Source: archive.org License: All Rights Reserved.

The Inland Printer, published in Chicago, was perhaps the best record of early 20th-century American graphic design. “Specimens” (later “Specimen Review”) was a regular feature in which printers submitted their best work with the hope to be selected and critiqued by J. L. Frazier, editor of the journal. Alexander S. Lawson remembered it this way:

During his 47-year tenure in assembling “Specimen Review,” J. L. praised his contributors most of the time, but he could be caustic on occasion, blasting shoddy work without hesitation. He was particularly annoyed by stunt typography, coining the term “cockroach typography” to describe some of the excesses in style and legibility which came to his attentive mind.

It was rare, however, that J.L. simply panned a piece of typography out of hand. In almost every instance, he attempted to criticize constructively and with painstaking detail. He had all of the attributes of a first-rate teacher—always seeking to instruct and improve, and of course, to share his love for the world of print with anyone who would listen.

Month after month, Frazier was the recipient of printed material from every part of the United States and from many foreign countries. He carefully selected a number for reproduction. In addition, he commented editorially on 30 to 40 items, discussing them in detail.

In this October 1917 edition, Frazier selected the work of Oscar F. Jackson based in Lansing, Michigan. “Your work is clever.” he said. “The specimens set in the new Publicity Gothic are particularly effective.”

Source: archive.org Smithsonian Libraries at Internet Archive. License: All Rights Reserved.

Jackson’s ad for Superior Typesetting Co. is reproduced above, likely in different colors than its original. At first I thought Jackson did some clever custom cut for the overlapping “ST” in “Installs”, but it turns out that ligature was included in Barnhart Bros. & Spindler’s font.

Source: www.flickr.com Scan by Stephen Coles. License: All Rights Reserved.

Detail from the Publicity Gothic specimen in Barnhart Bros. & Spindler’s Catalog 23.

Designed in 1916 and released by 1917 (the same year as this use), Publicity Gothic is one of the first typefaces to emulate the bold, rough-edged “poster” or “block” lettering style sparked by Germany’s Plakatstil movement. It beat the heaviest weight of Berthold’s Block by three years.

An advertising card design shown in the Printers International Specimen Exchange, Vol. XIV, 1893. Printed letterpress with extensive usage of bent brass rules. Though not typical of the genre, it should be considered work in the artistic printing movement category.

“Tipo-Litografiche” is in Bijou (1883), “Milano” and “Telefono N. 143” in caps from Unique Celtic (1889), and the address in Chaucer (1883). The thin typeface chosen for the company name itself is yet unidentified.

Giovanni Ricordi founded his internationally known music publishing company in Milan, Italy, in 1808. He was hired by Teatro alla Scala in 1814, and in 1825 purchased the entire La Scala library. In 1839, he published Verdi's first opera. The company in 1893 was headed by Giovanni's grandson Giulio. Ricordi remains very much in business today.

This composition, to me, could be mistaken for a modern, contemporary design.

Spanish branding studio Wozere created the new identity of Monasterio de San Francisco, a hotel located in Palma del Río near Córdoba and Sevilla.

They chose to gather a palette of textures, soft tones, and memories that guided the creation of a visual universe where the brand’s identity can truly come to life.

The curvy calligraphic logotype in Miss Fajardose is combined with a discreet use of PoW Limerick for the initials, as well as some of its vignettes. The condensed serif is Editorial New.

The Cottrell & Babcock Manufacturing Company was founded in 1855 in Stonington, Connecticut. In 1880, Nathan Babcock purchased the shares of co-founder Calvert Cottrell and set up a new printing press manufactory together with his nephew George Fenner. Renamed the Babcock Printing Press Manufacturing Company, it was moved to New London. Around 1886, Babcock introduced the two-revolution “Optimus” press. From Steve Fithian’s 2024 article for Otis Library:

The Optimus became the new industry standard for the production of high quality printing. Harper & Bros. of New York used the Optimus exclusively to print their popular and influential periodicals, Harpers Weekly and Harper’s Monthly magazine. By 1899, the company’s strong commercial success allowed for the expansion of the employee base to 250 men occupying 180,000 square feet of factory floor. During the period between 1883 and 1919, the company sold over 7,000 printing presses to businesses in every state of the Union with a global market that included Canada, Mexico, Europe and parts of Asia.

