Jethro Tull – “Inside” French single cover
2023 has LTR NCND. 2008 got Trixie HD. And the 1990s had the original Trixie, of course. But what about earlier decades?
In 1960, in a time when actual typewriters were still very much in use, Swiss graphic artist Walter Haettenschweiler designed an eroded typewriter face named Halbstarke Pica. Presumably he achieved the desired irregularity by working the basic letterforms with ink and white-out. A year later, the alphabet (plus numerals) was reproduced in the second volume of Lettera, the series of source books published by Niggli. The fifth revised edition from 1976 additionally co-credits Armin Haab – the editor of Lettera (from vol. 2 together with Haettenschweiler) – for the design of Halbstarke Pica.
Here it can be seen in use on the French sleeve for “Inside” by British rock band Jethro Tull, the only single from their 1970 album Benefit. The grot probably is Helvetica schmalfett, set on angle, with added contour and double accents instead of quote marks.
