Cover of the original 1969 album, with “No 1” added in Helvetica

Starting in 1969 the BBC began releasing albums compiling sound effects from the BBC Sound Effects Library. A large number of albums would follow in this series, covering a range of themes and topics, with the last one being released in 1984.

For the first nine releases, a consistent design was used: A collage of images in a grid, tinted in a small number of colours to create a striking effect. For No. 1 to 6 and 8, the title was set in a two-color setting of Lettres Ornées. No. 7 and 9 instead use Stark Raving.

The first nine albums were later reissued with completely different cover designs. These new ones featured a different font for each release, which are covered individually below.

The design for the first four albums is credited to Roy Curtis-Bramwell. No designers are credited for the remaining albums or the reissues.

[More info on Discogs]

Volume 7, the first to use Stark Raving for the title. “No 7” is added in Univers Bold Condensed.

A compilation of all nine original album covers

The reissue of No. 1 features Warlock Inline.

Up & Down for the reissue of No. 2

The typeface chosen for the reissue of No. 3 is unknown. Perhaps Alpha?

Italia for the reissue of No. 4

The reissue of No. 5 uses Mickey Tick.

We get to see Napoli Serial for the reissue of No. 6.

Syncopation was chosen for the reissue of No. 7.

The new cover for No. 8 has broken glass and the elusive Brutus.

Lastly, the reissued No. 9 uses Stymie.

Started as a short story in 1963, None But Man was first published in book form in 1969. This is DAW’s 1977 paperback edition of the science fiction novel by Gordon R. Dickson (1923–2001), with cover art by Don Maitz (b. 1953) and typography in stacked and justified caps from Syncopation, one of the neo-Art Deco sans serifs that cropped up by the early 1970s.

[More info on ISFDB]

Telarc’s 1986 release of The Planets as recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the guidance of André Previn (1929–2019) has a cover that depicts the planets – and not only the featured seven, but all nine planets of our solar system, including Earth and Pluto.

Cover design by RasicArt with an illustration by A.I.R. Studio Inc. and art direction by Ray Kirschensteiner (1942–2021). The featured typeface is Germanic Sans. Designed by Acey Cypres for Headliners in 1970, it’s similar to Harpers, which was also used for an album cover for The Planets.

[More info on Discogs]

From Wikipedia:

We Are Family is the third studio album by the American R&B vocal group Sister Sledge, released on January 22, 1979, in the United States and on April 30, 1979, in the United Kingdom by Cotillion Records. The album was written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the band Chic, and includes four hit singles: the title track, “He’s the Greatest Dancer”, “Lost in Music” and “Thinking of You”, all of which have been sampled, remixed, and reissued in the decades after the album’s release. The album reached number one on the Top R&B Albums chart and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, making it the band’s most commercially successful album. In 2013, NME named it among the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The title is shown in a digonal band, set in tracked out caps from a light weight of Syncopation, featuring its round-top A. The group’s name is added above in Coronet, with an extended exit stroke on the first S. Art direction by Bob Defrin, with cover photography by Jim Houghton.

[More info on Discogs]

There Is More to Life is a gospel album by George Beverly Shea (1909–2013), released in 1970 by RCA Records and featuring a blend of traditional hymns and more contemporary gospel sounds.

[More info on Discogs]

Fonts from the Flea Market 1401

German picture sleeve for a single by Golden Earring, with two songs from their 1972 album Together. A year later, the rock band from The Hague would achieve worldwide fame with “Radar Love”. Founded in 1961 as The Tornados, the band is scheduled to play a series of five farewell concerts at the Rotterdam Ahoy in 2026.

[More info on Discogs]

Crazed Hipsters is the only studio album released by Finnigan and Wood, a band formed by keyboardist Mike Finnigan and guitarist Jerry Wood. The gatefold LP was released by Blue Thumb Records in 1972.

Designers Ruby Mazur and Alan Sekuler combined photography by Charles Bush with two similar typefaces: band name and title on the front cover use a light weight of Syncopation, with the appropriately tight letterspacing including overlapping and nested glyphs, and the alternate e with diagonal bar. The song names on the back and the credits on the inside are set in Slenderella Refined, another extralight geometric sans from 1970.

[More info on Discogs]

The painting on the right side of the gatefold is by Californian artist Burt Shonberg (1933–1977).

This is the debut studio album by the Japanese fusion band The Players, which is led by Hiromasa Suzuki. The front and back artwork is painted by Tamie Okuyama.

The album title and the band’s name are set in an extra bold weight of Syncopation/Design with alternates for the characters A, E, and S. At the back cover, the tracklist, band members, and staff personnel are set in Futura Condensed.

On the inner sleeve, the Japanese sans serif Ishii Gothic (石井ゴシック) is paired with Futura Condensed for the band members.

[More info on Discogs]

The record label logo is set in an edited form of a bold condensed weight of Egyptienne, while the record label name “OPENSKYE” is set in Stymie.

