The Chubukos was an alias used by the LA-based studio group Afrique for the release of two singles. For this particular single, the B-side is a rerelease of an Afrique song of the same name, while the A-side is a novelty funk number that expands on the sound and feel of Afrique’s cover of Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa” by taking inspiration from David Seville’s chipmunk-voiced “Witch Doctor”.

The cover art for the German release of this single provides examples of two rarer typefaces: Yum-Yum is used for the artist's name, while Stagg Shaded is used for the song titles.

[More info on Discogs]

This printer’s trade card / business card from the 1870s was printed in three colors on gloss coated stock. It features five different typefaces. The bichromatic caps filled with stars and stripes are from Johnson’s National, designed by Julius Herriet, Sr. and patented 1856.

This is an exceedingly rare card, I only know of one example. Its exact date is unknown. Greenback, the bold upright cursive with split shade, was designed by Herman Ihlenburg in 1870 and patented by MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan a year later, so it can’t be any older than that. In 1879, one Robert Malcolm was publishing The Masonic Newspaper from the mentioned address at No. 49 Cedar Street, New York.

“Steam” is in Antique Extended and “New York” in italic caps from a Modern/Scotch. The grotesque used for “Near William” is unidentified.

For a second example of Civil War-era patriotic type, see the “God and Our Native Land” envelope. It features a typeface that is not exactly the same as the one shown here.

Source: www.ebay.it Photo: 3roby3 (edited). License: All Rights Reserved.

Clover was an Italian record label active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. For several of their maxi singles, they used a generic “12″ Special Disco” sleeve. The exclusively typographic design features Bronisław Zelek’s New Zelek (Mecanorma, 1974) and Colin Brignall’s Harlow (Letraset, 1977). The Clover logo seen on the label is in James H. Moore’s Moore Liberty (VGC, 1973).

The record included in the bag shown above is “Nowhere to Hide” / “Magic in the Groove” by French disco act Voyage. Label text is set in Simoncini’s Permanent.

The same design was also used by Dutch label CNR, starting in 1978. The only difference is the text “45 toeren” (Dutch for “45 rpm”). Their logo is in Microgramma. CNR also had color variants of the sleeve design.

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Source: www.discogs.com License: All Rights Reserved.

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Source: www.dba.dk License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.discogs.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.discogs.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.discogs.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.discogs.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Orbit is a close follower of Village, which was shown by Photo-Lettering in 1968 – initially as Psychedelitype 5788 – and is credited to Ed Benguiat. Orbit appears in a 1970 catalog by Lettergraphics, without credits, and is distinguished by unflared letterforms and an R with vertical leg, among other small differences.

Here we get to see Orbit in use for American Pie. The second studio album by singer-songwriter Don McLean was released by United Artists Records in October 1971.

[More info on Discogs]

Poster for a concert at Stadthalle Offenbach, Germany, on June 13, 1972, organized by Mama Concerts. The information about venue and tickets features Helvetica and Helvetica Condensed.

Re’Generation was a soul/gospel touring ensemble of a cappella singers founded and led by Derric Johnson, and active from 1970 to 1983. This album from 1972 comes with a cover designed by Bob McConnell, featuring photography by Bill Grein and a bichromatic use of Swinger Shadow, designed by Ray Cruz for Schaedler. The track names in Optima Bold are arranged around the top of the bell that encloses the photograph.

[More info on Discogs]

Two typefaces from Photo-Lettering’s library in chromatic use: the open and shaded E style of Dave Davison’s Carousel with blue top and brown bottom halves and slightly widened proportions, and Stars and Stripes – a patriotic offshoot of PLINC Madison – in red and blue, set on a circle.

Illustrator Edward Sorel’s rendition of the Great Seal of the United States depicts comedian David Frye as the (not so bald) American eagle having a tight grip on the targets of his impersonations, including Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, William F. Buckley, Hubert Humphrey, and Nelson Rockefeller.

The motto E pluribus unum is replaced by “And make no mistake about that”. The obituary for Frye published by The Record/Herald News in 2011 comments on the context of this line:

[…] his most memorable character by far was Nixon, whom Mr. Frye portrayed as a tortured soul with darting eyes, flaring brows, scowling lips and deep-seated insecurities. The longer the president stayed in office, the deeper Mr. Frye's impressions drilled into Nixon’s psyche.

“My administration has taken crime out of the streets,” Mr. Frye’s Nixon said in one Watergate-era routine, “and put it in the White House, where I can keep an eye on it.”

Mr. Frye perfected his impression by matching Nixon’s vocal tones and modulations, by adopting a few of the president’s catch phrases, such as “Let me make this perfectly clear,” and by creating a few of his own, including “I am the president, and make no mistake about that.” He practiced in front of a mirror every day.

