Sebastian Vigueras. License: All Rights Reserved.

De Melodías y Colores, 1 February 2026

This post presents a series of concert posters designed for the Orquesta Típica de la Ciudad de México (OTCM) in 2026.

The poster shown above officially inaugurates the 2026 Season 1, presenting a renewed visual structure. The composition centers on La Giganta, the monumental sculpture by José Luis Cuevas, which serves as a powerful iconic element. The design employs a high-contrast photographic style in which the background image engages in a dialogue with a typographic composition of two fonts.

The typographic system is a sophisticated fusion of four distinct voices. The main title, De Melodías y Colores (“Of Melodies and Colors”), creates a rhythmic dialogue between Chicago – a robust, dotted typeface – and Origins, a fluid, handwritten typeface that mimics the expressiveness of a calligrapher’s stroke. This combination reflects the dual nature of the concert: the technical precision of the music and the vitality of the visual arts. Questa – here in the form of Questa Grande – is introduced as the new institutional serif typeface, lending a modern and elegant voice to the orchestra’s name. Finally, Cabin remains the official typeface of the Mexico City government for secondary information, ensuring that details about the guest conductor and soloists remain legible against the monumental background. This design establishes the template for the first season in 2026, prioritizing striking iconography and expressive typographic combinations.

Sebastian Vigueras. License: All Rights Reserved.

Amor en clave de sol, 15 February 2026

The visual narrative for the third poster centers on a dramatic sunset over the facade of the Museo de la Ciudad de México, where the sky's warm gradients are mirrored by the lyrical and romantic theme of the concert, Amor en clave de sol.

The typographic composition introduces a new, sophisticated hierarchy. The main title is set in Mon Nicolette, an expressive typeface by Mexican designer Cristóbal Henestrosa. Its fluid, calligraphic strokes and elegant swashes – integrated here with musical clef and heart motifs – capture the emotional essence of the repertoire.

Sebastian Vigueras. License: All Rights Reserved.

El México de sus compositores, 22 February 2026. This poster was designed together with Vania Rabago.

The fourth poster for the concert at the Alcázar of Chapultepec Castle utilizes a dramatic architectural photograph that emphasizes the perspective of the venue’s iconic checkered floor and classical arches. The deep vanishing point serves as a natural visual anchor, guiding the viewer’s eye through the historic corridor and toward the musical information.

The typographic palette is led by Gelica for the concert title. This choice brings a warm, retro-contemporary charm to the design, with its soft serifs and organic terminals providing a lyrical counterpoint to the rigid geometry of the architecture. The friendly and expressive nature of Gelica perfectly captures the passionate spirit of the repertoire.

Sebastian Vigueras. License: All Rights Reserved.

Mujeres que suenan y transforman, 8 March 2026

The fifth poster for the concert at the Ángela Peralta Open-Air Theater utilizes a striking high-angle photograph that captures the venue’s unique integration with the surrounding greenery of Parque Lincoln. The radial symmetry of the theater’s seating serves as a natural visual anchor, drawing the eye toward the stage and the performers.

The typographic palette is led by Instrument Serif for the concert title. This choice brings a classic, scholarly elegance to the design, echoing the operatic and historical legacy of the theater’s namesake. The serif structure of Instrument Serif provides a high level of sophistication that balances the organic textures of the surrounding trees.

Sebastian Vigueras. License: All Rights Reserved.

Natalicio del Benemérito de las Américas, 15 March 2026

This poster for the sixth concert of the 2026 season highlights the presence of the Orquesta Típica de la Ciudad de México (OTCM) in contemporary social spaces. The visual centerpiece is a panoramic photograph of Utopía Tezontli, a modern community center in Iztapalapa. The architectural geometry, with its white structural ribs and circular patterns, creates a rhythmic backdrop that symbolizes the utopian and transformative nature of the place.

The typographic strategy introduces Caligra, a contemporary Gothic typeface used for the main title. This choice creates a tension between the orchestra's historical roots and the modern, urban environment of the venue, while also evoking the complex framework of the building’s roof.

Sebastian Vigueras. License: All Rights Reserved.

