Arvo – “Oriental Exotique” single cover
Source: stripedsunlight.blogspot.com License: All Rights Reserved.
Front cover
“Oriental Exotique” is a single from Australian synth-pop duo Arvo’s only album, Luna, from 1984. There are two versions: a regular version backed with “You Win I Lose”, and an extended version backed with “Bikini” and “Lost at Sea”. Both use the same cover design.
The band name and song titles use the faux-Japanese font Sukiyaki, designed by Gene Eidy in 1968 and released by Lettergraphics (according to Luc Devroye).
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Back cover (regular version)
Source: stripedsunlight.blogspot.com License: All Rights Reserved.
Back cover (extended version)
1 Comment on “Arvo – “Oriental Exotique” single cover”
Nice to see a first use of Sukiyaki documented here!
Shown below is Gene Eidy original artwork, courtesy of his partner, Sara Tack, and reproduced from Luc Devroye’s website. Eidy sadly passed away in 2024.
I checked my Lettergraphics references. Sukiyaki is included in their 1976 catalog, but not in the comprehensive Golden Book from 1970. This suggests that a few years have passed between the design of Sukiyaki and its release.
In the faux Asian section – which one could describe as racist – of Solotype’s 1992 catalog, Sukiyaki is shown with the sample text “Unreadable Orient Type” – ouch.
In a way, the typeface is a spot-on choice for Arvo’s song. At the same time, I’m glad we’ve largely moved on from such cultural appropriation and othering.