Whether he intended it, Mr. Frye transformed nightclub mimicry into sharp-edged political satire that drew a national following. The mere title of his best-selling 1969 comedy album “I Am the President” managed to make Nixon sound both pompous and weak-kneed.

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The title sequence used in Gaspar Noé’s Cannes-selected movie Enter the Void has amazed me over the years in terms of typography and graphic design, and thanks to a friend of mine, Puz, (some of) these fonts have been identified.

It was created by Tom Kan, a Japanese designer based in Paris. From Ian Albinson’s interview with Kan for Art of the Title:

The sequence is a typographer’s wet dream (or alternatively their nightmare). How were the various fonts and characters chosen?

The choice of typefaces came rather naturally. After coming up with a large selection in line with the film’s mood, we simply chose the ones that best suited the characters and the personalities of those in the team. Gaspar wanted each title to reflect the person it concerned. It was a beautiful homage and proof of his respect for the members of the team — a way to thank them.

Many typefaces and designs did not get used because the time limit was set — the sound mix was already done and it was impossible to extend. I think we used only 60% of the designs, all in all.

Every typeface used in the sequence seems to be a reference to other famous film title or poster fonts. What was the typeface you selected for your own credit and why?

We appropriated different typefaces, but we never wanted to copy the titles from other films in an obvious way since I thought that would be misleading. For my own credit, I went in many different directions: aged typefaces in metal, Kanji and Japanese calligraphy, techno typography… In the end, I let Gaspar choose and he went with the biggest, most legible type!

Watch the title sequence on YouTube, or right below (epilepsy/flashing lights warning):

Futura Extra Bold Condensed in all caps is the primary typeface for the credits. Here it’s used in combination with Kozuka Gothic for Japanese, alongside some logos.

Music credits include Egyptienne Medium Condensed, Garamond, Eurostile, Bodoni Condensed, Neue Helvetica 93, Futura, and Helvetica Condensed. It’s unclear if the LFO logo uses a font (Disco Deck is similar) or whether it’s custom drawn.

In addition to Futura Extra Bold Condensed, the logos of the production and distribution companies feature Euphoric (Wild Bunch) and Futura Extra Bold (Fidelité).

Producer credits feature FB Agency, Kozuka Gothic, ITC Machine, Futura Display, stretched and slanted Woodblock, and Antique Olive Nord

The names of the co-producers are set in Egyptienne Medium Condensed, Univers Ultra Condensed, Futura, an unidentified font similar to Crown Title, two unidentified stencil(ed) fonts, and Trajan.

More Egyptienne Medium Condensed for Suzanne Girard

Manager credits feature Haettenschweiler, Council, Neue Helvetica Extended (?), Clarendon, Pump Triline, Fiorello, Eurostile, Thorowgood Sans Shaded, and Futura Condensed.

The name of location manager Masahiro Hondo in Glaser Stencil serves as a mask.

Bank Gothic with rainbow glow effect for Lucio Tomaro

Photography credits with slanted Bank Gothic (Benoît Debie), bold italic City with added and extended top and baseline serifs (Gaspar Noé), TFAvian (Akira Kanno), outlined Futura (Yasushi Miyata), Bell Gothic (Jacques Bernier), and Franklin Gothic Extra Condensed (Yves Le Peillet)

Art credits featuring an unidentified blocky unicase face with 3D bevel effect similar to Mark (Marc Caro), FF Vortex (Kikuo Ohta), another unidentified blocky sans (Jean Carrière), and Zeppelin (Nicoletta Massone)

The dripping letters for Tony Crosbie appear to be custom(ized) – Shlop is a similar ready-made font.

Sound and editor credits with Eurostile (Ken Yasumoto), stretched Ironwood (Ryotaro Harada), contoured Nasalization (Claude Lahaye), an upright LCD typeface, probably Digital (Thomas Bangalter), a heavily modified Sonic or another font inspired by the Star Trek TNG logo (Lars Ginzel), Galledis with hyperextended lines (Gaspar Noé), modified SF Archery Black (Marc Boucrot), Zaius, a typeface family emulating the Planet of the Apes movie series logo (Jerome Pesnel), and ITC Machine (Pierre Buffin).

The fonts used for these cards include an unidentified inline face similar to Rubaiyat and Gothicum (Geoffroy Niquet), SF Archery Black (Yann de Cadoudal), OCR-A (Nicolas Delval), Mexcellent (Xavier Allard), fractured caps from a bold sans, possibly Compacta Black (Julien Aullas), Synchro (Bastien Laurent), Helvetica Rounded Bold Condensed (Anne-Sophie Bertrand), and an unidentified squarish sans similar to SB Carbon, Resistance Is Lowered or Apollo Rocket (Loris Paillier).

