Gonzales Flair used by Frank Daniel for the 1975 studio album by Sammi Smith (1943–2005). The photograph is by Melinda Wickman Swearingen (1947–2024), the “Annie Leibovitz of outlaw country”.

From Ed Hamilton’s liner notes on the back cover:

Super Sam… helluva’ name for girl singer. But, that’s what she’s been to us for a long time. Since “Help Me Make It Through The Night” Sammi has been the leader of the female ‘superstars’ out of Nashville. She does so many things so well… She sings great… plays fantastic guitar… writes songs as well as anyone when she wants to. […] Real talent is probably one of the most intangible commodities in the world… well, Sammi is a complete glob of intangibles. Webster would not have enough room to define ‘talent’ if what he had to base it on was Sammi Smith. This little California-bred… Oklahoma-raised… Nashville-stopover… Texas-resident is one helluva’ talent.

[More info on Discogs]

8-track tape cartridge

On Wings of Song is a science fiction novel written by Thomas M. Disch (1940–2008). First published as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in three installments in early 1979, it was published in hardback by St. Martin’s Press in August 1979. This is Bantam’s paperback edition from a year later, with cover art by Lou Feck.

The typographer at Bantam arranged title and author’s name in three lines of Gonzales Flair. The display typeface by Francisco Gonzales with the characteristic long shade is featured with some of its curly glyphs (C G S) as well as two of its extending swash forms (for W and A). Secondary text is set in all-caps ITC Clearface.

[More info on ISFDB]

The Night Stalker, Pocket Books, 1973

The Kolchak Papers is a horror novel by Jeff Rice (b. 1944), finished in October 1970. It was still unpublished when Richard Matheson (1926–2013) adapted the story for a TV audience as The Night Stalker. The movie first aired on ABC on January 11, 1972. A year later, on January 16, 1973, a sequel titled The Night Strangler followed.

Pocket Books published tie-in paperbacks for both. The original screenplay earned Matheson an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

Both covers feature Gonzales Flair as the title typeface. Additional text is set in Akzidenz-Grotesk schmal fett on the first volume. For the second one, Pocket Books switched to the similar Helvetica schmalfett.

The Night Strangler, Pocket Books, 1974

First edition of Gwen, in Green, an eco-horror novel by Hugh Zachary (1928–2016), with cover art by Polish-American artist and Holocaust survivor George Ziel (born Jerzy Zielezinski, 1914–1982). The uncredited typography features a chromatic setting of Gonzales Flair.

[More info on ISFDB]

From Wikipedia:

The Undisputed Truth was an American Motown recording act assembled by record producer Norman Whitfield to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques. Joe “Pep” Harris served as main lead singer, with Billie Rae Calvin and Brenda Joyce Evans on additional leads and background vocals.

Face to Face with the Truth is their second album. Originally released in January 1972 on Motown’s subsidiary Gordy, the image shows a French pressing on the Tamla Motown label.

Cover by Norman Whitfield, with art direction by Curtis McNair and photography by Jim Hendin and Weldon Arthur McDougal III.

The band’s name is shown in a two-color setting of Gonzales Flair. The bold condensed display typeface with flaring stems and built-in long shade was drawn by Francisco Gonzales. It was issued by Photo-Lettering sometime between 1965 and 1971, in open and solid variants. Gonzales Flair has several extending swash letters (for A K W Y) that break up the band, but as far as I can tell from the limited specimens, there are no alternate glyphs.

The open typeface used for the title is also from Photo-Lettering, and likewise wasn’t featured on Fonts In Use before: it’s Lamkay Classic Shaded, one of two all-caps romans drawn by Victor Lamkay, here set on a curve, with fanned letterforms. It is older than Flair, and already appeared in PLINC’s 1950 catalog.

[More info on Discogs]

Gonzales Flair B and A as shown in Photo-Lettering’s Alphabet Thesaurus, vol. 3 from 1971. The first line shows style B with extended proportions, as indicated by the letter e behind the catalog number.

The 1977 Alphabet Yearbook celebrates “Photo-Lettering, Inc.’s 40th year of service to the advertising and graphic arts industry”: the New York phototypesetting company founded by Ed Rondthaler first opened its doors for business in 1936.

