchase and collect them in designated cardboard holders.

This post shows several of the card designs that varied from country to country. It’s interesting to see which typefaces were deemed appropriate for this topic. In the Netherlands, the series was named Ruimte-avontuur (“space adventure”). The chosen typeface is a condensed phototype version of Nubian (ATF). The fat 1920s Didone was probably chosen for its gravitas. Its rocket-like (dare I say phallic?) i might have played a role, too.

Source: projectswordtoys.blogspot.com Paul Vreede via Moonbase Control. License: All Rights Reserved.

Ruimte-avontuur, The Netherlands, with Nubian

Source: leiden.courant.nu Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken. License: All Rights Reserved.

Leidse Courant, 25 March 1970. The same ad was published in other Dutch newspapers, too. In another ad from June 1970, the end of the campaign was announced. Missing coins could be purchased for 25ct apiece. The ads pairs Nubian with Helvetica.

In the UK, the series was named Man In Flight and used the quaint Goudy Bold for the display typography. Like in the Dutch version, Univers is used for smaller text. In South Africa, a set of 20 coins was available as Man in Flight / Lugpioniers, with the title presented in Peignot. With its unicase letterforms, this 1930s avant-garde face probably comes closest to our today’s notion of a “space font”.

Source: projectswordtoys.blogspot.com Stephen Palmer via Moonbase Central. License: All Rights Reserved.

Man in Flight, UK, featuring Goudy Bold. Like in South Africa, the coins here were silver-colored, not yellowish as in other countries, and there were only 16 of them, omitting Heinkel HE 178, Bell XS-1, Wernher von Braun’s Jupiter C, and the Gemini 8 spaceflight.

Source: www.etsy.com OnyxCollectables. License: All Rights Reserved.

The UK album shows British aviation pioneers John Alcock and Arthur Brown on the back.

Source: www.bidorbuy.co.za cgcawood. License: All Rights Reserved.

Man in Flight / Lugpioniers, South Africa. The title in English and Afrikaans is shown in outlined Peignot.

In France, the coins were presented by Shell-Berre under the title L’épopée de l’espace (“The epic of space”), in tightly spaced light caps derived from Adrian Frutiger’s Univers, with custom flat accents. Univers for traversing the universe, what’s not to like?

Source: projectswordtoys.blogspot.com Paul Vreede via Moonbase Control. License: All Rights Reserved.

L’épopée de l’espace, France, with customized Univers

Source: chez-frangau.over-blog.com Le blog de frangau. License: All Rights Reserved.

Description texts set in Helvetica. Printed in West Germany by te Neues + Co., Kempen.

The Finnish version was called Lentävä Maailma (“The Flying World”). The type choice – Max Caflisch’s Columna, a set of open Roman inscriptional caps – seems to be inspired more by the commemorative aspect and less by the space theme. In Germany, the designers of Die Eroberung des Himmels (“Conquest of the sky”) went with the fett Kursiv (bold italic) style of Trump-Mediäval – a striking display face for sure, but not exactly what I would have expected. The secondary typeface here is Helvetica.

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

Lentävä Maailma, Finland, in Columna.

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

The information on the back is set in Helvetica. Printed in England.

Source: www.ebay.de kerschelhunter. License: All Rights Reserved.

Die Eroberung des Himmels, Germany, starring Trump-Mediäval Kursiv fett

I’m surprised that none of the designs feature one of the popular typefaces that nowadays are associated with space travel and (late 1960s) futurism, like Amelia, Moore Computer, or Yagi Double. The coins themselves were made by the Danbury Mint and use Optima Bold in all caps.

Source: www.coins-n-medals.com David W. Boitnott. License: All Rights Reserved.

A selection of coins from the collection of David W. Boitnott. See all coins on his Coin-n-Medal Collectors’ Asylum.

The depicted series were preceded by another set of promotional coins by Shell issued in the United States in 1969. Available in aluminium and bronze, Man In Space focused on the U.S. manned space missions. These coins are not included here.

In 2017, creative agency Outré Creative (London/New York) worked on the re-branding of Northern Gas Networks. The website, the corporate magazine Inspire, and all other identity materials, including the exhibition graphics for trade fairs, use JAF Domus. The logo, which stays unchanged from the previous identity, is set in FF Dax.

