The Philadelphia Museum of Art, in collaboration with design studio Gretel, rebuilt its identity with the goal of putting the institution in direct conversation with the city that surrounds it. Typography is the primary device for achieving this. The type palette mainly works on two levels: outside-and-inside, or community-and-institution.

Inspired by Philadelphia’s rich visual texture of storefronts, street vendors, and murals, the vernacular type palette brings the voice of Philly into the museum and injects the identity system with contrast and spontaneity. The current library is curated (exemplified by the likes of Shatter, Cooper Black, and Balloon), but it is designed to continue growing over time. Each of these display typefaces can be used on various seasonal activations, or specifically assigned to exhibitions or departmental roles. ITC Pioneer was used for the recent exhibition The Time is Always Now, a survey of contemporary Black and African diasporic figurative art. Purple Haze is the designated typeface for PMA Members, and Megazoid is used for PMA Kids.

On the other hand, the institutional typographic voice serves an evergreen role: echoing the museum’s classical character while embodying Philadelphia’s industrial sensibility. The core typeface, Fairmount Serif—named for the Fairmount neighborhood—was custom-drawn by Ryan Bugden after a study of Philadelphia’s typographic history. Searching for a balance between the industrial structure of 1930s American sans-serifs and a classical features brought Hess Neobold forward as a key reference. Its designer Sol Hess attended PMSIA—the precursor to the museum—and later succeeded Frederic Goudy as Philadelphia-based Lanston Monotype’s type director. Fairmount Serif evolves the Hess Neobold model while incorporating more contemporaneous industrial cues. It remains relatively neutral alongside the museum’s broad palette of display faces while providing a distinct, authoritative voice of its own. Fairmount Serif was also used as a starting point in rendering the various institutional logos.

For the more workhorse level, Klarheit Grotesk serves as the museum’s body text typeface. It is set at small sizes across branding, materials, signage, and exhibition text.

See more images in Gretel’s case study.

Mockups of exhibition catalogs

Banners.

Seasonal program.

Ear Candy is a compilation album with songs by various artists signed to Twentieth Century Fox. The cover is a literal take on the title, with a candy bar for each of the seven featured artists and songs. Some of the typefaces were rendered by hand.

Design by George Corsillo with illustration by Fred Nelson and art direction by Tim Bryant Design.

[More info on Discogs]

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin is a British television sitcom that initially aired on BBC One from 1976 to 1979. It was based on a series of novels written by David Nobbs, who also adapted them for television. The show became known for its surreal humor, satirical take on suburban middle-class life, and the darkly comic portrayal of a midlife crisis.

The typeface used in the opening and closing credits is neo-Jenson, though ATF’s Balloon was used as a secondary typeface in the first show of the first series.

Nice pairing of ITC Pioneer and Balloon typefaces on this cover by Oliver Munday for Sam Lipsyte’s Hark novel.

Publisher Granta describes the book this way:

In an America convulsed by political upheaval, cultural discord, environmental collapse and spiritual confusion, many folks are searching for peace, salvation, and – perhaps most immediately – just a little damn focus. Enter Hark Morner, an unwitting guru whose technique of “Mental Archery” – a combination of mindfulness, mythology, fake history, yoga, and, well, archery – is set to captivate the masses and raise him to near-messiah status. It’s a role he never asked for, and one he is woefully underprepared to take on. But his inner-circle of modern pilgrims have other plans, as do some suddenly powerful fringe players, including a renegade Ivy League ethicist, a gentle Swedish kidnapper, a crossbow-hunting veteran of jungle drug wars, a social media tycoon with an empire on the skids, and a mysteriously influential (but undeniably slimy) catfish.

2019 trade paperback edition

Color variant for the 2020 paperback edition

Canyon Coaster is a intense action packed roller coaster set in the canyons, with jumps, turns, and broken tracks along the way. This was one of the six different films in the release of Typhoon in around 2008. The film is also featured in the Typhoon 10th Anniversary Edition.

The Canyon Coaster logo seen in the titles as well as on signs in the film is based on Billo by Ben Balvanz.

The Welcome sign in the game additionally uses Balloon.

“Greetings from Aberdeen, Maryland” ft. Samson

This series of postcards features photographs by Alice & John Penrod and was produced by Dexter Press in West Nyack, New York, maybe in the mid 1960s. The featured typefaces are mostly Ludlow originals, most of which were designed by Robert Hunter Middleton. “Greetings from” is always set in his Mandate (1934).

