Brignall joined Letraset in London as photographic technician and junior stencil-cutter in 1963. After he designed Octopuss for Letraset in 1970, he left the company and spent three years at Graphic Systems. There, he designed the similar but somewhat streamlined Madeleine for their Rapitype brand, together with a shaded variant seen here. The face was subsequently licensed and distributed by Letraset competitor Mecanorma. In 1974, Brignall returned to Letraset, now as senior type designer. In the same year, he designed Octopuss Shaded.