Armoniás de primavera, 22 March 2026

The visual composition of the seventh poster is centered on an expansive landscape photograph of Parque Tezozómoc, featuring its iconic artificial lake and the pre-Hispanic-inspired topography. The open, bright blue sky and the reflection of the clouds in the water serve as a natural visual anchor, providing a serene and airy backdrop that reflects the “spring harmonies” theme.

The typographic hierarchy is led by a sophisticated pairing for the title: Amster, with its contemporary and sharp personality, and ATF Garamond, which provides a timeless, academic elegance. This combination creates a refined, editorial feel that contrasts with the organic, open-air nature of the park. The layout effectively utilizes the landscape’s “white space” to allow the intricate typographic layers to breathe, maintaining a balance between historical tradition and the modern urban environment.

National Children’s Museum is a vibrant, interactive museum dedicated to inspiring curiosity and learning for children and families through playful STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) exhibits and programs. The brand identity, developed by Ogilvy, uses both Halyard Display and Halyard Text across all applications.

The museum’s annual spring campaign led by our in-house creative team launches during peak cherry blossom season in Washington, DC, aligning with a period of heightened tourism and local interest in the city. Aimed at families and children on spring break, and visiting tourists, the creative paired recognizable local landmarks with floral imagery to emphasize the seasonal appeal of a visit.

Out-of-home campaign displayed in WMATA Metro station booth in Washington, DC

All-caps Flash for the poster signed by D. Wust-Calame, printing: Imprimerie du «Journal de Genève»

Drawing is a common practice in the field of botany to visually describe a plant. Allowing interpretation, even cheating, a drawer dare said, scientific illustration has didactical advantages over photography. From 1960, when Charles Baehni was director of the institution, and during more than 30 years, the Botanical Garden of Geneva in Switzerland employed a dedicated team of women for the task. Their names appear vertically, often along the stem of each illustrated plant: Line Guibentif, Saskia Pernin-Wikström, Suzanne Van Hove, Danielle Wüst-Calame.

Housed by the lake, on the first floor of the historical building called La Console, the “atelier de dessin et décoration” comprised a complementary team dedicated to decoration (advertising or graphic design nowadays).

The series of posters entitled “Tulipes” announces most likely outdoor “exhibitions” of the tulip flower in bold colours with various typefaces leading to a striking effect. Showcased below, these posters symbolise the porosity of practices, the warmth as well as importance of drawing by hand, from that era.

To conclude, when I was conducting my research for proper dates and names, working in this very institution as an in-house typographer, I spotted this remark in one article by Line Guibentif from 1984: “Made with simplicity and economy of means botanical illustration should be as easy to read as clearly typeset text.” (translated from French by the author).

Acknowledgments: Samuel Anderegg, Pierre Boillat, Patrick Bungener, Martin Callmander, Sylvie Dunant, Mona Mahmoudian, Raoul Palese, Nathalie Rasolofo, Rodolphe Spichiger, Gisèle Visinand

Letraset’s Desdemona for a poster signed “SaskiaW”. Note that the 9 is an upside-down 6.

All-lowercase Baskerville Old Face

All-lowercase Monotype Grotesque and Helvetica for a poster signed “Line G.”, printing: Imprimerie du Journal de Genève

Hand-rendered (?) Cooper Black with non-standard forms for U (inspired by ITC Souvenir?) and P. “Rocailles” is shown in an unidentified wide slab serif. Volta fett with a trimmed R leg and unbracketed serifs would come close [see also the comments]. This poster is signed “SaskiaW” and was printed by imprimeries populaires. Smaller text is in Helvetica.

Zipper and Helvetica for a poster signed “SaskiaW”, printing: Imprimerie du «Journal de Genève»

Artistik for a poster signed “D. Wust-Calame”, printing: Imprimerie du Journal de Genève

More Helvetica, including stacked glyphs for the months for a poster signed “D. Calame”, printing: Blanc-Wittwer SA (not part of the Tulipes series, provided here as a bonus for the eyes)

The Chapelle Sauvage Festival, the second highlight of La Trinité’s 2024–25 season, offers three days of sonic exploration of nature, bridging early and contemporary music: concerts, performances, talks, and DJ sets for all ages – all taking place in one of the city’s most beautiful venues.

A visual that seeks to awaken all our senses: listening to great tits sing, watching Alpine swifts take flight in the distance, smelling the scent of lily of the valley, and blowing on a dandelion.