From the Cardboard America Collection

“Greetings from Berkshire County, Massachusetts” ft. Tempo Heavy Condensed Italic.

“Greetings from South Bend, Indiana” ft. Max Kaufmann’s Balloon (ATF, 1939)

The full Alphabet of Birds

An Alphabet of Birds is a vintage book published by Lippincott, Grambo, & Co., Philadelphia, in 1854. 163 years later, in 2017, Kent Henderson transformed a worn copy into something new and spectacular: for his Alphabet of Birds, he sliced and diced the pages, and overprinted the engravings with a single red letter. Henderson then pasted the 26 pages plus text clippings and the title onto a wood panel measuring 40×30 inches. The result is a unique artwork that appeals to bird lovers and typophiles alike. It was recently sold in a fundraiser for Chicago Art Department.

The original book from 1854 was set in one of the generic romans often named Modern or Scotch. All other fonts used for this piece come from the wood type collection at Depression Press Mfg. & Ink, Inc., a letterpress studio in Chicago, operated by Henderson together with Dud Lawson. The title is set in Clarendon Extended, with Aldine Expanded used for “of”. Henderson didn’t really intend this to be a type specimen piece at the time it was made. That’s why he didn’t document what typefaces he was pulling. Nevertheless he was able to identify most of the wood type used for the alphabet pages, and kindly shared this info:

A for Albatross — an unidentified bifurcated Tuscan, 12 line [see comments]
B for Bustard — possibly Hamilton No. 258, 24 line. Source: Hamilton’s Wood Type, Catalog No 14 (1899)
C for Condor — Grecian, 15 line (by Cooley), via Printing Museum
D for Dove — Balloon, 12 line (by American Wood Type Mfg. Co.), via Printing Museum
E for Eagle — Ancient Gothic, 6 line, via RRK Collection
F for Fly Catcher — possibly Hamilton No. 234, 15 line. Source: Hamilton’s Wood Type, Catalog No 14 (1899)
G for Grouse — see C
H for Heron — Cooper Black, 15 line, via Printing Museum
I for Ibis — see F
J for Jager — Aldine, 12 line, via RRK Collection
K for Kite — Shadow, 12 line (by American Wood Type Mfg. Co.; currently cut by Virgin Wood Type). Better known under the name used by Ludlow for the metal version, Umbra.
L for Lyryrus — unknown Gothic Condensed, 30 line
M for Magpie — No. 500, 15 line (by Page), via RRK Collection
N for Nightingale — De Vinne, 12 line, via RRK Collection
O for Owl — Antique Tuscan, 24 line (no mark), via RRK Collection
P for Partridge — see E
Q for Qua Bird — see F
R for Rice-Bird — see D
S for Spoonbill — see H
T for Tufted Titmouse — see B
U for Upupa — No. 560, 24 line (Hamilton)
V for Vulture — Goudy Extra Bold, 12 line (Hamilton)
W for Waxen-Wing — Antique Tuscan No. 9, 20 line (Page & Co stamp), via RRK Collection
X for Xanthornus — Cheltenham Outline, 6 line (no mark)
Y for Yellow Legs — French Clarendon, 12 line, via RRK Collection
Z [no Z bird] — see O

To marvel at all pages in detail, head over to the Flickr account of Depression Press.

The title is set in Clarendon Extended, 5 line (no mark), via RRK Collection. “Of” is in Aldine Expanded.

Computer-Aided Design? Condor, Albatross, Dove!

The source material: a battered copy of An Alphabet of Birds, 1854, 5×6 inches

“Heron: a gloomy and solitary bird.”

“Kite: they have been observed in great numbers, in Florida.”

The engravings are signed with two names, Croome (William Croome), and “J. Green…” (?).

This 28×11 cm flyer is among a collection of punk flyers and posters that arrived at Letterform Archive in late 2022. KALX is a student- and volunteer-run radio station at the University of California, Berkeley. This promotion announces the moment that they were to upgrade from 10 to 500 watts of broadcasting power after a successful fundraising campaign: July 8, 1982 at 10 minutes to 5:00pm. The text is set with rubdown Banco and ITC American Typewriter with a sharpie-scribble border and hand-lettered KALX logo, complete with an anarchist A. Banco had already established itself in punk culture as the typeface for Thrasher magazine (1981–).

