McKenna Handletter NF (2002) is Nick Curtis’s digital interpretation of Colwell Handletter, a typeface based on the work of Elizabeth Colwell and released by ATF in 1917. In 2005, it was used for the cover of Do Princesses Really Kiss Frogs?, a book in the series by Carmela LaVigna Coyle, published by Rising Moon with illustrations by Mike Gordon. The words of the title are comprised of mixed-case letters arrange on different angles and – for “Really” – in alternating colors.

About the book:

Our favorite princess returns—hiking boots and all—this time loaded with questions for her daddy. Everyone knows a princess. As this princess and her daddy wander through the woods, all kinds of wonders reveal themselves. She discovers that no matter who you are, a princess lies inside of us.

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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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Sheet from a Spanish calendar for the year 1915, with an advert for a light bulb. The text reads (translated):

The most solid and most economical metal filament lamp is the ‘Metal’ T. / Unbreakable drawn filament / Ask for it everywhere.

Both typefaces have roots in Germany. Kleukens-Antiqua is a so-called Künstlerschrift (“artist’s typeface”), first cast by Bauer in 1910 after drawings by Friedrich W. Kleukens and named after its author. It’s here used in the halbfett (bold) weight.

The all-caps Jugendstil sans used for the two lines at the top is Künstler-Grotesk from 1901, also from Bauer. An “artist’s grotesk” in name, it’s in fact an anonymous design created in-house in Frankfurt/Main. The type probably originated at Neufville, Bauer’s subsidiary in Barcelona.

Infinite Colours is a documentary film about the fashion brand Stone Island. The film was directed by Ken-Tonio Yamamoto, with Hassan Rahim and Gustavo Eandi being responsible for the graphic design.

Stone Island presents Infinite Colours, a feature-length film directed by Ken-Tonio Yamamoto about the employee community at its headquarters in Ravarino, deep in the industrial district of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The docu-poem tells the story of Stone Island from an unparalleled perspective – by the people who make the garments themselves – conveying the spirit of continual research and experimentation that lies at the heart of the brand.

Captions, descriptive overlays, chapter titles and credits are set in Scope, Seta Reta NF and Le Mans Classic.

Artwork for Natalie Wildgoose and her new EP Come Into the Garden, alongside posters for her release shows at The Cardigan Arms in Leeds, and Servant Jazz Quarters in London.

A range of period typefaces are used throughout. For the EP artwork, Anglo-Saxon Caps is used for the titles and Seta Reta NF for the credits. The show posters use Schwarzkopf and P22 Arts and Crafts Hunter for headers, with a combination of Archive Garamond (bold italic), Madisonian Light, Skeleton Antique and News Gothic (medium, bold) for subheadings and body copy.

Oliver Munday, the prolific book cover designer, uses Keep on Truckin NF, which is a digital revival of Baby Fat Black and Buxom. The smaller text is hand-rendered.

The publisher describes the book:

The New York Times best-selling author of The Nix is back with a poignant and witty novel about a modern marriage and the bonds that keep people together. Mining the absurdities of contemporary society, Wellness reimagines the love story with a healthy dose of insight, irony, and heart.

The design here is a clever nod to the previous book by Nathan Hill that Oliver had also designed, The Nix. Both use bright colors, handwritten lettering, a halftone image, and blocky/dimensional center-aligned typefaces.

Pracht-Antiqua is a typeface family that originated in Germany in the midst of the Second World War. Consequently, it didn’t find much use, and was largely forgotten soon after. One exception was Typefounders of Chicago who someone got their hands on it and showed all four styles of Pracht-Antiqua in the 1962 catalog of their Neon Type Division.

In 1966, the schmalfett or Bold Condensed was used on the cover of a bossa nova album by Caterina Valente, released on London Records. Coincidentally, this style is the only one to be available in digital form at the time of writing, as Pracht Antiqua NF by Nick Curtis.

The bold pink caps used for the song names look like they’re from Cooper Black. In fact, it’s a close follower by Mergenthaler Linotype named Pabst Extra Bold. Tipo Pèpel made a digital revival under the name Chopped Black.

[More info on Discogs]

Let's Dance featuring Charleston Jitterbug Swing is a 2004 four disc CD box set by Quality Audio, containing various “meticulously remastered” dance songs.

The main two fonts on the front are freebies by Nick Curtis: Anagram, based on lettering by Austin Cooper, and FashionVictim, which is a high-contrast take on Bernhard Fashion. It’s paired with Bodega Sans by Greg Thompson, with its alternate g activated.