The Yearbook was designed by Ed Benguiat, PLINC’s Type Director, with assistance from Tom Vasiliow. Most pages comprise the usual mix of one-line samples and exemplary settings. For page 99, though, the designers had some fun, and did a parody of the opening lines of The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, a.k.a. the United Stated Declaration of Independence, from July 4, 1776:

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to use bicentennial alphabets, Photo-Lettering Incorporated presents the largest selection available. We hold these alphabet styles to be

After thirteen lines – one for each of the founding states – the continuous sample text breaks off, but it’s self-evident how it continues.

Benguiat and Vasiliow used eleven styles from nine typefaces, all set in all caps, stacked and justified. Some of the more topical alphabets with stars and stripes were issued in the late 1960s, possibly in anticipation of the United States Bicentennial in 1976. Others are much older: Eighteen Ninety, Carousel and Eventide go back to the first half of the 20th century. The oldest design is Algonquin – it was first cast by the Dickinson Type Foundry in Boston around 1888.

From top to bottom, the featured styles are:

Brave and Free (uncredited, possibly derived from an existing plain style, before 1970)
Pacella Cobbler Shaded A (Vincent Pacella, late 1960s)
Cavanagh Eighteen Ninety (John Albert Cavanagh, before 1950, stretched)
Gonzales Pioneer Shaded (Francisco Gonzales, 1969)
Pacella Cobbler (Vincent Pacella, late 1960s)
Davison Carousel G (Dave Davison, before 1950)
Papirtis Washington (Charles Papirtis, 1967)
Pacella Monitor (Vincent Pacella, a variant of Cordina with stars and stripes, c.1968)
Carlyle Eventide (Paul Carlyle, c.1938)
Gonzales Pioneer A (Francisco Gonzales, 1969)
Algonquin Shaded (a.k.a. Algonquin Ornamented, John F. Cumming, c.1888)

Source: archive.org Internet Archive. License: All Rights Reserved.

Crayonette in use for a Happy Time Record named after the 1968 musical motion picture and designed and illustrated by Frank Daniel, vice president of creative services for Pickwick International.

Children’s classics in story and song like ‘Peter Pan’, ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Snow White & The 7 Dwarfs’ are beautifully created with all the charm and fantasy children love, and parents and educators approve. From the children’s cinema there is the joyous ‘Born Free’, the animal hi-jinks of the beloved Dr. Dolittle, the freshness of ‘The Sound Of Music’. All the Mother Goose favorites, the animal stories, and of course the legendary Puff! Mary Poppins too! A delightful combination of enjoyment and learning awaits the young listener in these happiest of records.

The claim on the back cover reads “Happiness is a Happy Time Record”. Accompanied by a little couple (Peter Pan & Wendy Darling?), it might look like a nod to Kim Casali’s “Love Is …” comic strip, which used Crayonette since day one. There is a catch, though: the comic strip was first published on January 5, 1970. Discogs and the Internet Archive date this album to 1969 – and Happy Time Records were launched years earlier. So … is it the other way around? Or just coincidence?

“Happy Time” is in another script typeface with horizontal contrast: Gonzales Jeanette.

[More info on Discogs]

Source: www.ebay.ca coolcollectablestuff123. License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.ebay.ca coolcollectablestuff123. License: All Rights Reserved.

Detail

Source: www.ebay.ca coolcollectablestuff123. License: All Rights Reserved.

Detail

“Birthday” (No. 307). Illustration by Tom Sawyer. The typeface is Davison Dimensional.

Covers for various clip books of line art issued in 1978 by Harry Volk Jr. Art Studio, Pleasantville, New Jersey. Each booklet features another face for the cover, typically in an attempt to echo the topic in the typeface choice, see e.g. the graphic Futura Black for “Graphic Arts”, the 19th-century Bracelet for “Western”, or the engraved Bond Shaded for “Money”. This volume uses Kabel Black for the bottom line, framing the logo designed by Herb Lubalin in 1976. The heavy border with rounded (and sometimes inset) corners was introduced in 1976, too, but wasn’t seen on most issues from 1977.

See the previous post about the clip books issued in 1955 for more information on Harry Volk Jr. Art Studio.

“Wedding” (No. 304) ft. Tintoretto.

“Holidays” (No. 305) ft. Caslon Antique.

“Homes-Buildings” (No. 306) ft. caps from Compacta set on an arc. The fanning suggests this was set with phototype, as ooposed to dry transfer lettering.

“Graphic Arts” (No. 308) ft. Futura Black.

“Expressions” (No. 309) ft. Archie in all caps.

“Religion” (No. 310) with what looks like some sort of Normande Italic. Berthold’s phototype version comes close except for the n.

