Aphex Twin – Xylem Tube EP cover
Front cover
From Wikipedia:
Xylem Tube EP is an EP by the English electronic music producer Richard D. James under the pseudonym of Aphex Twin, released in June 1992 by Apollo Records [a sub-label of R&S Records]. It was his second release under the Aphex Twin alias. Xylem Tube EP was released exclusively on vinyl in June 1992.
The cover design is by Paul Nicholson a.k.a. Number 3, who in 2017 commented:
Based on the Aphex Twin logotype, this typeface was intended for the sleeve of Xylem Tube, released in June 1992. Richard and I had started working on some ideas for the sleeve, but due to miscommunication, R&S went ahead and created ‘Star Fish’ artwork. The typeface remained unused. OTF and TTF font files will be available soon.
The font named Xylem was remastered in 2015. None of the glyphs in the specimen shown below are a match for those on the cover. The title as well as the track names and the credits on the back cover are set in all-caps Chicago.
See also T-Mag’s interview with Nicholson from 2021.
Glyph set with (lowercase) glyphs and numerals
Grid and construction for the Xylem typeface
Numerals
Back cover with track list and credits
1 Comment on “Aphex Twin – Xylem Tube EP cover”
Thank you, Nathan.
It’s not clear to me if Nicholson made an actual font back in 1992, or if the cover showed (digital) lettering. His comment make it sound as if there was indeed a typeface, but that it wasn’t used at all. His Aphex Twin logotype that appears on the sleeve is obviously similar in style, but doesn’t match the typeface, at least not the 2015 version. Likewise, I haven’t found out if the remastered Xylem is available now, and if so, from where. The Number 3 website is under construction.
A.I. Fallet of the Arcana Foundry released a font named Xylem Arcana which is based on Nicholson’s work, see below. I’d be surprised if it was authorized.