Here is the explanation from Outré Creative:

We took a fresh look at pretty much everything to do with the brand, strengthened the core colours and introduced new lighter shades for contrast. All while making sure our designs lived up to strict accessibility standards.

Then, we developed a set of distinctive and ownable brand devices, including the ‘pipework’ illustration style to tie everything back into NGN’s core services. And from lanyards to a full library of documents, letters, and brochures, we rewrote and redesigned nearly every piece of collateral out there.

QuikTrip makes use of Monthoers in headlines/callouts on their website – an effective choice for fun and engaging typography. The main text typeface used here is Oswald.

Design: Lucas Sharp

We are very proud to release Respira, a contemporary blackletter, as all of the proceeds will be donated to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The NRDC is a non-profit organization that fights for environmental preservation and policy change to help save the planet and everything living on it. To promote its release we worked with two guest designers on a 'Respira' poster series about climate change. Keep an eye out for the limited print release of our poster series.

— Sharp Type

Graphic visualization of NASA's regional climate-change report.
Design: Justin Sloane.

Design: Erik Carter

Design: Lucas Sharp

Design: Lucas Sharp

Interior spread.

At the end of 2016, Concho Resources approached Squires & Company to design their next annual report. The project goals were to create a solution that was metaphorical, communicated their strength during the industry’s downturn, and maintained the tone of a relatively small independent company. True Grit was inspired by the idea that Concho’s success is due to their determination to stick to their strategy, regardless of the obstacles in their path. The metaphor of a lone cowboy visualized their independence and ability to forge ahead, while resonating with their west Texas headquarters.

Cover.

Interior spread (detail).

Interior spread—2-color offset.

Interior spread (detail).

Interior spread (detail).

This invoice by the Leipzig subsidiary of Everth & Co. GmbH, or Euco, a gas station operator and distributor of Monopolin (the brand name of a fuel enriched with potato-based ethanol), benzol, and other gasolines, was issued in 1929. It shows two faces cast by the Gebr. Klingspor foundry in Offenbach, home of the “artist’s typefaces”: Tiemann-Mediäval (1909–12) by Walter Tiemann, and Neuland (1923) by Rudolf Koch. Although the latter was presented as a “Werbeschrift” (and in engineering contexts) in the specimens, it is rather a rare bird in commercial printing. Tiemann-Mediäval, and especially its dainty italics, makes for a great contrasting complement. Neither is an obvious choice for the visual identity of a gasoline distributor, at least not to our contemporary eyes.

The punches for Neuland were manually cut by Rudolf Koch himself, without any previous design on paper, true to the Arts and Crafts ideal of immediate expression — “like in the old days, the inventor of the form and the maker of the punch united in one person” [specimen]. Each size is hence a little different, as one can see in the letter ‘H’ here (36pt and 28pt). Walter Tracy points out that greater differences only occur in letters where the variation doesn’t matter much, which suggests that at least some of them are intentional.

The line for place and date features all three members of the Tiemann-Mediäval family, regular, halbfett and kursiv. The form design allowed for “Herrn” (gentleman) or “Firma” (company) — female customers were not yet envisioned.

Not only was Germany oscillating between Fraktur and Antiqua typography. Handwriting was complicated, too: People learned and used two fundamentally different scripts, “Lateinisch” (roundhand) and “Deutsch” AKA Kurrent (a cursive broken script). The writer of this invoice mixed both styles arbitrarily. The first line reads “Euco-Benzin”, with characteristic Kurrent forms for ‘B’, ‘e’, and ‘z’. The line below reads “Euco-Zechenbenzol”. Now the ‘e’ and the ‘z’ are clearly “lateinisch”, while the ‘ch’ shows “German” letterforms.

Australian energy provider Lumo Energy offers electricity and gas packages to more than 480,000 homes and businesses. Their visual identity is centered around the color orange, an illustrative style, and the Omnes typeface family. Omnes (Darden Studio) is used in several of its 9 weights, on the company’s website as well as in brochures, ads and videos.

