Beesknees in use https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/1680/beesknees Beesknees in use. First created in 1972 by Dave Farey. Originally to be called Horse Feathers or Monkey Business after Marx Brothers films, the titles and humor of which were inspirations. Monkey Business was shortened to Business and eventually became Beesknees. Issued by ITC in 1991. [U&amp;lc, vol. 18, no. 1] Already shown as Beesknees in a phototype specimen by Alphabet Photosetting. [specimen] Tatiana Lyskova and Elvira Slysh made a Cyrillic version at ParaType (ParaGraph) in 1994. en Copyright 2026 , FontsInUse.com LLC Sat, 18 Apr 2026 03:19:28 +0000 Sat, 18 Apr 2026 03:19:28 +0000 3600 <![CDATA[The Chantays – Pipeline album art]]> https://fontsinuse.com/uses/70011/the-chantays-pipeline-album-art Florian Hardwig


Source: www.tradera.com Tradera. License: All Rights Reserved.



Some sources date ITC Beesknees to 1991. That’s not wrong, as the extrabold all-caps typeface with the top-heavy rounds was indeed issued by ITC that year. But in fact, the jolly design is almost two decades older than that. The announcement in the Spring 1991 issue of ITC’s U&lc magazine mentions that Dave Farey first created it in 1972:

Influences for Mr. Farey's type designs tend to be American, and Beesknees is no exception. He credits Push Pin Studios, Peter Max, Bob Zoell—and the Marx Brothers for much of the inspiration in this design. Farey has long admired both the cinematic humor and typographic titles of the Marx Brother films. Both had an influence on Beesknees. Originally, the face was to be called “Horse Feathers” or “Monkey Business” after the famous Marx Brothers films. “Monkey Business” stuck for a short while, but it was later shortened to just “Business” and soon thereafter became “Beesknees.” Since it is a caps-only face, Mr. Farey claims that in reality it should have been named “Half-a bee,” or perhaps “Knees.”

An undated specimen by Alphabet Photosetting already shows it under the name Beesknees. This typesetting service in London likely was the place where designer Jack Levy ordered three words in Beesknees for the cover of the shown reissue of Pipeline, released in 1974 on Contour Records.

The debut album by Californian surf rock band The Chantays was first released with Downey Records in 1963 (and also by Dot Records the same year), with a different, exclusively typographic cover. It opens with the titular “Pipeline”. Recorded in July 1962, the instrumental track is considered one of the landmarks of the surf genre.

[More info on Discogs]



This post was originally published at Fonts In Use
]]> https://fontsinuse.com/uses/70011/the-chantays-pipeline-album-art Wed, 30 Jul 2025 10:30:00 +0000 Florian Hardwig <![CDATA[David Simmons & the U.B.U. Band – Drink it Up! album art]]> https://fontsinuse.com/uses/58511/david-simmons-and-the-u-b-u-band-drink-it-up- Bryson Stohr


Photo: Bryson Stohr. License: All Rights Reserved.



The packaging for Drink it Up!, an album by David Simmons & the U.B.U. Band – a bluegrass music band based in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota – and apparently released by Joyful Records, who offered it on cassette and CD (the latter of which is shown here).

The name of the album is set in Dave Farey’s Beesknees. It is contrasted here with Arial Bold, carelessly stretched and consorted, all with red-yellow gradients and drop shadows.



This post was originally published at Fonts In Use
]]> https://fontsinuse.com/uses/58511/david-simmons-and-the-u-b-u-band-drink-it-up- Fri, 26 Jan 2024 08:36:59 +0000 Bryson Stohr