Friend & Lover – Reach Out of the Darkness album art
This record cover is probably the most fitting and also the most skilled use of Davison Art Nouveau that I’ve come across so far. According to Wikipedia,
Friend & Lover was an American folk-singing duo composed of husband-and-wife team Jim and Cathy Post. The duo is best known for its hit single “Reach out of the Darkness”, which reached number 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1968.
The album containing the flower-power anthem had the same title. Art director Dick Smith used the typeface with an appropriate amount of swashiness. The more complex alternate R appears in initial position, and the two A’s in the title seem to wave at each other with their flying flags, creating a nice symmetry. The group name in pink appears to be lettering based on Davison’s design, with flaring stems and more compact forms, see for example the N and D. These modifications help fit the letterforms to the line’s organic shape, with two swashes reaching below the undulating baseline.
You can read more about Friend & Lover and listen to some of their songs on bestclassicbands.com.