In their Handy Book of Artistic Printing from 2009, Doug Clouse and Angela Voulangas date the advertising card shown above to 1886. All the linework—including curves—were done up in brass rules, along with the metal type fleurons and dingbats. The main typefaces are Mother Hubbard (1885) for “‘Optimus’ Press” and “New York Office” and Latin Condensed (1873) with initials from Ideal (1884) for “The Babcock Printing Press Mfg. Company”. The then freshly introduced Art Gothic (1886) is used with caps from Mother Hubbard for “Drum Cylinder”, “Stop Cylinder” and “Two Revolution”. “Lithographic” and the New York address are set in Old Style Extended (by 1884). There are a couple of unidentified typefaces, including a generic gothic. The inclined sans probably is Gothic Italic (see Halbfette Cursiv-Grotesque).

The colored card shown below followed in 1887. Its design also features Mother Hubbard. The wide typeface used for “Babcock” and, in mixed case, for “Drum Cylinder / Stop Cylinder / Two-Revolution / Lithographic” is Bowl, shown by Farmer the same year.

For both cards A. J. Smith was the compositor, with the printing firm of John P. Smith in Rochester, NY.

Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by altpapiersammler and tagged with “fleischmanngotisch”. License: All Rights Reserved.

Otto Hendel (1820–1898) was a German publisher in Halle/Saale who took over the publishing house and book store founded by his grandfather Johann Christian Hendel (1742–1823) in 1768. In 1886, he founded the Bibliothek der Gesamt-Litteratur, “to make the best of the literary works produced by civilized nations, both past and present, available to the German people in attractive and affordable editions.” After thirty years, the library had grown to include 2,165 volumes.

Shown here is a translation of William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, published around 1890. Title and author’s name are set in two sizes of Fleischmann-Gotisch. Cut by Johann Fleischmann in the mid-18th century and known at Enschedé as Duits (or Duyts), it was later recut at Flinsch as Fleischmann-Gotisch and at Krebs as Holländische Gotisch. The word “von” is added in some Schwabacher. The grotesk caps used for the publisher’s name probably are custom drawn.

Source: archive.org License: All Rights Reserved.

McNeil Bros. was a San Jose printer specializing in labels. Their 1885 catalog, Specimens of Druggist Labels…, is an explosion of eccentric type and ornament in fancy frames, offering hundreds of examples of artistic printing from the real world. This label combines seven very different display faces. The shaded ornaments pair well with the title type, Italic Copperplate, a design so elaborate it could be mistaken for custom engraving.

Source: archive.org License: All Rights Reserved.

Italic Copperplate shown in MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan’s 1891 catalog.

Most of the type in the McNeil Bros. shop was likely procured from the largest local foundry, Palmer & Rey in San Francisco. The company didn’t originate many (if any) type designs of their own, but they did supply the West Coast with novelties from Cincinnati, New York’s Conner, and Philadelphia’s MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan, all of which are represented on this label.

Source: archive.org License: Public Domain.

Pen Text, as shown in Palmer & Rey’s 1884 catalog (printed the year before the McNeil Bros. book that features the above label). In this copy of the specimen book held at the University of California, someone tried sketching a few characters in the ronde script style.

Illyricvm is a European historical-adventure film, co-written and directed by Simon Bogojević-Narath. From IMDb:

The year is 37 BC. A young Liburnian Volsus is taken by a Roman unit to help in what at first seems a simple task of collecting taxes, but the encounters with local Illyrian tribes soon lead to unexpected turns of events, as they show more resilience to subjugation than meets the eye. We see their archaic, emotional world of quaint and brutal laws and traditions through the eyes of this youngster, regarded by the Romans as a primitive barbarian, and gradually come to understand that their world is not all that different from our own.

Design for the film was done by Andro Giunio who used Rector for everything from the poster to the title credits.