In 1980 Ronald Reagan, nemesis of all good Berkeleyites, was elected president of the United States. This may or may not have been bad for the country – they're still arguing that one and always will be – but in a perverse way it was good for KALX, which had started to go punk in the late ’70s and now had something to really be pissed off about.

Reagan went nuts cutting budgets for social programs and the arts but by 1982, his second year in office, KALX had moved to relatively stable studios at 2311 Bowditch and increased its power to 500 watts. The station's combative nature thrived in the hostile context of Reagan's America, and KALX remained a dependable voice of noisy opposition throughout the Reagan era (and into the Bush, Sr. era, if that really deserves to be called an era). — The Full and Unabridged History of KALX

Source: busycircuits.com ALM / Busy Circuits. License: All Rights Reserved.

With roots in late 1950s synthesizer designs, modern modular synthesis (and in this case, the Eurorack format) has exploded in recent years as a music and sound-design platform. Combining a small footprint with original analog and digital circuit designs, the possibilities for module connections and interaction, and the resulting sound output – a process called patching – are spellbinding.

While software such as Ableton, Audiomulch and Sunvox allow for a more immediate and approachable environment to achieve similar audio results and experiences, one of the benefits here is a sense of tactility and responsiveness. There are certainly ways to incorporate physical modules into a computer-based paradigm as well (the excellent VCV Rack offers a more 1:1 Eurorack experience for free and allows for external module control with the proper setup).

Given the direct, hands-on nature of the format, there's lots of room for branding and user interface considerations – particularly if you're spending hours staring at the same panels and working out a patch. From the technical clarity of Doepfer and Xaoc to the punkier & funkier Make Noise and (currently) illustration-driven Pittsburgh Electronics, there's something for most everyone to dig into.

Source: busycircuits.com ALM / Busy Circuits. License: All Rights Reserved.

The two-part logo uses sans-serif caps – probably from Raisonné – with a perspective effect for “ALM”, and Value Serif for “Busy Circuits”

ALM / Busy Circuits’s playful handling of type in their module designs stands out in this now fairly crowded market:

ALM / Busy Circuits is a UK-based audio electronics company that produces innovative, useful devices for working with sound.

Our aim is to build products that foster creativity through engaging, playful experiences. We combine past influences with modern concepts and possibilities, to allow space for new ways of working and ideas to flourish.

Hinging on Colophon’s sturdy and 70s-flavored Raisonné, the brand’s interface clarity and restricted palette leaves a window open for some tongue-in-cheek type. I personally resonate with the application of more so-called pedestrian typefaces like Balloon and Frankfurter Highlight among a couple of Colophon's finest work.

Source: busycircuits.com ALM / Busy Circuits. License: All Rights Reserved.

The System Coupe (ALMSYS001) with labels in Raisonné and module names in Optima (mmMidi), Pacifico (Pamela’s Workout), Frankfurter Highlight (Quaid Megaslope), Acumin (Squid Salmple), Balloon (MCO / MCF) and Quicksilver (Tangle Quartet)

Source: busycircuits.com ALM / Busy Circuits. License: All Rights Reserved.

Tyso Daiko (ALM031), a dual 12-bit digital wavetable drum voice, featuring Gikit

Source: busycircuits.com ALM / Busy Circuits. License: All Rights Reserved.

Mega-Tang (ALM033), a 4-channel linear VCA and stereo mixer, featuring Frankfurter

Source: busycircuits.com ALM / Busy Circuits. License: All Rights Reserved.

Akemie’s Taiko (ALM015), an FM synthesis based drum voice, featuring Phosphate Solid

Source: busycircuits.com ALM / Busy Circuits. License: All Rights Reserved.

Dinky’s Taiko (ALM005), a 12 bit digital drum voice, featuring Phosphate

Source: busycircuits.com ALM / Busy Circuits. License: All Rights Reserved.

Jumble Henge (ALM029), a 16 input stereo spectral mixer, featuring Paddington

Source: busycircuits.com ALM / Busy Circuits. License: All Rights Reserved.

Beast’s Chalkboard (ALM002), a dual channel stepped voltage source, featuring LL Akkurat

Source: busycircuits.com ALM / Busy Circuits. License: All Rights Reserved.