City Bold, slanted, with double contour and extended baseline serifs, for Tom Kan, Director of Typography

Gaspar Noé in outlined caps from Futura Extra Bold Condensed, without accent on the E

The blackletter typeface chosen for Lucile Hadžihalilović is Linotext (or Mariage, Wedding Text) with some modifications: e and c got bottom serifs and the swash in v was moved from the left to the right stem,

Paz de la Huerta gets various typographic treatments, including Eagle (in a weight between Bold and Black), Futura Dot with Citadel Script, outlined Egyptienne Bold Extended, and ITC Neon.

The Japanese transcription of Paz dela Huerta’s name (パス・デ・ラ・ウエルタ) appears to be Hiragino Maru Gothic or similar, with added contour.

Nathaniel Brown’s name is shown in Pump, ITC Bolt, Aachen, West Barnum Block filled with stars and stripes, and ITC Lubalin Graph Demi.

The fonts chosen for Cyril Roy include Aachen, American Text, Monotype Garamond, and at least two Japanese ones.

The MICR-inspired face used for Olly Alexander is handmade, as confirmed byo Tom Kan. Other fonts include Compacta and all-caps ITC Bolt.

The fonts used for Masato Tanno are Akzidenz-Grotesk Stencil and Ainsdale. The others are yet unidentified.

Gothicum and a (custom?) stencil version of Aachen for Ed Spear, Helvetica Rounded and Neue Helvetica 95 for Emily Alyn Lind, more Helvetica Rounded, an unidentified Japanese font, and Eagle for Jesse Kuhn and Nobu Imai

More ITC Neon and Helvetica Rounded for Sakiko Fukuhara. The bitmap font is 04b_08.

Sarah Stockbridge is set in Haettenschweiler with hyper-extended glyphs).

The names of Janice Sicotte-Beliveau and Stuart Miller are shown in Cooper Black, Impact Wide, Monterey and ITC Officina Serif, Braggadocio, Fiedler Gothic, and Blackoak.

Yemi Carol is presented in Impact Wide, Helvetica Rounded, and a Japanese Maru Gothic. The font shown at the bottom right is unidentified.

Several of the fonts used for Gaspar Noé’s name are yet unidentified. This includes alll fonts in the top row and the left one in the second row, which is similar to Moore Computer and Data 70. Other fonts include ITC Lubalin Graph, Futura Extra Bold Condensed, and Eagle.

The second book by Gerald Jay Goldbert (1929–2020), The National Standard was first published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in 1968, with a jacket design by Milton Glaser.

Shown here is a different edition; Ballantine’s paperback from 1972, with uncredited layout and typography. Alex Gnidziejko provided the cover art. Title and author name feature Jazzbeau, released in the early 1970s as part of Photo-Lettering’s Decotypes. The synopsis is set in Vogue with its alternate monocular a.

The 1977 Alphabet Yearbook celebrates “Photo-Lettering, Inc.’s 40th year of service to the advertising and graphic arts industry”: the New York phototypesetting company founded by Ed Rondthaler first opened its doors for business in 1936.

The Yearbook was designed by Ed Benguiat, PLINC’s Type Director, with assistance from Tom Vasiliow. Most pages comprise the usual mix of one-line samples and exemplary settings. For page 99, though, the designers had some fun, and did a parody of the opening lines of The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, a.k.a. the United Stated Declaration of Independence, from July 4, 1776:

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to use bicentennial alphabets, Photo-Lettering Incorporated presents the largest selection available. We hold these alphabet styles to be

After thirteen lines – one for each of the founding states – the continuous sample text breaks off, but it’s self-evident how it continues.

Benguiat and Vasiliow used eleven styles from nine typefaces, all set in all caps, stacked and justified. Some of the more topical alphabets with stars and stripes were issued in the late 1960s, possibly in anticipation of the United States Bicentennial in 1976. Others are much older: Eighteen Ninety, Carousel and Eventide go back to the first half of the 20th century. The oldest design is Algonquin – it was first cast by the Dickinson Type Foundry in Boston around 1888.