The Kingfall typeface is used for headlines, initials, and chapter decorations of the manual book for the tabletop role-playing game from Mendercap. Dwellers Under the High Grave is a 56-page setting for the Ironsworn family of games, and Sundered Isles in particular. It draws inspiration from the early modern history, folklore and landscapes of Ukraine. Writing and layout by Michael Chumak, with illustrations by Roman Dubina. The text typeface is Equity.

This compilation album with twenty hits by artists such as Jerry Butler, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Ray Sharpe, Marvin & Johnny, The Dubs, and The Innocents was released around 1962 by Mark-FI Records in Hollywood, California.

The cover was printed in two colors, pink and black, with the title shown in Jim Crow. The big “20” at the top left is lettering based on this octagonal open and shaded sans with stripe fill. “Twenty hit oldies” is in Figaro and “by the stars who made them famous!!!!!!!!” in Filmotype Windsor. The side headings are in another Filmotype release, the wide railroad slab Western. The names of songs and artists are set in Consort, using mostly the condensed width.

[More info on Discogs]

Cover of the mono release, with the number (LM-2896) at the bottom, in Akzidenz-Grotesk

Julian Bream (1933–2020) was an English classical guitarist and lutenist. In the fall of 1965 he recorded an album with his interpretation of the Lute Suites that Johann Sebastian Bach composed in the first half of the 18th century. It was released by RCA Red Seal in 1966.

The uncredited cover designer selected a typeface from the late 19th century. With the exuberance of decorative tendrils, it may still be described as baroque. It’s Nymphic, designed by Herman Ihlenburg and first cast in 1889 by MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan. Or rather, it’s Xenotype 3799, a phototype revival of Nymphic made at Photo-Lettering in the first half of the 1960s. The spacing is decidedly of its time: tight-not-touching – much tighter than what was possible with metal type in previous decades.

[More info on Discogs]

For the stereo release, the number (LSC-2896) was moved to the top, pushing the typographic composition down. “Stereo” is added in all-caps Venus Extended.

A sample of 18 point Nymphic as it was presented in Inland Printer, volume 7, issue 2, from November 1889, here with its lowercase characters and the alternate oversized display caps, or initials. The four arrow-spoked asterisk used on the album cover can be found back as well.

The first page of a large 480-page catalog advertising goods offered by Feldheim, Gotthelf & Co., an Australian importer of “British, Continental and American Merchandise”. Founded in the 1850s, the company entered a period of growth starting with a new warehouse in 1892. This catalog, published around 1905, offers an extensive window into essentially the entire breadth of goods available to Australian households at the time. The company entered a period of decline a few years later due to partners retiring from business, and in 1924 began the process of shutting down the company which concluded in 1927.

The catalog is set in a smorgasbord of period typefaces. The shown page features Facade for the company’s name, followed by Maltese Shaded, Condensed Sans Serifs Italic (see Condensed & Elongated Sans Serifs), Grotesque No. 4A, and Reed’s Runic Extended (for “Sydney”). “On Sale” is in DeVinne Ornamental and the list of items in De Vinne. The caps used for the name and location shown integrated in the red border are from Concave. Some of the typefaces used for smaller text are yet unidentified.

Byte magazine, issue #4, December 1975

Bill Godbout was something of a pioneer in the early microcomputer movement of the 1970s, and his firm Bill Godbout Electronics was a commercial vehicle selling discount and surplus electronics and microcomputer components. Bill Godbout Electronics was a regular advertiser in the early issues of the seminal BYTE magazine. Issue #4 is the first Christmas issue and features a 2-pager from Bill Godbout Electronics that mixes a large number of fonts in a style typical of both this era and this advertiser.

“Bill Godbout Electronics” is in Wexford. I think the “CAVE grafix” is lettering, but the first word may be based on Koloss (see further below). “Wish you a joyous holiday season” and so in is in Davida. “If you are into toyful tinkering” and so on is in outlined Cooper Black.

“Son-of-a Cheap Clock” is in Tonight, and above it “We have a successor to our very popular ‘Cheap Clock Kit’!” is in Script (for the IBM Selectric; see also the body fonts, glossed below). The price, $14.50, is in Umbra. Both Script and Umbra are used on the following page.

