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Boutique Lafayette

Contributed by Christopher Bergmann on Jan 17th, 2018. Artwork published in
circa 1980
.
Boutique Lafayette
Photo: Christopher Bergmann. License: All Rights Reserved.

The overall look of this shopfront gives off a 60/70s vibe, but the two typefaces do not date from the same period: The larger one in brown on yellow, Pretorian, was designed in the early 20th century. Its popularity in the late 70s and 80s is due to a faithful Letraset revival. The typeface on the windows, Mecanorma Poster, is really from the late 60s (and was popular in the 70s). The shop opened in 1980, so the signage is likely to be from that time.

Typefaces

  • Pretorian
  • Poster (Mecanorma)

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3 Comments on “Boutique Lafayette”

  1. Man, this font might as well be ITC Ziggy.

  2. It’s possible that Mecanorma Poster is also based closely on type or lettering from the same era as Pretorian.

  3. Ziggy, the two typefaces indeed have a few traits in common, like the flared stems and the curly terminals. In ITC Ziggy, these tendrils are present in almost every letter. Here’s a comparison:

    ITC Ziggy was released in 1997, but it has roots in 1960s/1970s psychedelia, see especially Photo-Lettering’s West Roma.

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