MUM M8 (ALM018), an 8hp Eurorack low pass filter, featuring UK Number Plate

Source: busycircuits.com ALM / Busy Circuits. License: All Rights Reserved.

Boss Bow Two (ALM027), an 8 way bidirectional voltage controlled switch, featuring squooshed Jaakko

Source: busycircuits.com ALM / Busy Circuits. License: All Rights Reserved.

The ALM Busy Circuits website uses Raisonné for headlines and the menu with Basis Grotesque for text.

Source: busycircuits.com ALM / Busy Circuits. License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: busycircuits.com ALM / Busy Circuits. License: All Rights Reserved.

Koto’s Los Angeles studio sits smack-bang in the middle of the most car-heavy place on earth. Everyone has something we’d rather be doing than sitting in traffic: knitting, fishing, paintballing—or finding time to meticulously set type.

You will see these shattering crashes … and more …!

Meet the Death Typeface … as it attempts the most dangerous and terrifying stunts, including a near LTypI!

One sheet (27″×41″) poster for Death Riders, a documentary about stunt riding, directed by James Wilson and produced by Crown International in 1976 – “a motion picture dedicated to those who didn’t make it”, starring Floyd Reed, Reese Smith, Jim Cates, Joe Byars, Larry Mann, Danny Reed, Henry Trumblay, Bob Speare, Jim ‘Crash’ Moreau, Floyd Reed, Jr., and Bub Baerma.

[More info on IMDb]

Double-sided promotional poster for the Typographic Summer Program. Letterpress printed in 10 print runs from hand-cut and laser-cut linoleum and Ludlow slugs. Quite a wild mix of type combinations, colors, stretched proportions and outlines—is it a poster against typographic pollution? Or is this typographic pollution itself?

The Vista Hermosa logo is based on PAG Revolucion, with an added hatched shadow.

I saw a friend recently say that these were some of the best chips he’d ever eaten, and loving the use of Davida I decided to look up their website.

Vista Hermosa, the packaged food arm of Tacombi, uses PAG Revolucion for their logotype, and Davida and Roberta throughout their line.

All-caps Roberta is paired with Brush Script (“Delicioso”) and an unidentified wide grotesk.

Davida with Balloon Drop Shadow (“¡Perfecto for tacos!”), solid Balloon (“Special Flavor!”), Hobo (“Tip-top taste!”), and Divina (“… a different world within your reach!”).

Photo: Ian Lanius. License: All Rights Reserved.

Le Pamplemousse – “Get Your Boom, Boom”, featuring Arnold Böcklin and a phototype version of Victoria (redesigned at Letraset with slightly different forms as Victorian). The smaller bits are in Broadway.

I found this pair of disco 12″ singles – Le Pamplemousse’s “Get Your Boom, Boom” and El Coco’s “I’m Mad As Hell” – the other day and was really taken aback by the typography. Turns out they are some pretty tasty jams as well.

The El Coco is obviously in Balloon, and long time friend, and fellow Fonts In Use contributor, Mark Butchko tipped me off to the Arnold Böcklin. I think I see some Broadway in there as well, and I assume the small print is Helvetica, but the “Get Your Boom, Boom” and “GIANT 45” typefaces are a mystery. I’m especially interested in the “GIANT 45” font. Any leads? [Yes! See comments – FH]

The Giant 45 series was issued between 1976 and 1978 by AVI Records, Los Angeles. Some of the featured acts are aliases by Rinder & Lewis. “During the mid to late seventies the production team of Laurin Rinder and W. Michael Lewis helped to define the Disco sound that was coming out of Los Angeles with studio projects such as El Coco, Saint Tropez, Le Pamplemousse and many others.” – Discogs. All sleeves from this series are printed in a single color, with reversed typography in a wild range of display typefaces. The boxed texts in French, Spanish, and German suggest that the records were aimed at the international market.

Source: vinylrichierecords.com License: All Rights Reserved.

El Coco – “I’m Mad As Hell” ft. Balloon.

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

El Coco – “Caravan” / “Under Construction” uses Filmotype Vigus. In addition to Broadway, there’s also Koloss for “Besondere Schallplatten Version” and “Gold Collector Series”. The small “Giant 45” in the top left corner shows ITC Avant Garde Gothic.