Creation and production of communications for the Printemps de la librairie indépendante event, a week of free cultural events in Strasbourg’s independent bookstores (workshops, meetings, book signings, and many other festive and literary activities).

Retour de Cueillette provides edible flowers and aromatic plants to restaurants in Marseille, France. Created in 2024, the structure promotes sustainable wildcrafting with participatory workshops and nature walks. To design the identity, Odd Forms Studio used the typeface Kaio Krilin by Romain Oudin, Disc by Lucas Descroix, and Chaumont Script by Alexandre Bassi.

On their website, the designers describe the project in the following words (translated from French by the contributor):

The vibrant illustrations and dynamic typography reflect the joy and authenticity of wild harvesting while highlighting the brand's ecological and local values.

License: All Rights Reserved.

On the 15th of December digital design and communications agency AKQA presented Little Wings, the real story of Carol of the Bells, working alongside Mariia and Rodion Shub, two Ukrainians temporarily displaced to the UK and Canada and featuring Kyiv’s Children’s Choir Shchedryk. For out of winter’s darkness will always come spring’s light. From the dedicated website:

Little Wings is the story of Shchedryk, known by many as the popular holiday song Carol of the Bells, but originally written by Mykola Leontovych over one hundred years ago as a traditional Ukrainian folk song heralding the coming of spring. Shchedryk’s original well-wishing lyrics tell the tale of a swallow flying between households, proclaiming the plentiful year that the family will have. Accompanied by the Shchedryk melody, Little Wings follows a lonesome swallow’s adventure to guide carol singers to a family in need of renewed hope.

Kyiv Type Foundry supported the project with two of its typefaces: KTF Compact is used for the main title. The film titles as well as the text on the website are set in KTF Forma. The poster additionally uses Dinamo’s ABC Diatype Compressed.

Source: littlewings.akqa.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: littlewings.akqa.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: littlewings.akqa.com License: All Rights Reserved.

License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: littlewings.akqa.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: littlewings.akqa.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: littlewings.akqa.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: littlewings.akqa.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: littlewings.akqa.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Le Jour du livre is a free literary event that takes place every year in April at Espace Pandora in Vénissieux, France. For the eighth edition, due to the health situation, the festival organization is offering an online version of the event. To feature this new digital edition, we imagined a visual in fluorescent colors reminiscent of RGB hues, available on various printed media. We created a spring duotone visual, lively and poetic. Agrandir is used in various styles.

“Birthday” (No. 307). Illustration by Tom Sawyer. The typeface is Davison Dimensional.

Covers for various clip books of line art issued in 1978 by Harry Volk Jr. Art Studio, Pleasantville, New Jersey. Each booklet features another face for the cover, typically in an attempt to echo the topic in the typeface choice, see e.g. the graphic Futura Black for “Graphic Arts”, the 19th-century Bracelet for “Western”, or the engraved Bond Shaded for “Money”. This volume uses Kabel Black for the bottom line, framing the logo designed by Herb Lubalin in 1976. The heavy border with rounded (and sometimes inset) corners was introduced in 1976, too, but wasn’t seen on most issues from 1977.

See the previous post about the clip books issued in 1955 for more information on Harry Volk Jr. Art Studio.

“Wedding” (No. 304) ft. Tintoretto.

“Holidays” (No. 305) ft. Caslon Antique.

“Homes-Buildings” (No. 306) ft. caps from Compacta set on an arc. The fanning suggests this was set with phototype, as ooposed to dry transfer lettering.

“Graphic Arts” (No. 308) ft. Futura Black.

“Expressions” (No. 309) ft. Archie in all caps.

“Religion” (No. 310) with what looks like some sort of Normande Italic. Berthold’s phototype version comes close except for the n.

“Winter” (No. 311) ft. Goudy Heavyface in italic all caps.

“Occupations” (No. 314) ft. Dynamo. Originally issued in 1930, this design was revived and extended at Letraset in the late 1970s.

“Spring” (No. 315) ft. Mania. Illustration by Tom Sawyer.

“Marine” (No. 700) ft. Tip-Top.

“Western” (No. 701) ft. Romantiques No. 5 / Bracelet. This ornamented Tuscan originated in the 19th century. It was available for dry-transfer lettering from Mecanorma (as Tuscan Ornate) amd Letraset (as Romantiques No. 5).

