Source: www.flickr.comUploaded to Flickr by Bart Solenthaler and tagged with “charteroak”. License: All Rights Reserved.
“Expressions” (No. 240) ft. tightly spaced Charter Oak.
Source: www.flickr.comUploaded to Flickr by Bart Solenthaler and tagged with “profil”. License: All Rights Reserved.
“Mail” (No. 241) ft. Profil. The subline here uses a bolder weight from ITC Avant Garde Gothic, to avoid a too great contrast in weight next to the chunky shadowed slab serif. Illustration by Tom Sawyer.
Source: www.flickr.comUploaded to Flickr by Bart Solenthaler and tagged with “cooperblack”. License: All Rights Reserved.
“Holidays” (No. 242) ft. all-caps Goudy Heavyface Italic, paired with the similar (and earlier) Cooper Black Italic, here distinguished by swash caps.
Source: www.flickr.comUploaded to Flickr by Bart Solenthaler and tagged with “novelgothic”. License: All Rights Reserved.
Source: www.flickr.comUploaded to Flickr by Bart Solenthaler and tagged with “futuradot”. License: All Rights Reserved.
“Couples” (No. 569) ft. slanted Futura Dot. The addition “20th Anniversary issue” suggests that Volk was founded in 1952 or 1953. The oldest booklets published in Bart Solenthaler’s collection are from 1954.
Source: www.flickr.comUploaded to Flickr by Bart Solenthaler and tagged with “buxom” and “itcavantgardegothic”. License: All Rights Reserved.
“Transportation” (No. 572) ft.Buxom. Just like in “Mail” (No. 241, see above), the weight of “Clip Book of Line Art” is increased to hold up against the heavyweight.
Source: www.flickr.comUploaded to Flickr by Bart Solenthaler and tagged with “unclebill”. License: All Rights Reserved.
Forget that comment about Helvetica… The “Clip Book of Line Art” portion of the Occupations cover is actually set in Akzidenz-Grotesk. Admittedly, both of those faces look very similar to each other when their key differences aren’t shown.
Actually, I’m sorry if this seems a bit spammy, but upon further inspection, I noticed a few things that make it seem that Helvetica is being used instead of Akzidenz-Grotesk, such as the lowercase p and the lowercase k. The former has a shorter leg on the p than the latter. I suppose Akzidentz happen every now and then on this website. (Pun totally intended)
In principle, Akzidenz-Grotesk has diagonal terminals e.g. in c or e, whereas Helvetica features horizontal terminals. When you suggested AG, I checked for this detail and looked no further. What complicates things is that there isn’t just one AG, or one Helvetica. In the original foundry AG, differences across the sizes are huge.
I checked a Filmomaster catalog, and lo and behold: Their adaptation of Helvetica (as HL) deviates from the original in exactly this detail, and exhibits an angled terminal. It also has the slight flaring present in the sample. Filmomaster’s AG (labeled SR after the American name, Standard) has an e that’s different, with a very small aperture. It also features round dots, unlike in Berthold’s original design.
Glad we could sort this out. Filmomaster’s Helvetica it is. Thanks, Bryson!
5 Comments on “Clip Books of Line Art, Volk (1972)”
I can see Helvetica usage on the Occupations cover (the “Clip Book of Line Art” portion, to be exact).
Forget that comment about Helvetica… The “Clip Book of Line Art” portion of the Occupations cover is actually set in Akzidenz-Grotesk. Admittedly, both of those faces look very similar to each other when their key differences aren’t shown.
Right you are! Added.
Actually, I’m sorry if this seems a bit spammy, but upon further inspection, I noticed a few things that make it seem that Helvetica is being used instead of Akzidenz-Grotesk, such as the lowercase p and the lowercase k. The former has a shorter leg on the p than the latter. I suppose Akzidentz happen every now and then on this website. (Pun totally intended)
In principle, Akzidenz-Grotesk has diagonal terminals e.g. in c or e, whereas Helvetica features horizontal terminals. When you suggested AG, I checked for this detail and looked no further. What complicates things is that there isn’t just one AG, or one Helvetica. In the original foundry AG, differences across the sizes are huge.
These booklets from the 1970s weren’t printed from metal type. Volk used some phototype adaptation. Filmotype is a likely candidate, as many of their originals were put to use on the clip book covers.
I checked a Filmomaster catalog, and lo and behold: Their adaptation of Helvetica (as HL) deviates from the original in exactly this detail, and exhibits an angled terminal. It also has the slight flaring present in the sample. Filmomaster’s AG (labeled SR after the American name, Standard) has an e that’s different, with a very small aperture. It also features round dots, unlike in Berthold’s original design.
Glad we could sort this out. Filmomaster’s Helvetica it is. Thanks, Bryson!