“Winter” (No. 311) ft. Goudy Heavyface in italic all caps.

“Occupations” (No. 314) ft. Dynamo. Originally issued in 1930, this design was revived and extended at Letraset in the late 1970s.

“Spring” (No. 315) ft. Mania. Illustration by Tom Sawyer.

“Marine” (No. 700) ft. Tip-Top.

“Western” (No. 701) ft. Romantiques No. 5 / Bracelet. This ornamented Tuscan originated in the 19th century. It was available for dry-transfer lettering from Mecanorma (as Tuscan Ornate) amd Letraset (as Romantiques No. 5).

“Executives” (No. 704) ft. Columna Solid.

“Tourism” (No. 705) ft. Solemnis. Illustration by Tom Sawyer.

“Couples” (No. 706) ft. Yagi Double.

“Safety” (No. 707) ft. caps from Compacta Outline.

“Christmas” (No. 712) ft. the ornate Green Buzzard.

“Transportation” (No. 715) ft. Compacta Italic.

“Family” (No. 716) ft. Benguiat Caslon with swash alternates.

“Landmarks” (No. 717) ft. Saphir.

“Environment” (No. 718) ft. all-lowercase Charter Oak, tightly spaced.

“Money” (No. 719) ft. a version of Bond Shaded, probably Bond Shaded. Illustration by Tom Sawyer.

“Children” (No. 720) ft. all-caps Mistral.

“Groups” (No. 721) ft. a bunch of people pointing at tightly spaced caps from ITC Zapf Book Heavy.

“Circus/Fair” (No. 722) ft. West Barnum Ultra.

“Contests” (No. G86) ft. more Benguiat Caslon, this time in all caps. The logo of the Grafika subseries is in ITC Fat Face with ligatures for ra and fi, accompanied by Kabel Light with omitted tittles.

“Design Devices” (No. G87) ft. Harlow, a Letraset release from 1977. “ZAP” is probably custom lettering.

“Something Extra” (No. G89) ft. Slim Dandy, a variation of the Mansard theme, by Lettergraphics.

“Lankies” (No. G90) ft. Churchward Design Sparkly.

“Symbols” (No. G91) ft. Cucumber

“Printed Forms” (No. G93) ft. Gonzales Jeanette with Akzidenz-Grotesk Condensed and Windsor.

“Big & Strong” (No. G94) ft. Atlas and more Mania, set on a curve.

“Announcers” (No. G95), again with Slim Dandy.

“Old Fashioned” (No. 166) features two Western-style typefaces that probably originated at Filmotype in the 1960s. They’re both shown in an undated c.1974 Filmomaster specimen, as Van Horn and Quincy. The latter is also known as Amanda.

Covers for various clip books of line art issued in 1968 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.

The bottom lines use Alternate Gothic Compressed and Univers.

“Holidays” (No. 167) ft. Gonzales Jeanette with a custom star dot that echoes the fuse.

“Expressions” (No. 168) ft. Reklame. This old German typeface was adopted by Photo-Lettering and shown in their 1971 catalog as Reclame. The punctuation is from Pistilli Roman, see the comments.

“Strength” (No. 170) ft. West Behemoth with tight and overlapping spacing and the monocular g.

“Telephones” (No. 171) ft. Filmotype Gamma.

“Religion” (No. 172) ft. Baker Chalone.

“Entertainment” (No. 174) ft. Norton Vaudeville.

“Contests” (No. 175) ft. Eurostile Bold Extended.

“Atmosphere” (No. 480) ft. Playbill.

“Direct Mail” (No. 481) ft. Univers, Venus Extended, and Franklin Gothic Wide.

“America” (No. 482) ft. Egyptienne Bold Condensed.

“Summer” (No. 483) ft. Chwast Art Tone on an angle.

“Marine” (No. 484) ft. Kalligraphia.

“Western” (No. 485) ft. Bookman Swash Bold Italic

“Autumn” (No. 486) ft. Staudel Xenotype J.

“Science” (No. 487) ft. Britannic.

“Fall & Winter Sports” (No. 488). This narrow grotesk looks a lot like an outlined version of Schmalfette Grotesk, or maybe PLINC’s adaptation Swiss Gothic, but it seems the ampersand doesn’t match. Any insights are welcome. The same outlined style appears on Volk covers from 1964 and 1974, while the “Law & Order” booklet from 1966 uses the similar Permanent Headline.