Windsor is used for “they also make great gifts” (on the curve) and the following text. “Electronic Projects for Musicians” is Reklameschrift Herold. Below the decorative band, “EROM board special offer” is in Helvetica, outlined and with a South shadow.

“4K x 8 pre-programmed for 8080” is in an outline style of a somewhat Microgramma-like font that I couldn’t identify that is also used on the second page.

On the second page, “Bigger & Better” is in Skin & Bones (using two alternates for G, but not for E). “Pace 16 bit chip set” is in Koloss. “1 Pace 16 bit CPU” and other text on and under the curve is the previously mentioned and unidentified outline Microgramma-lookalike.

“Pace Data Packet” is Advertisers Gothic (using the A without a top flag). “4K x 8 RAM kit” is in Umbra. “EROM board kit” is in Rock Opera. The “8K x 8” and so on again is in Wexford. “There’s more ... We have” is in Monogram.

The body text (and some secondary and subtitle text) is typewritten in a variety of fonts, and I did a much better job of identifying those, all available on the IBM Selectric:

On the first page the text for the clock, starting “BIGGER DIGITS” is in Artisan. “By Craig Anderton” (the author of “Electronic Projects for Musicians”) is in Orator (probably, in any case Orator is used on the next page).

The text for the Craig Anderton blurb is Adjutant, I think. Delegate and Adjutant are very similar with only slight differences in weight and thick/thin contrast, but they have different pitches: Adjutant is 12 characters per inch, and is tighter than Delegate at 10. The text block at the bottom of the first page, starting “By special arrangement”, is in Bookface Academic.

On the second page, below “Pace 16 bit”, the text starting “This chip set gets you into PACE” is in Manifold. The word “PACE” itself is in another font (the Selectric had a feature where you could switch type-balls and still retain the cursor position), possibly Pica. Manifold is again used for the bottom paragraph starting “READOUTS, LEDS, TRANSISTORS”. Below “Pace Data Packet”, “Since we started advertising” is Orator. Below “4K x 8 RAM”, “Note the lower price” looks like Prestige Elite.

Below “EROM BOARD”, the text starting “Now you can stuff up to 8K” initially had me stumped, but I think I have tracked it down. The small caps in place of little letters, made me think of Orator, which it isn’t; the o is distinctly squaroid and reminded me of the output of the IBM lineprinters, such as the 1403. It turns out that the IBM Selectric has a typeball called AN3/360 which the 1972 brochure specifically says matches the AN3 style available on IBM’s lineprinters.

At the bottom of the second page, to the right of the wordmark, the payment and terms text starting “YOU MAY PLACE MASTERCHARGE® OR BANKAMERICARD® ORDERS” is in Script.

I've just found this magazine from Peru in Budapest, only God knows why.

Textual is the journal of the Peruvian National Institute of Culture. Concerned with literature, humanities, and arts, it was published between 1971 and 1975. CEDOC (Centro de Documentación de la Biblioteca Central UNMSM) has digitizations of all ten issues. The logo is based on Amelia, in lowercase letters and with filled-in counters.

Number 9 is dedicated to philosopher, educator and journalist Augusto Salazar Bondy (1925–1974). Display typefaces used in this issue include Michel, Thalia, and Ludlow Garamond. Body text is set in Helvetica and Permanent, with drop caps from Neo Script.

Thalia with enlarged and descending caps

Colophon (left) and a black-and-white version of Salazar Bondy’s portrait as seen on the cover (right)

All-caps Michel and Thalia in mixed case

More Michel caps combined with pre-Columbian symbols

Text in Helvetica is printed on top of the title in reversed caps from Michel

A mix of caps and lowercase letters from Thalia for “Educación”

This creature apparently is a raptorial bird as depicted by members of the Chavín culture

Spread with drop caps from Neo Script

Detail from the colophon, with text set in two weights of Permanent

Rotated Ludlow Garamond for “Bibliografía”

La Pierrot is a drag performance evening at the crossroads of cabaret, clowning, and melancholy, taking place on December 4, 2025, at Le Grand Huit in Rennes. Conceived by Bleu Déclin, the event also brings together Fragile de France and Anne-Marie Kondom for three performance sets with distinctive aesthetics, exploring extravagant, sensitive, and hybrid figures.

