Marcia Seligson’s debut book about “America’s way of wedding” was first published by William Morrow in May 1973. This is the cover of Bantam’s paperback edition (Y8255) from June 1974. The cover art is by Eldon Dedini, the title typeface is Didoni. This follower of Pistilli Roman was issued by Phil Martin’s Alphabet Innovations in 1969. It’s used with many of its distinguishing swash forms.

From the back cover:

Peek through the keyhole—you are an uninvited guest, taking a look at America’s continuous parade of weddings, the $7-billion-a-year satin, lace and orange blossom jamboree—from coast to coast, from pink mashed potatoes to heart-shaped swimming pools.

Pistilli Roman with (too much) swashes [edit: it’s Didoni, see comments] for Happy Birthday, an album of nursery rhymes recorded by Jack Arthur with the Diplomat Orchestra and Chorus, and first released by Diplomat Records with a different cover design. The shown image is the cover of a release on the Rocking Horse sublabel, probably from sometime in the late 1960s or 1970s. Illustration by George Peed (1913–2002).

[More info on Discogs]

Design by Eric White (with art direction by Greg Mollica) for Modern Library’s 2013 edition of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, part of their “100 Best Nonfiction Books” list.

Earlier this year, The Criterion Collection released “America Lost and Found, The BBS Story”, a box set of seven classic American films from the late 1960s to early ’70s. The set, and each film, got a new design from F Ron Miller. While not exactly a history lesson, the DVD covers, menus, and book successfully evoke the feeling of the era, mixing typefaces that were designed — or in heavy use — during those years. Miller’s personal experience informed the choices:

Sometimes the task was to elicit the era by choosing specific typefaces from the time, other times it was about choosing type (and type styling) of the time. I lived through the 1970s so, at the very least, my subjective associations come first hand.

“The BBS Story” slipcase cover. Click to enlarge.

There’s a lot of type on this cover and virtually all of it needed equal prominence. The marquee hit the right metaphoric note and it provided an organic solution to the problem of all those words.

Using actual marquee letters gives this cover much more authenticity than using a font, but finding or shooting usable images is not an easy task. Those with a similar brief and less time or budget could try to emulate the look with fonts like Marquee, Double D, or Now Playing. Typefaces with simple, constructed forms like Interstate, Gotham could do the job in a pinch. I also see a very DIN-ish ‘S’ among these letters.

“Easy Rider” is set in what could be considered a mascot of 1970s photocompositor type: ITC Pioneer No. 2. It manages to combine both the masculinity and the counterculture spirit of the film. I’ve always wondered about this peculiar typeface. Where did these odd shapes come from? Was there a Pioneer No. 1? I sent a list of questions to the co-designer, lettering legend Tom Carnase. I’ll update this post if and when I get a reply.

DVD menu screen for “Easy Rider” using ITC Pioneer and Compacta.

The extra bold, high contrast Didoni sets the tone for “A Safe Place”, a fantasy-laced film by idiosyncratic director Henry Jaglom. The typeface is supported by Optima and Compacta in the unconventional but appropriate design of the DVD’s on-screen menus (see below). Read more about Didoni and its kind in our piece on Established & Sons.

DVD menu screens and section of the box set book for “A Safe Place”.

In his sharp lambasting of “Bad fonts” Matthew Butterick advises lawyers not to use Bookman “unless you want your brief to look like it was printed dur­ing the Ford administration”, astutely adding, “If fonts were cloth­ing, this would be the corduroy suit.” Sorry, Times fans, but I put Cheltenham in the same category. It just feels dated and frumpy. But it’s the perfect face for “Five Easy Pieces” a 1970 film that stars a working class, sideburn sporting, corduroy coated Jack Nicholson. The ITC version is especially appropriate and is deftly handled by Miller, complete with the tight-but-not-touching spacing of the day. The hash marked five, constructed with musical staffs, is a nice touch.

Established & Sons catalog, featuring the identity designed by MadeThought.

Didoni is a mix of “fat faces” from the early 19th century and ultra bold moderns of the 1960s and ’70s — the kind of mashup that wasn’t uncommon for eccentric type maker Phil Martin. It’s also a concoction that today’s young designers find irresistible. I’ve seen a lot of high contrast serifs like Caslon Graphique, ITC Caslon 224, Pistilli Roman, and ITC Grouch in the last couple of years.

The Established & Sons identity at work at the Milan Furniture Fair in 2006. Click to enlarge.

Didoni may be the least goofy or showy of these, but it still packs a lot of personality. It has enough character, when used well, to carry a brand identity all by itself. That is the case with Established & Sons, a high-end furniture label in the UK. Despite its dated references, when combined with pristine photographs of ultra contemporary furniture, Didoni feels quite current. MadeThought created the identity in 2005 — long before the extra bold serif trend — but it’s their more recent implementation on E&S’s new website that is most impressive.

The online catalog presents one object per screen, many laid over witty phrases set in the brand typeface. This is striking on its own, but there’s an occasional element of pleasant surprise when the letters interact with the furniture, weaving between chair legs or reflecting on a glossy table.

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MadeThought created a stencilized version of Didoni for E&S’s subbrand, Estd.

AW ARDS or AWARDS?

There are just a couple of missteps in the site. First, it’s built in Flash — a mistake that can be forgiven since it was made a year ago, but it means sacrifices in load time and accessibility. The only typographic negligence is found in some of the smaller headlines where less care was taken to fix URW Didoni’s inadequate kerning.