Columna in use

The Ramsey Lewis Trio – More Sounds of Christmas (Cadet) album art

Florian Hardwig — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 13:56:52 +0000

In October 1964, jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis (1934–2022) and his trio recorded their second album of Christmas music, More Sounds of Christmas (after Sound of Christmas in 1961). It was released by Argo Records, featuring a photographic cover by Don Bronstein. Shown here is a 1966 reissue by Cadet Records, with a different cover. Designed by Jerry Griffith, it depicts a tangram-like pattern made from four stylized rooftops with chimneys.

The title poses an existential type question: is this lettering based on a typeface? Or rather lettering based on lettering?

The calligraphic letterforms with strongly modulated strokes and traces of blackletter go back to Guy Oring and Paul Carlyle, who showed them in their lettering books published in the late 1930s. At some point between around 1958 and 1974, Filmotype adapted this unnamed alphabet for phototypesetting, under the name Yucca.

While Yucca stays close to the original, the manual interpretation on the album cover is more condensed and also omits the tendril-like flourishes with ball terminals. Carlyle & Oring’s design still shines through; from the characteristic construction of letters like M and R, to the extra-long descenders and the four-pointed star as i dot.

The unnamed alphabet with upper- and lowercase letters and numerals, plus two variations in a bold and a light condensed weight, shown by Paul Carlyle and Guy Oring in Learning to Letter, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1939

Detail

There are several digital interpretations of Carlyle & Oring’s alphabet (or of Yucca): Chaillot (Scriptorium, 1993) is fairly limited and has faux small caps in lieu of a lowercase. Magic Spell JF (Jason Walcott, 2007) and Kynges X NF (Nick’s Fonts, 2004) are more commendable options. The former takes more liberties. The latter stays closest to the source, but suffers from loose letterspacing.

The back cover is different in design, and carries over Columna (with Columna Solid) from the 1964 cover, complete with the two forms for the letter R. The liner notes by Louise D. Stone, jazz columnist for the Chicago Defender, the track list and credits are set in two weights of News Gothic.

[More info on Discogs]

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use

The Best of Mario Lanza album art

Sun, 02 May 2021 19:28:02 +0000

Photo(s) by Bart Solenthaler on Flickr.

Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Bart Solenthaler and tagged with “columna”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Columna filled in alternating colors, for the cover of a best-of compilation of songs by Mario Lanza (1921–1959), released on RCA Victor’s Red Seal label in 1964. “The Best Of” and the song names are set in Akzidenz-Grotesk breit, better known in the U.S. as Standard Extended.

[More info on Discogs]

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use

Charles Magnante & His Orchestra – Roman Spectacular album art

Sun, 02 May 2021 19:27:01 +0000

Photo(s) by Bart Solenthaler on Flickr.

Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Bart Solenthaler and tagged with “columna”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Roman caps for Roman Spectacular, an album by American piano-accordionist, arranger, composer Charles Magnante (1905–1986). Originally released in 1957 with a different cover design, this is a reissue from 1966, issued by Grand Award Records as GA 205 SD. The typeface is Max Caflisch’s open Columna, here used with a color fill.

The photograph shows a variety of Italian ephemera, including a Lire banknote, coins, and postage stamps, an Alitalia leaflet, a train ticket, and a Dolomites travel map, labels for martini and cheese, a restaurant menu, and a postcard showing the Foro Romano. “Turandot” as seen on the Teatro alla Scala handbill is set in a typeface that was known under various names, including Viktoria.

[More info on Discogs]

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use

Clip Books of Line Art, Volk (1975)

Sun, 05 Jul 2020 19:24:36 +0000

Photo(s) by Bart Solenthaler on Flickr.

Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Bart Solenthaler and tagged with “bookman”. License: All Rights Reserved.

“The Wedding” (No. 268) ft. Bookman Swash Bold in all caps italics with three swash alternates.

Covers for various clip books of line art issued in 1975 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.

In most issues from this volume, “Clip Book of Line Art” is set in a light weight of ITC Avant Garde Gothic, with alternates for A and e.

While Volk predominantly used phototype styles from Filmotype’s library in the late 1950s and early 1960s, they had switched to Photo-Lettering (and later ITC) by the end of the 1960s. The covers in this post also feature a number of faces that originated elsewhere. Burko was issued by Headliners (and copied by Facsimile Fonts as part of the Blippo series). Checkmate started out at Schaedler (and was adopted by Photo-Lettering). Yagi Double is a Facsimile Fonts creation. Their Bob Trogman claims credit for Uncle Bill. Zipper and Premier Shaded are Letraset originals. Archie and Rock Opera may have been created at Lettergraphics (the latter is a derivative of Letraset’s Frankfurter).