The back uses more Bodega Sans plus Hamburger Heaven NF, the latter of which is also by Nick Curtis. The type in a band is set in what looks like Adage Script JF, a version of Morris Fuller Benton’s Adscript, designed by Jason Walcott.

Front

Cover with slanted Croissant for the title

From the Ventoline website (translated from the French):

Ventoline is a fanzine born of both a daily enthusiasm for everything to do with music, and a genuine weariness at the near-absence of women's words on this vast subject. Commenting, criticizing, prescribing, sharing stories, tastes, dislikes – in short, musical culture… […]

Ventoline is an entirely self-produced and self-distributed editorial project that receives no public or private financial support, and has been running for three years thanks to the sale of its issues and a few hectoliters of elbow grease. Everyone contributes on a voluntary basis, according to their desires, means and time. The frequency of each issue is therefore erratic, but this absence of imperatives also proves to be a relief: Ventoline comes out when you can, when you want.

In issue no. 6, the contributors talk “about record collecting. Algerians, unloved instruments, Mexican narco-culture, euphoria and mourning of concerts, a heterotopic club of dykes, Moldavian tradition, and even motherhood – who knows!”

The text typeface in this feature is GR10. The blackletter used for the headline is Neue Theuerdank Fraktur.

Contents (“sommaire”) ft. Spider Panic and Optima with faux small caps and faux italics. The numbers are from GST Aero; the text at the top is set in OCR-X.

Insitu in two columns for text, with Tekton for the headline and emphasis

Body copy is set in Glasgow. The quote uses Modern Blackletter and the bold extended grot is OPS Facitype.

More text in GR10, paired with drop caps from Neue Theuerdank Fraktur and some Ober-Türkheim.

Verona on an angled baseline, with body text in Figure Monospace. The sans used for the lines on a steep angle appears to be ES Allianz.

The poster (50×34 cm) included in Ventoline no. 6 is a transcript of a TV interview with Edith Massey, a.k.a. the Egg Lady, actress and friend of John Waters, and performer of two punk rock hits including “Punks, Get Off the Grass”. The display typeface is Lyric Stencil NF, slanted, paired with more Figure Monospace.

On the left: Produkt and Glasgow Italic with headlines in obliqued Optima. On the right: WS Naive with triple contour and replies in Routed Gothic.

More of the interview in Produkt and Routed Gothic

Frankfurter Medium (left) and ITC Souvenir Italic (right), with big type in IM Fell DW Pica Italic and Lyric Stencil NF

The box on the bottom left of the right page is set in EB Garamond. The colophon in OCR-X additionally mentions Eccles and Hershey Times, but these fonts don’t seem to be shown in the images included here. Jakob, Aston Script and Flash represent a mirrored reproduction of an exhibition poster, and Harrington (“Club Ventoline”) appears to belong to a previous design, too – these aren’t listed under the fonts used for the design of this zine.

HBO sometimes uses Gilroy – here for the word “ORIGINAL”.

The Idol is a drama television series created by Sam Levinson, Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, and Reza Fahim. It was reportedly canceled after one season in August 2023. The main logo for the project uses Alpha Midnight follower Mister Bones NF. Franklin Gothic is used in the campaign for secondary information. Compacta also sees a bit of usage.

Series synopsis from Wikipedia:

Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) is a pop idol who resolves to reclaim her title as the sexiest pop star in the United States after her last tour was canceled following a nervous breakdown. She begins a complex relationship with Tedros (Abel Tesfaye), a self-help guru and the head of a contemporary cult.

Max Sans is Max’s custom typeface by F37 Foundry.

An infrequent appearance is made in this press campaign by an outlined version, effectively emulating Alpha Midday.

Punk2, released on March 26, 2020, is the debut studio album by American musician Brakence (real name Randy Findell). The album's graphics, color palette, and typefaces all followed a similar style, with geometric and 70s-style typefaces used in the songs' titles. Versacrum NF and Wes Wilson are used exclusively in uppercase, while Roller Poster appears in both upper- and lowercase. Additionally, each of these typefaces features a lowercase set shaped with the appearance of uppercase characters.

“Rosier” single cover. The title is set in Versacrum NF and the small text appears to use Roller Poster (in lowercase).

“Fuckboy” single cover

“Fwb” single cover

“Dropout (remix)” cover

Eorþe (Earth) is Skraeckoedlan’s third studio album, released in 2019. Skraeckoedlan (meaning horror lizard, although the Swedish spelling would be skräcködlan) play heavy stoner rock.

The front cover used Dubba Dubba NF for the band logo with a shade made from the same font size but with slightly less letter spacing. The artwork and design are by Johan Leion who also handled previous covers for the band.