From top to bottom, the featured styles are:

Brave and Free (uncredited, possibly derived from an existing plain style, before 1970)
Pacella Cobbler Shaded A (Vincent Pacella, late 1960s)
Cavanagh Eighteen Ninety (John Albert Cavanagh, before 1950, stretched)
Gonzales Pioneer Shaded (Francisco Gonzales, 1969)
Pacella Cobbler (Vincent Pacella, late 1960s)
Davison Carousel G (Dave Davison, before 1950)
Papirtis Washington (Charles Papirtis, 1967)
Pacella Monitor (Vincent Pacella, a variant of Cordina with stars and stripes, c.1968)
Carlyle Eventide (Paul Carlyle, c.1938)
Gonzales Pioneer A (Francisco Gonzales, 1969)
Algonquin Shaded (a.k.a. Algonquin Ornamented, John F. Cumming, c.1888)

A graphic track list released for Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album alternates between Resistenza’s handwritten uppercase Sandwich Marker and Linotype’s Anzeigen-Grotesk. Beyonce name is set in Rise Bold, with squeezed letterforms. Tri Kuncoro’s slab serif is similar to the one used on the ribbon worn by Beyoncé on the album’s front cover.

[More info on Discogs]

The publication Abdias Nascimento: A Panamefrican Artist, from MASP (São Paulo Museum of Art), stands as a comprehensive compilation, presenting the most extensive collection of the artist's works ever published. The core content is printed on two distinct paper types: an uncoated variant for the textual components and a thicker, coated paper employed in the portfolio of paintings and the opening section, showcasing posters crafted by the artist.

Each text page is framed in red, seamlessly extending to the book's edges, effectively delineating various sections within the catalog. The design incorporates the geometric sans-serif open-source font Lineal for titles, drawing inspiration from symbols found in African-origin religions, which are recurrent themes in the artist's body of work. Signifier, the brutalist font employed for texts, credits, and subtitles, also establishes a subtle connection with the artwork, with its geometric serifs and raw finish, while embodying an overall sense of elegance and readability.

Designed with a bilingual approach, the book offers two cover options, emphasizing its inclusive nature. The incorporation of the Brazilian and American flags not only serves as a visual representation but also underscores the catalog's focus on the artist's significant contributions in both countries. This thoughtful design choice adds depth to the narrative, highlighting Abdias Nascimento's impactful presence and influence in diverse cultural contexts.

The book was one of the winners of the AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2022.

Front cover. Baby Teeth’s staircase E is echoed in the brown door.

1970 double album by American comedian and activist Dick Gregory (1932–2017). Words from Dusty Groove:

Dick Gregory at his most righteous – recorded live at the Bronx Community College, and speaking on topics that include The Black Panthers, the Chicago 7, Black Power, Money, Patriots, Riots, and “Checking Out Whites”. Less funky than political – which actually makes it a lot more compelling than Gregory’s early work.

For the album art, Milton Glaser used the Opaque style (without counters) of his own Baby Teeth. The front cover shows the face of Frankenstein’s monster in a small window. On the gatefold, the creature is shown in full, dressed in stars and stripes, and now leaving his prison cell through the opened door. This picture was reproduced as a large foldout poster (34.2″×22.4″) that was included with the album.

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Gatefold

Back cover with track list and credits in reversed Futura

Poster

Cover with a sticker advertising “Milton Glaser’s giant Frankenstein poster”

In the words of Mike Parker, Ultra Bodoni (1928) is the result of Morris F. Benton working out the dramatics of the English Fat Face, starting from a Bruce Foundry recutting. ATF’s “headline spectacular” is used in roman and italic for an album by Tennessee Ernie Ford (1919–1991) with songs from the American Civil War, released by Capitol Records in 1961. Ford also recorded an album with Songs of the South, with a similar design.

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Eightway in red and blue and with stars and stripes, in the patriotic cover design for an album performed by comedian, impressionist and voice actor Rich Little (b. 1938). Edited and directed by Michael M. Taylor, it is based on material put together by W.C. Fields prior to the 1940 United States presidential election and was released coinciding with the 1972 election. Intended as a series of comedy speeches parodying the political campaigning, Fields published his original script as a book in 1940, titled Fields for President.

The second typeface used on the cover is Akzidenz-Grotesk extra, a bold condensed style added to Berthold’s library in 1958. A digitization is available from CastleType as Standard CT Condensed ExtraBold.

Artwork by David Stone Martin.

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The back cover features Eightway Soutwest Shaded without color fill. Track list and liner notes (by editor Michael M. Taylor) are set in Times New Roman. Helvetica is used for the caption, Optima for the fine print.

Umbra 27 is one of those phototype typefaces that can withstand stretching, as was common in the 1970s–80s. For this book of Bernard Plossu photos, the in-house designer at Éditions du Chêne pulled “WEST” as wide as the open spaces of the American frontier.