“Transportation” (No. 489) ft. Permanent Headline.

“Christmas” (No. 490) ft. Inserat-Grotesk.

“Couples” (No. 492) ft. Whimzitype 3600. Illustration by Tom Sawyer.

“Groups” (No. 494) ft. Futura Light.

“Insurance” (No. 495) ft. Permanent Massiv. The small text on this cover is set in Helvetica.

“Occupations” (No. 497) likewise shows light caps from Futura. Illustration by Tom Sawyer.

“Women” (No. 499) ft. Smoke in all caps.

“Money” (No. 500) ft. more Futura Light.

“Spring & Summer Sports” (number unknown), ft. Eurostile.

“Register and Vote” from the Paste Pot & Scissors subseries (No. PP 105), ft. Pacella Monitor and Franklin Gothic. The small type at the bottom is in Eurostile.

“Announcers” from the Paste Pot & Scissors subseries (No. PP 107), ft. Photo-Lettering’s West Behemoth Italic Swash with swash alternates and overlapping glyphs.

“Luck” from the Paste Pot & Scissors subseries (No. PP 108), ft. Mansard (with contour), another face available from Photo-Lettering. It might also be Jim Dandy, a contoured variant of Slim Dandy by Lettergraphics.

“The Year” (No. PP109) ft. more all-caps Smoke, here with its peculiar Y.

“Clichés” (No. PP110) ft. Palette on an angle as well as an early use of PLINC’s Ballard.

“Borders” (No. PP115) ft. Clarendon caps.

Gold Past Life is the latest album of American rock band Fruit Bats, released in 2019 on Merge Records. The cover was designed by Daniel Murphy, with photography by Annie Beedy. The bottom-heavy script is Brandywine (or some digital version thereof), see Jeanette & Brandywine.

The album typography is also referenced in T-shirts and other merchandise.

Tour poster

Branding incl. album artwork and posters for the debut releases of Wooze.

Coochie Nando NF is all over the printed artworks and the promotional video for “Zeus’ Masseuse”. Drawn by Nick Curtis in 2011, this font is a digital revival of Milton Glaser’s Glaser Kitchen (c. 1977). On the posters, the bold shaded sans serif caps are paired with Brandy Script (1993), Rick W. Mueller’s freebie digitization of the bottom-heavy script Gonzales Jeanette aka Brandywine.

Graphic design and animation by Raissa Pardini (@raissa_pardini).

Cover for the single “I’ll Have What She’s Having”.

Poster for the launch of the debut EP “What’s On Your Mind?”, released by Young Poet Records in May 2019.

Cover for the single “Cousin Paul From Paddington”.

Cover for Anne McCaffrey's The Ship Who Sang by Ballantine Books, 1970. The painting is by Alessandro Biffignandi. Title and author name are set in Gonzales Pioneer (1969). The rest of the copy is set in uppercase Memphis, another slab serif but more modest.

The image shows the back cover of the French release on Musidisc.

The cover of the official soundtrack to Shaft uses Pioneer. So does the movie poster. The record covers depicted here feature Pioneer, too — but it’s a completely different typeface. Designed by Francisco Gonzales, it was shown in PLINC’s Alphabet Yearbook 1969. A year later, ITC released an unrelated (albeit also shaded all-caps) typeface designed by Tom Carnase and Ronné Bonder under the same name. While ITC Pioneer is still around, the earlier Gonzales Pioneer is largely forgotten. I wonder if its appearance here is just a coincidence, or if it was picked by mistake, due to a name mix-up.

Music from the movie Shaft, arranged by Sy Mann, composed by Isaac Hayes, and performed by Soul Mann & The Brothers. Originally released in 1971 by Pickwick Records, with a cover design by David Lartaud and Frank Daniel [Discogs] that was used in similar form for other editions, too.

Cover adaptation as used for the UK release on Hallmark Records, among others. Mack Browne & The Brothers is an alias of Soul Mann & The Brothers.

This dinner playhouse opened in 1971 on 5028 Main in Kansas City, Missouri. The logo is likely lettering based on Jeannette or something similar.

Illustration by Frank Frazetta.

[More info on ISFDB]

This could be Gonzales Jeanette, a PLINC face based on Brandywine.

Grove Press (1968). Cover design by Roy Kuhlman. From Arden Kuhlman Riordan’s great collection of her father’s covers.

The bottom-heavy script is Photo-Lettering’s Gonzales Jeanette.