The Avalanches – Since I Left You album art
© Modular Recordings, 2000. License: All Rights Reserved.
Front cover of the album Since I Left You, by the Avalanches.
This acclaimed psychedelic, sample-heavy dance record from early 2000 uses for its album art the bold weight of a 1970s-era Art Nouveau revivalist sans called Tasman, an overlooked specimen from the Lettergraphics and Solotype catalogs. The main artwork is clipped from Fred Dana Marsh’s Sinking of the U.S.S. President Lincoln (1920).
More about this album on Discogs.
© Modular Recordings, 2000. License: All Rights Reserved.
Back cover of the album.
5 Comments on “The Avalanches – Since I Left You album art”
Thanks for this contribution, Noah!
It’s not clear to me where Tasman originated. It’s looks like a – troubled – follower of ITC Busorama or Washington. The face is shown under this name in a 1974 ad by Lettergraphics, in 3 weights. [U&lc Vol. 1 No. 3, p41] Castcraft’s Encyclopedia (1978) shows it as Touche with the same 3 weights and many alternates, and mentions it’s similar to Tasman. The Solotype catalog (1992) has it as Tasmin [sic] in 3 weights. Here’s Tasmin Bold as shown in Dan X. Solo’s Sans-Serif Display Alphabets (1979):
There are a number of (mediocre) digital interpretations including Tango (WSI, 1992) and, with more liberties, Tasmin Ref (David L. Crosby, 2009). The version used here is closer to the former, showing the same spacing issues (see the gap between Y and O), but smoother curves.
I’ve found out that Tobi of Fontastique Fonts noted the uncredited designer of Tasman: it was Paul E Tasker, who was credited in this screenshot below. This could solve the mystery!
Thank you, Jay – much appreciated! I have updated our page for Tasman and added Paul E. Tasker as the designer.
Type Designers International (TDI) was an organization formed in 1972 to license original typeface designs, following in the footsteps of the International Typeface Corporation (ITC). See the announement in Graphic Arts Monthly. It was located at the same address in Culver City, California, as Lettergraphics International – which rebranded their film products devision as Technographics/Film Fonts around 1971.
Though I have no doubt that Tasman is named after Tasker, I have to wonder if The Avalanches, being an Australian band, were perhaps drawn to the type because its name has a connection to the region.
The single cover for the song “Since I Left You” uses ITC Lubalin Graph.