Front Cover

Long. Live. A$AP is the debut studio album from American rapper A$AP Rocky, with guest appearances from Schoolboy Q, Santigold, OverDoz, Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz, Drake, Big K.R.I.T, and others. It was released on January 15, 2013 by ASAP Worldwide, Polo Grounds Music and RCA Records.

The album was supported by four singles – “Goldie”, “Fuckin’ Problems”, “Wild For The Night” and “Fashion Killa” as well as the title song, “Long. Live. ASAP”, featuring rappers Schoolboy Q and Danny Brown.

The cover shows A$AP Rocky wearing an American flag, with a glitch effect superimposed on the black-and-white photo by Phil Knott. The artist’s name and the title are set in capital letters, accentuated by a black band to distinguish it from the photo. We find Alternate Gothic also on the back, where the track list uses the same principle of highlighting. The exact version appears to be Bitstream’s Alternate Gothic No. 2, which is distinguished from other digitizations by a dollar sign ($) with an uninterrupted vertical bar. Unlike the cover, the records themselves are yellow, yielding a nice contrast with the photo and the title.

The choice of a white title on a black background with a classic typography is a judicious choice considering the very detailed background image. This title band creates a contrast with the background image and gives it a strong impact despite its simple layout and design.

This album is very well known in rap for its musicality but also for its creative direction. It’s part of the rap covers directed by Virgil Abloh in the 2010s (here together with RCA’s Erwin Gorostiza). Other cover designs of his from this period include Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Lil Wayne’s I Am Not A Human Being II. Abloh’s presence on the album is not surprising given the expectation of this first solo album and its importance in the American rap scene, and subsequently its international impact. Joe Perez frequently collaborated on the projects by Virgil Abloh, and is here credited with art direction and design.

[More info on Discogs]

Back cover

Vinyl record

Vinyl record

“Fashion Killa” single cover

“Wild For The Night” single cover

This graphic was widespread among anti-war and countercultural movements of the 1970s. While it’s not clear who executed the original design, the concept may have come from advertising photographer Bill Stettner, whose friend Peter Adams wrote to us as at Letterform Archive:

I have always understood the poster to be his idea […] Bill was full of political ideas and was definitely involved with badges and buttons at the time. I think the design was also intended for a button.

The hand-cut letters of “We won’t stand…” are based on Cooper Black, a typeface frequently seen in both commerce and counterculture. Lowercase text disrupts the traditionally even height of the flag’s stripes, while the ragged right edge adds a tattered effect. The repeating lettershapes on an uneven baseline, and flipped w in “won’t”, indicate that the source of the letters was transfer type or photographic reproduction, rather that hand lettering.

The U.S. flag has long provided artists a canvas for protest. Its simple, graphic iconography serves as a foil for the nation’s more complicated past and present. This piece is among several stars-and-stripes reinterpretations that appear in Strikethrough: Typographic Messages of Protest, a Letterform Archive exhibition opening July 23, 2022.

Warren Chappell’s Trajanus in brown, for a student hardback edition of American History for Today by Margaret Stimmann Branson and Edward E. France; with contributions by Norman Adams, Ernest Sawtelle, and Richard E. Harrison; published by Ginn & Co. in 1970.

Two originals from the Photo-Lettering library used together on the cover of American Tour by British pop rock sensation The Dave Clark Five, released by Epic Records in August 1964. This was the band’s third U.S. album released within six months. See also their first one from March 1964, Glad All Over.

The Gothic caps decorated with stars and stripes are from Norton Dandy. This face – here printed in two colors, red and blue – is part of a pair drawn by S.E. Norton, Norton Dandy & Yankee. In Dandy, the stripes in the bottom half are horizontal. In Yankee, they’re vertical. James Fordyce made a freebie digitization of the latter. His Stars & Stripes (1994) isn’t 100% faithful in all details, cf. C or M.

The band name is set in West Behemoth, a formidable Clarendon drawn by Dave West in 1960. In 2009, Martin Wenzel made a digitization for the reincarnation of Photo-Lettering, Inc., now available from House Industries under the name Plinc Behemoth.

[More info on Discogs]

Back cover with liner notes by John Mahan, then Epic’s manager of East Coast promotion, set in Optima, and the track list in right-aligned caps from News Gothic

Paul Whiteman Conducts George Gershwin Paul Whiteman, with Leonard Pennario as a solo pianist. Rhapsody in Blue on the A side, the B side has An American in Paris. First released in 1952 with a different cover, the image shows a later pressing from 1962. The cover design references the colors of the U.S. flag (and of the French Tricolour), featuring stacked and staggered lines in all-caps Inserat-Grotesk, with the remaining white space filled with stars.

[More info on Discogs]