Envisioned as a suspended moment, La Pierrot draws on the imagery of contemporary cabaret and the sad clown, blending humor, poetry, and vulnerability. The scenography and characters are part of a strong visual exploration, in which costume, makeup, and the body become graphic mediums in their own right.

The evening is part of the Fulmine creators’ market.

Visual identity for Terra Alta, a new flower shop and atelier in Manresa. Inspired by classical Catalan modernist motifs, we’ve brought back a rich visual language full of organic shapes and symbols that echo the fluidity of nature, pairing typography with the ornamental spirit of modernism.

Icons by Sergi Pérez. Print assets by Nou Punt Disseny.

“À Table!” is a two-color screen-printed poster inspired by cookbook photography from the 1970s and 1980s. These images often depict unlikely and visually unappealing dishes, presented with complete seriousness. What makes them compelling is that they were never meant to be ironic. The poster brings together a selection of real recipes found in these cookbooks.

Printed in black and orange using screen printing at Atelier Bambinoin Lyon, France. Paolo (the guy I made the posters with) printed two T-shirts with it. The typefaces in use are Bookman Bold Italic Swash, ITC Bodoni Ornaments, Cesare, Interlope, Martian Mono and Zipper. Bon appétit !

A purely typographic cover – if one counts the ornaments and border elements as type – for The Holly and the Ivy, an album with Christmas carols performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (today known as the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square). First released in 1960 (as ML 5592), this is the 1965 stereo reissue (as MS 6192), with unchanged cover design.

Both typefaces originated in post-WWII West Germany. The uncial is Günter Gerhard Lange’s Solemnis (Berthold, 1953) – note that the O’s in “Stereo” and “Holly” were accidentally used upside down. The condensed sans with the squarish build is Paul Renner’s Steile Futura (Bauer, 1952).

Just like Futura Display, the latter isn’t really related to Futura, but was named as such to capitalize on the popularity of Renner’s late-1920s geometric sans. Steil translates to “steep” or “abrupt”, and isn’t a term commonly used in type terminology. Bauer Alphabets in New York apparently felt the German name is rather confusing than helpful, and sold the 1950s design as Bauer Topic in the United States.

[More info on Discogs]

A ticket for a fundraising benefit held at the Grace Lutheran Church in Lancaster, Pa. The printer was David Bachman Landis of Pluck Art Printery (also called Pluck Print and later known as Landis Art Print).

Entertainment
By the Young Women’s Missionary Society, At Grace Lutheran Church, Tuesday, May 15, 1894.
Benefit of Emmanuel Mission. Admission, 10 Cents.
Pluck Print

Sacred Ethereal Feminine Energy is a 3D-knitted tapestry by artist Yamuna Forzani and type designer Céline Hurka produced at the Tilburg Textile Museum in 2023.

The artwork features various weights of a custom version of the variable font family Tonka as well as a new in-progress variable typeface called Yamuna Bottom, developed by Céline and Huw D. Williams. Tonka’s variable weights and widths adjust to the width of the tapestry.

Yamuna Bottom was gifted as a birthday gift to Yamuna by Huw and Céline. It is a variable version of the 1960s typefaces Scorpio & Hoopla and is not available for retail. Yamuna has always liked Lorvad’s digital version Bell Bottom Laser. The custom version shifts the weight on a horizontal axis up and down, creating fun patterns if repeated.

This work is the starting point of a longer collaboration bringing textile art and variable type together to celebrate the beauty of female friendships. The tapestry is available in three colors and measures 170×150 cm. It has been shown at various fairs and exhibitions since 2023, such as Villa Museum Amsterdam, Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam, and Object Rotterdam. It’s available for purchase on request.

The Book of the Film* is a publishing project made at isdaT, presenting initial research on books in film openings. I first collected appearances of these generic books in films, which I then supplemented with theoretical texts. Finally, a typology based on the images in the collection concludes this edition.

*The title is a reference to a parody scene featuring generic books in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.