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

El Coco – “Just Be You” with more Broadway, here also for the big stage, in a version with sturdy hairlines and the original alternate S.

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

Jerry Rix ‎– “Disco Train” ft. ITC Grouch.

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

Paul Maddux – “Somewhere” ft. more Victoria and Marvin.

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

Free Style – “No, No, No, My Friend” ft. Palatino Bold.

Handbill for a concert by El Morito Y Su Grupo at Los Cardenales in Uruguay. Date unknown. Printed in a single color, the design brings together a multitude of typefaces as well as lettering. The venue’s name is in caps from Arnold Böcklin, with Optima for “Restaurant Bar”. The typeface used for the band name is unidentified. Grotesque No. 9 Italic is used for “Grupo” and Univers Condensed for the names, while “Musica Viva” features the inescapable Helvetica. “Gato Flores” starts out with what looks like Balloon Light. “Abrimos los domingos” is set in reversed all-caps Futura, and “Atencion personal” in Times New Roman or similar.

Flyer for a hip-hop concert in August 1981, designed by Lemoin Thompson aka Buddy Esquire.

Two party flyers from T-Connection, 1981, both featuring the Cold Crush Brothers, and both using Sinaloa. The flyer for “an anniversary party for... Cold Crush Brothers” shows is signed “Buddy*Esq” in the right hand corner — shorthand for Buddy Esquire, a.k.a. The King of Hip Hop Flyers. The flyer was found on a (seemingly discontinued) website named Old School Flyers. Luckily a part of their collection is still shown in a Twitter bot account.

The Jungle Rock City flyer can be found in the fantastic online collection “Hip Hop Party and Event Flyers” of Cornell University.

The flyer for “Jungle Rock City” uses no less than seven typefaces, plus lettering. From top to bottom: Commercial Script; Sinaloa; Futura Black; Balloon; Piccadilly, Rocco, Helvetica, all available as Letraset dry transfer letters. The big images show Aretha Franklin and Bob Marley, probably present in the “Soulsonic Sounds of Master of Records Bambaataa”. Afrika Bambaataa was an important figure in the local Hip-hop scene, and would accelerate the worldwide success of Hip-Hop a year later with his Planet Rock.

Main Title.

Madeline is a 1998 live-action film adaptation of the children's book series and television series Madeline. The film starred newcomer Hatty Jones as the titular character with the better known Frances McDormand and Nigel Hawthorne in supporting roles as Miss Clavel and Lord Covington. The film encompasses the plots of four Madeline books. It was released on July 10, 1998 by TriStar Pictures. [Wikipedia]

The main title uses Balloon Extra Bold with yellow letters and black shadows. The same typeface is also used for the end credits.

Balloon was designed by Max R. Kaufmann and first released by ATF in 1939. This typeface was probably chosen in reference to the covers of the original Madeline books by Ludwig Bemelmans. The first one was issued by Simon and Schuster, also in 1939, with slightly inclined bold sans serif letters on the cover. This lettering style was carried over to subsequent volumes, see e.g. Madeline’s Rescue (Viking, 1953) or Madeline and the Bad Hat (Viking, 1957). Howard Trafton’s Cartoon (Bauer, 1936) is another contemporary typeface that might have influenced both the book cover lettering and the creation of the Balloon typeface.

The title screens.

VHS packaging

Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue is a 1990 American animated drug-abuse prevention television special starring many of the popular cartoon characters from American weekday, Sunday morning, and Saturday morning television at the time of its release. [Wikipedia] The main typefaces are Balloon, Brush Script, and ITC Souvenir.

Title card

Poster

The Fulltone Obsessive Compulsive Drive (OCD) is an extremely open sounding Overdrive/Distortion circuit that differs from other overdrives in that it has a good bit more Dynamic-Range...meaning the difference between picking soft or picking hard will actually yield a more natural and wider range of distortion (with less compression) than traditional diode-clipped overdrives. The OCD also creates complex overtones without changing the inherent tone of whatever amp and guitar you’re playing through, in the process lifting off that blanket other drive pedals can put on your signature sound.. —Fulltone

Designed by Michael Fuller and hand-assembled in California. See also this blog post at Madbeanpedals, where “Mike” built his own variation on the OCD FullTone, named EGO Halftone, using the same set of typefaces.