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Duran Duran – Seven and the Ragged Tiger album art

Contributed by Florian Hardwig on May 20th, 2023. Artwork published in .
Duran Duran – Seven and the Ragged Tiger album art 1
Source: www.flickr.com Scan: Klaus Hiltscher. License: All Rights Reserved.

Seven and the Ragged Tiger is the third studio album by the English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 21 November 1983 through EMI and Capitol Records. From Wikipedia:

The album cover was shot at the State Library of New South Wales during a lavish photoshoot with photographer Rebecca Blake. Sleeve designer Malcolm Garrett was flown in from the UK, as well as a live Bengal tiger from Melbourne to be pictured on both the album cover and upcoming tour programme. […] Garrett’s final sleeve design solely features the tiger’s eye and a small portion of its fur. Against the caramel-coloured artwork are various logos, including the band’s new DD logo, a crescent moon, a triple-X glyph and a Chinese-style antique map depicting snowy mountains and rivers […]

The typography on the front cover uses a phototype version of Banjo. This Art Deco face was designed by Maximilien Vox and first cast by French foundry Deberny & Peignot in 1930. Banjo has no lowercase, but offers narrow alternates for all letters (except I J W Æ Œ). Additional text is set in vertically stretched caps from Futura. Malcolm Garrett recalls:

It was certainly typeset, probably in Clerkenwell, London at Focus Photoset or at The Printed Word […] I think it could well be Banjo, possibly photocopied to degrade it a little. And yes, squished Futura. Ouch!! In those early days of digital typesetting we allowed ourselves to take some horrific liberties with compression and expansion! No more!

Duran Duran – Seven and the Ragged Tiger album art 2
Source: www.flickr.com Scan: Klaus Hiltscher. License: All Rights Reserved.
Duran Duran – Seven and the Ragged Tiger album art 3
Source: www.flickr.com Scan: Klaus Hiltscher. License: All Rights Reserved.
Duran Duran – Seven and the Ragged Tiger album art 4
Source: www.flickr.com Scan: Klaus Hiltscher. License: All Rights Reserved.

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  • Banjo
  • Futura

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