For more information, see the master release on Discogs, the release group on MusicBrainz, or the Bandcamp album page.

Text on the booth’s light box sign is set in Persona and a yet unidentified script

On the occasion of the Nitto ATP Finals (12-19 November 2023), Tennis association ATP and digital art platform Artchild partnered to launch a limited edition tennis poster, designed by acclaimed artist Honor Titus.

The poster was available online and on site during the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals. The on-site poster booth was designed by Dum Dum Studio / Christina Rodriguez and was dressed up in posters using a few handfuls of typefaces.

The capitals of the top four lines are a mix of Affigere and at least two more sans serifs. The bottom line is set in Persona and three more yet unidentified typefaces.

The smallest typeface on these posters is Fluxisch Else, a deliberately imperfect version of Univers; “extra” is set in Hypocrite.

The script typefaces on this poster are Ballet and Jane Austen, complemented by ITC American Typewriter Condensed.

“Un Uomo” is in Antique Book Cover, “E Una Racchetta” in Snell Roundhand. The bottom line pairs Serial B with Windsor Elongated.

A combination of ITC Avant Garde Gothic Condensed, Tzigane and Serial D

The newspaper-like masthead uses Leipzig Fraktur Bold. The big text is set in Century Schoolbook. Dalliance Script is used for the date and URL. The smaller texts are set in a combination of ITC Avant Garde Gothic and Airstream NF. The script used for Honor Titus’ name is Snell Roundhand.

An extensive and eclectic range of typeface was selected in designing the film props used on the set of Una Navidad con Samantha Hudson, directed by Alejandro Marín and produced by Suma Content.

This is from a series of motion rides typically located in a arcade called Typhoon.
This ride is set in a pinball game, where the riders are set to be a metal ball, bouncing around and trying to launch a rocket to win the game.

Eduard Ege’s eponymous Ege-Schrift was first cast by Genzsch & Heyse around 1923. In 1926, the foundry added a solid version, Basalt, which in 1934 was supplemented by a lowercase.

The diagonally hatched caps of the original design can here be seen on the dust jacket for The Temptation of Anthony, a novel in verse accompanied by other poems, written by Isidor Schneider (1896–1977). This is the first edition published by Boni & Liveright in 1928.

All lowercase Arbuckle NF is used for the main title, contrasted here with all caps Gill Kayo for the subtitle and author name.

From the publisher:

Pikachu’s Global Adventure describes the spectacular, complex, and unpredictable rise and fall of Pokémon in countries around the world.

Christmas and New Year’s greetings cards designed for the technorumba party collective Habla de Mí en Presente.

From The Criterion Collection:

One of the pinnacles of Hong Kong cinema's golden age, the Once Upon a Time in China series set a new standard for martial-arts spectacle and launched action star Jet Li to international fame.

This six-disc Blu-ray package design features original illustrations, a bold orange and black color scheme, and faux vintage typography evoking the late 19th and early 20th century setting of the movies. The large display type utilizes Etna, Cerulean NF, and Diosa Rubia NF with a letterpress effect created either digitally or mechanically.

The back cover and booklet use Etna for nearly all the text, with Cerulean NF in a supporting role. Gotham is used for small text on the back of the package for Criterion Collection and copyright info blocks.

Special thanks to my friend David Steinlicht, who is a big fan of Hong Kong cinema, for bringing this to my attention, and to Florian Hardwig for a little font ID help.

Milanese-born restaurateur Edoardo Mantelli’s latest project was driven by his infatuation with the Viennese-style cafes of fin-de-siècle Milan, where heated exchanges about the origins of the Negroni were cooled by a refreshing Spritz (Campari, per favore, not Aperol). Our branding for Saraghina Caffè is a loving tribute to the grace and grandeur of these institutions, with their rich heritage and passionate hand-gesture conversations.

Within the art nouveau landscape, we looked to early 1900s illustrators like Alphonse Mucha and Secessionist artists such as Koloman Moser. The creative process was loose and adaptive. Furniture, stained glass, and sculpture inspired the border treatments, and more graphic historical posters from some of the greats of their time (Leopoldo Metlicovitz, Adolfo Hohenstein and Giovanni Maria Matalon) informed the spirit of the custom, single-weight display typeface.

Website detail featuring Jacopo Mediaeval NF for text, with Plaak 3 Pradel and Sweet Gothic for headings and navigation

Type specimen for the custom Saraghina

Menu featuring Polliwog for headings and Roslindale Text for text.

Shop sign in the Saraghina typeface, with Sweet Gothic for the address