Das Bertolt Brecht-Buch
Das Bertolt Brecht-Buch (“The Bertolt Brecht Book”) is an anthology with selected texts by the famous German playwright and poet who is best known for his Threepenny Opera. It was published by Deutscher Bücherbund Stuttgart in 1972.
The design of dust jacket, cover and title page is dominated by four one-word-lines set in one of the quirkiest Didones ever. The appropriately named Fat Face was drawn by Herb Lubalin and Tom Carnase, and released with ITC only two years earlier, in 1970. There is also a narrower style, known as LSC Condensed. In ITC Fat Face, the abruptness of the transition from thick to thin has been driven through the roof. In addition to the official digital version, there is also Pudgy Puss NF, a slightly differing revival by Nick Curtis.
The book was designed by Rathin Chattopadhyay, a Stuttgart-based designer who is also credited with a number of record sleeves. For many of them, Chattopadhyay used similarly notorious typefaces from the period of transfer sheet lettering – like this Rolling Stones compilation, featuring Milton Glaser’s Babyteeth.