Spreads from a brochure with energy saving tips

Pages from a leaflet with a moving home checklist

Lumo Ameego — detail from the website designed by Bullseye Digital

“Get an estimate” — detail from the website

Ad by Janet & Katie for Lumo Energy

Ad designed by Darcy O’Connor for Lumo Energy

In 1981, New York firm Anspach Grossman Portugal updated the Texaco logo from its 1965 version, reducing the various framing elements elements to focus on the iconic star. This simple mark is still in use today. The type is basically Helvetica Black, with an extended middle crossbar on the ‘E’.

Design firm: Anspach Grossman Portugal, Inc.
Art director: Kenneth D. Love
Designers: Richard Felton, Don Kline

Logo currently used in header of texaco.com. The ‘C’ is a little crooked and ‘O’ narrower than 1981 version.

Logo evolution as shown in Texaco Annual Report 2000.

Texaco service station in Carrizozo, Texas.

Texaco service station in Chelmsford, UK.

Photo: Florian Hardwig. License: All Rights Reserved.

So far, all episodes of the Weekly Invoice series included at least one sans serif by Cologne-based designer Jakob Erbar (1878–1935). This invoice, issued in his year of death by an oil factory in northern Germany, is the last one in this sub-series for now. It features what is probably the fanciest display extension of the Erbar-Grotesk series. Lux is a two-lined typeface, with heavier strokes to the right (in verticals, diagonals and bowls) or to the inner side (in circular letters). Horizontals tend to be weighted towards the outside — in ‘L’, the lower line is thick, in ‘T’, it’s the upper one — but there are exceptions to the rule. Compiled into words, the glyphs add up to a fascinating interplay of light and dark.

Samples from Klingspor-Museum and Hoffmanns Schriftatlas. License: All Rights Reserved.

Lux (top, Ludwig & Mayer) and Zeppelin (bottom, Gebr. Klingspor) were both released in 1929. In Jakob Erbar’s design, a continuous white heartline takes precedence over the black, see letters like ‘A’, ‘E’, or ‘R’.

Lux is very similar in concept to Rudolf Koch’s Zeppelin. It’s not quite clear which came first. According to the card index of the Verein Deutscher Schriftgießereien (an association of German foundries), the name “Lux” was registered as early as March 1927. In the trade journal Gebrauchsgraphik, Zeppelin was first advertised in July 1929 (as “our new Kabel Shadow”). Lux didn’t make an appearance before the October issue of the same year. Obviously, Lux is based on Erbar-Grotesk (minus the straight-spine ‘S’, plus the “kicking” ‘K’ and ‘R’ from Phosphor), while Zeppelin is derived from Kabel. Apart from that, the main differences are that Koch’s design is darker, with a more pronounced contrast and less white between the strokes, and that it features a lowercase.

The invoice doesn’t have any umlauts in Lux: “ÖL” (oil) is spelled “OEL”. The font was equipped with umlauts, see the sample above, but maybe the printer hadn’t ordered those. Or there were only one or two sorts per size — too few to typeset “AUTO-ÖL”, “STAUB-ÖL” and “LEIN-ÖL” — so all umlauts were dissolved for the sake of consistency. A more plausible explanation is that those perky dots on uppercase letters were still considered indecorous. While minuscule umlauts have been in general use since the 16th century, capital ones are a much more recent invention, see Ralf Herrmann’s article (in German). An Ngram query for Oel vs. Öl shows that the latter spelling emerged only in the late 19th century. By the mid 1930s, the two versions were almost equally common.

Photo: Florian Hardwig. License: All Rights Reserved.

The other typefaces in use are Venus, a grotesk by Bauer that was very popular in the first half of the century, in halbfett and breit halbfett (“RECHNUNG”), and Feodora, used for the location and for “Erstklassige Qualität”. This sans by the Wilhelm Woellmer foundry is distinguished by a petite x-height. Its byname Kartenschrift suggests that it was actually not intended for the use on trivial bills for greasy products, but rather on festive cards.

Logo, visual identity, and brand promise for the oil service company Wellbore. The tailed ‘l’ of Museo Sans was replaced with the straight lines.