Or did Volk maybe tap into Formatt’s library of faces for dry-transfer lettering? Their catalog no. 5 from 1974 shows several of the styles used on these covers, including Rock Opera, Tip Top, Eurostile, Uncle Bill (as Brother Bill), Checkmate (as Tournament), Copperplate (as Broker Shaded), Archie (as Chuckle), Yagi Double (as Circuit Double), and Titan.

“Holidays” (No. 269) ft. Benguiat Caslon.

“Entertainment” (No. 271) ft. ITC Neon, set on a curve.

“Telephones” (No. 272) ft. Cooper Black Italic with swash caps and Folio with biform alternates.

“Occupations” (No. 273) ft. Eurostile Bold Extended and Akzidenz-Grotesk.

“Winter” (No. 274) with one of the adaptations of Mexico Olympic, probably Hotline by Lettergraphics.

“Men” (No. 276) ft. Checkmate.

“Spring” (No. 279) ft. Saphir.

“Holidays” (No. 277) ft. Archie.

“Circus-Fair” (No. 628) ft. West Barnum Ultra.

“Spring & Summer Sports” (No. 629) ft. more Eurostile Bold Extended.

“The Farm” (No. 630) ft. ITC Busorama with its alternate glyphs.

“Summer” (No. 631) ft. caps from Tip-Top.

“Medicine” (No. 632) ft. Columna.

“Media” (No. 635) ft. Burko.

“Homemaker” (No. 637) ft. Zipper.

“Human Relations” (No. 638) ft. Columna Solid with what looks to be a customized R, or maybe an alternate that was exclusive to some (VGC’s?) phototype version. Bauer’s original (open) Columna has two forms for this letter, none of which matches the one seen here.

“Fall & Winter Sports” (No. 639) ft. Revue with EndcapS.

“Christmas” (No. 640) ft. American Uncial Initials for “Christmas”, with the text version used for the line below. [Thanks, Bryson!]

“Crowds” (No. 643) ft. Premier Shaded.

“Couples” (No. 644) ft. Yagi Double.

“Safety” (No. 645) ft. Stencil (Ludlow).

“Teens” (No. 647) ft. Rock Opera AKA Shady Deal, a copy of Frankfurter with a line pattern fill.

“Groups” (No. 648) ft. Uncle Bill.

“Industry” (No. 649) ft. Blippo Black.

“Children” (No. 650) ft. Davida.

“Borders” (No. G60) ft. Orbit Shaded. The logo of the Grafika subseries is in ITC Fat Face. The script appears to be lettering.

“Pointers” (No. G53) ft. Novel Gothic with arrows.

“Conrad Zilch” (No. G51) ft. Banco …

… accompanied by “Cora Zilch” (No. G56).

“Design Devices” (No. G54) ft. Titan, a Baby Teeth follower of unclear origin.

“Money” (No. G59) ft. Bond Shaded AKA Bond Shaded.

“Contests” (No. G61) ft. Orbit Rimmed.

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use

The Playboy Club city matchbook covers

Nick Sherman — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 16:36:40 +0000

Contributed by Nick Sherman

Stan Centony (Sample unavailable)

Hot Foot (Sample unavailable)

With the imminent closure of Playboy’s flagship magazine in the news, here is a set of matchbook covers for The Playboy Club, the related chain of nightclubs that have already been closed for some time.

The matchbook for each club shows its related city name in a different unique typeface, including several uncommon typefaces that haven’t been recorded on Fonts In Use before. The accompanying Playboy branding uses a condensed version of Melior. All the settings appear to be from Photo-Lettering.

Assuming all the different matchbooks were printed around the same time, the opening and selling dates of the Great Gorge club – 1971 and 1981, respectively – would mean the covers are very likely from the 1970s (as if the funky design style wasn’t already enough of a clue). One could probably get a more accurate date by cross-referencing the different opening and closing dates of each club and/or the dates each typeface was available.

The matchbook images are from the excellent archive of 20th-century ephemera shared by Jordan Smith (a.k.a. Cardboard America) on Flickr.

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use

Kerstmis by Dick Bruna

Matthijs Sluiter — Thu, 26 Dec 2019 13:46:58 +0000

Contributed by Matthijs Sluiter

Source: studioandarte.nl License: All Rights Reserved.

Kerstmis (“Christmas”) is a children’s book, designed, written and illustrated by Dick Bruna. The book retells the story of the birth of Jesus. Originally published in 1963, it was re-released many times ever since. The edition shown here is published by Mercis. In later years, a nativity scene was produced, based on Bruna’s illustrations. Columna (drawn by Max Caflisch for Bauer, 1952) is used for the book title.