The Best From Fantasy And Science Fiction: A Special 25th Anniversary Anthology, Ace Books, 1977, with cover art by Sam Alexander. [More info on ISFDB]

The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction is a series of anthologies of fiction from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (est. 1949), published since 1952. The 21st Series, a “Special 25th Anniversary Anthology” from 1974, and the 22nd Series from 1977 were edited by Edward L. Ferman (b. 1937). Shown here are the paperback editions published by Ace Books in 1977 and 1978, respectively.

For both volumes, the uncredited cover designer used a typeface that hasn’t been featured here before. It’s Germanic Sans Condensed, designed by Acey Cypres for Headliners and shown in their ’76 neo-phototypes catalog. In a 1978 catalog, it’s shown in twelve weights plus outlined and shaded styles. There is also a regular-wide Germanic Sans that was used already in 1973, which is only generally related.

Via Paul Arnot’s request on FontID.co

The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, 22nd Series, Ace Books, 1978, with covert art by Patrick Woodroffe [More info on ISFDB]

Back cover from The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, 22nd Series:

What could be better than … Isaac Asimov … Robert Bloch … Ray Bradbury … Algis Budrys … Frederik Pohl … John Varley …Tom Reamy … and many more fine writers in this best from the best, the best from Fantasy and Science Fiction featuring the Hugo Award winning novella ‘San Diego Lighthouse Sue’!

Released in 1972, this psychedelic LP is the debut album of popular British cabaret band The Grumbleweeds. The font in use is Syncopation Light aka Design Fineline. It’s here used in tightly spaced caps with some overlapping letters. The typeface was designed in 1970 by Acey Cypres for Headliners, see also this previous post.

[More info on Discogs]

German sleeve for Natalie Cole’s single “Be Thankful” from her 1977 album Thankful.

The typeface appears to be Syncopation Outline, which was available from Headliners. This series of geometric Art Deco faces also appears in catalogs by Lettergraphics, Typeshop and others under the name Design.

[More info on Discogs]

Source: www.flickr.com pulpcrush. License: All Rights Reserved.

Cover art by Patrick Woodroffe. [More info on ISFDB]

Source: littleredreviewer.wordpress.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Cover art by Josh Kirby. [More info on ISFDB]

Covers for two books by American science fiction author Joe Haldeman, including his acclaimed second novel The Forever War. First published in 1974, this book is “widely perceived to be a portrayal of the author's military service during the Vietnam War, and has been called an account of his war experiences written through a space opera filter.” It won the Nebula Award in 1975 and the Hugo and Locus awards in 1976. These paperback editions were published in 1976 and 1977 by Orbit Books in the United Kingdom. [Via Joachim Boaz]

The font in use is the extra bold style from a series that goes under two names, Design and Syncopation. Design probably came first, but I couldn’t verify this. (The name doesn’t make it exactly easy to find out more.) [Update: see comments]

The ultrageometric face with Art Deco overtones, high-waisted caps and (too) little optical correction was used already in 1971. It’s shown under the name Design in Typeshop’s 1973 catalog and in Lettergraphics’ 1976 catalog. Shin Oka of Daylight Fonts gives credit to Phil Martin of Alphabet Innovations, but doesn’t mention a source for that info. It’s not listed in the A.I. Index. The same face is shown in Headliners’ 1978 catalog as (neo-)Syncopation and was advertised in U&lc Vol. 13 No. 2 (1986) as a Headliners original, whatever that means. It comes in at least four (Design) or six (Syncopation) weights, plus Outline and Shadow variants. Both versions include alternate glyphs for ‘bcdeghmnpqsyADES’ in all styles.

Photo: Florian Hardwig. License: CC BY-NC-SA.

Glyph set of Design Extra Bold with alternate glyphs, as depicted in Typeshop’s 1973 catalog. Syncopation has the same alternates.

Photo: Florian Hardwig. License: CC BY-NC-SA.

Style range of Syncopation as shown in Headliners’ 1978 catalog (left) compared to the style range of Design, compiled from samples in Typeshop’s 1973 catalog (right).

Steve Jackaman’s Xctasy Sans (Red Rooster, 1997) is “influenced by the 1960’s typeface, Design Fineline”. His digitization comes in four weights, with most of the alternates. OPTIDesign (Castcraft, 1990–1991) is another digital version in a single Medium weight.

Originally serialized in Amazing Stories (Nov. 1971, Jan. 1972), the hardcover edition was published by Doubleday in 1971. [Fantastic Fiction] The image above shows the first paperback edition, DAW No. 61, from July 1973, with cover art by Chris Foss. The typeface is Germanic Sans Extra Bold, designed by Acey Cypres for Headliners International, Inc.

From the back cover:

The time is the future. The place, an America so isolated by fear that it is cut off from the rest of the world by a massive defense system. Into this armed, barricaded state comes a young Russian scientist bearing a strange—and almost unbelievable story:

Superior, intelligent life—of a far higher order than any on earth—has been detected near the planet Pluto. Immune themselves by virtue of their far greater intelligence, these Aliens are about to destroy the planet Earth.

See also Thomas Anderson’s review on Schlock Value.

Cover of a reprint (from 1981?), with cover art by Rick Sternbach. The typeface is Tom Carnase’s ITC Busorama (1970).