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

Source: www.kinderfeestwinkel.nl License: All Rights Reserved.

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use

Clip Books of Line Art, Volk (1977)

Sun, 15 Dec 2019 16:52:30 +0000

Photo(s) by Bart Solenthaler on Flickr.

Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by Bart Solenthaler and tagged with “saphir”. License: All Rights Reserved.

“Wedding” (No. 292) ft. the festive Saphir caps set on a curve.

Whimzitype 3598–3600 (Sample unavailable)

Covers for various clip books of line art issued by Volk Corp in 1977. This year marked their silver anniversary. The celebration started already in 1976, indicating that the company was established in late 1951. According to Bart Solenthaler, it went out of business sometime in the 1980s.

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

“Holidays” (No. 293) ft. Paprika, a biline variant of Tabasco.

“Entertainment” (No. 295) ft. Tonight.

“Office” (No. 296) ft. Bobo Bold.

“Hobbies” (No. 297) ft. Abbey Scroll.

“Women” (No. 300) ft. Yagi Double.

“Holidays” (No. 301) ft. Koloss with EndcapS.

“Men” (No. 302) ft. Atrax.

“Spring” (No. 303) ft. Jolly Roger.

“The Farm” (No. 678) ft. Arnold Böcklin in all caps.

“Summer” (No. 679) ft. the Sparkly style from the Churchward Design series.

“Children” (No. 680) ft. Eurostile Bold Condensed.

“Medicine” (No. 682) ft. Columna.

“Sales” (No. 683) ft. Whimzitype 3600.

“Groups” (No. 685) ft. Eurostile Bold Extended.

“Christmas” (No. 688) ft. Benguiat Caslon caps with swash alternates.

“Menu” (No. 690) ft. more Saphir.

“Energy” (No. 691) ft. Frankfurter.

“Homemaker” (No. 692) ft. more Benguiat Caslon, here in caps set on a curve.

“Industry” (No. 693) ft. Old Gothic Bold Italic.

“Teens” (No. 695) ft. ITC Uptight Neon.

“Science” (No. 697) ft. Data 70.

“Spring & Summer Sports” (No. 699) ft. Marvin (Face). Illustration by Tom Sawyer.

“Design Devices” (No. G75) ft. Charrette. The decorated A is taken from Cloister Initials. The logo of the Grafika subseries is in ITC Fat Face with ligatures for ra and fi, accompanied by Kabel Light with omitted tittles.

“Pointers” (No. G77) ft. manicules (☛☞) with caps from Windsor Elongated.

“Symbols” (No. G80) ft. caps from Futura Light with a custom SY ligature. The anniversary note in the counter of O is in Helvetica Condensed.

“John Doe” (No. G82) ft. Augustea Open.

“Jane Doe” (No. G83) ft. Keyhole, which was Formatt’s copy of Sintex with added alternates.

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use

Tears For Fears – “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” single cover

Sat, 07 Sep 2019 14:41:35 +0000

For a stretch of 1985 and 1986, “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” gave Tears For Fears a chance to do just that. The third single from their 1985 Songs From The Big Chair album — more well-remembered than the direction-changing “Mothers Talk,” and an even bigger smash than the inescapable “Shout” — “Rule The World” hit the top 20 of just about every country that bothered to track that sort of thing — Stereogum

Photography by Laurie Lewis. The band name is rendered in three stacked and justified lines of Columna, a set of open Roman caps drawn by Max Caflisch and issued by Bauer in 1952. This lockup is also used for other releases from this period, including “Shout” (1984), “I Believe (A Soulful Re-Recording)”, and Songs From The Big Chair (1985). It’s paired with Gill Sans for the song title.

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use

Aviation and space travel coin sets by Shell

Florian Hardwig — Sat, 27 Jul 2019 12:22:51 +0000

Contributed by Florian Hardwig

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.

Ruimte-avontuur, The Netherlands, with Nubian

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”.

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.

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

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?

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

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.

Lentävä Maailma, Finland, in Columna.

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

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.

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.

This post was originally published at Fonts In Use

Lupercal by Ted Hughes, Faber & Faber

Florian Hardwig — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 20:28:21 +0000

First UK edition by Faber & Faber, London, 1960. Purple cloth with dust wrapper. A fine copy signed by the author is currently on sale from John Atkinson Fine and Rare Books, if you have the wherewithal. The first American edition was issued by Brothers the same year, using an unchanged jacket design.

Berthold Wolpe pairs Max Caflisch’s Columna (Bauer, 1952) with caps from his own Albertus. Back in 1960, there was no Columna Solid — such a matching filled version was introduced by VGC sometime before 1972. Ironically, it nowadays is easier to find a digital version of the solid style than of Caflisch’s original open caps.