“Executives” (No. 704) ft. Columna Solid.

“Tourism” (No. 705) ft. Solemnis. Illustration by Tom Sawyer.

“Couples” (No. 706) ft. Yagi Double.

“Safety” (No. 707) ft. caps from Compacta Outline.

“Christmas” (No. 712) ft. the ornate Green Buzzard.

“Transportation” (No. 715) ft. Compacta Italic.

“Family” (No. 716) ft. Benguiat Caslon with swash alternates.

“Landmarks” (No. 717) ft. Saphir.

“Environment” (No. 718) ft. all-lowercase Charter Oak, tightly spaced.

“Money” (No. 719) ft. a version of Bond Shaded, probably Bond Shaded. Illustration by Tom Sawyer.

“Children” (No. 720) ft. all-caps Mistral.

“Groups” (No. 721) ft. a bunch of people pointing at tightly spaced caps from ITC Zapf Book Heavy.

“Circus/Fair” (No. 722) ft. West Barnum Ultra.

“Contests” (No. G86) ft. more Benguiat Caslon, this time in all caps. The logo of the Grafika subseries is in ITC Fat Face with ligatures for ra and fi, accompanied by Kabel Light with omitted tittles.

“Design Devices” (No. G87) ft. Harlow, a Letraset release from 1977. “ZAP” is probably custom lettering.

“Something Extra” (No. G89) ft. Slim Dandy, a variation of the Mansard theme, by Lettergraphics.

“Lankies” (No. G90) ft. Churchward Design Sparkly.

“Symbols” (No. G91) ft. Cucumber

“Printed Forms” (No. G93) ft. Gonzales Jeanette with Akzidenz-Grotesk Condensed and Windsor.

“Big & Strong” (No. G94) ft. Atlas and more Mania, set on a curve.

“Announcers” (No. G95), again with Slim Dandy.

Promo graphics for Spring Break, a sketch comedy production presented by Just Jackie, to be shown at Coalition Theater in April 2020 (but cancelled due to Covid-19).

Designer Eric Gordon (The Hot Brain) used Crayonette DJR in all caps, for a decidedly vernal flair. The letterforms of DJR’s revival of the swashy Victorian italic with horizontal contrast – as well as those of the accompanying plain gothic caps from Benton Sans Compressed Bold – were processed to give them a roughened, vintage look.

“Spring” (No. 45) ft. Filmotype Ridge, stacked and justified. The smaller copy is in Futura, fit to shape.

Covers for various clip books of line art issued in 1958 by Harry Volk Jr. Art Studio, Pleasantville, New Jersey. Just like with the booklets from previous (1955) and subsequent years (1960, 1961), all typefaces used for these covers were available from Filmotype. The display faces are Filmotype originals issued by the American phototype company in the years before.

The covered themes and illustrations stem from a motherhood-and-apple-pie version of the United States in the 1950s, with merrily chirping birds, well-groomed men in suits, and smiling air hostesses. The only booklet that hints at a threat to this idyll is “The Space Age”, which can be read as a reaction to the Sputnik shock. All depicted people are white, and if a person of color is shown, then it’s in a racist way (not shown here).

See the previous post about the clip books issued in 1955 for more information on Harry Volk Jr. Art Studio.

“Coins” (No. 46) ft. Filmotype Ginger.

“Ad Starters” (No. 48) in Filmotype Modern. “What’s On Your Mind, Bud?” is in Futura Bold Italic, with mirrored quotation marks.

“Gimmicks” (No. 50) ft. Filmotype Vessel, with small copy in Vogue.

“Animals” (No. 239) ft. Filmotype Giant with Alternate Gothic, Filmotype August, and Arcade. The small copy is in Times.

“Industry” (No. 241) ft. Filmotype Quiet set on a circle, with heavy fanning.

“Spring And Summer Holidays” (No. 243) ft. Filmotype Jackson, Futura caps, and Times Italic.

“The Space Age” (No. 244) ft. Filmotype Ebony, the oblique companion of Flare.

“Men” (No. 246) with rotated caps from Filmotype Ridge, paired with another wide slab serif, Volta (Bauer, 1956). The small copy is in ATF Garamond or similar.

“Women” (No. 247) ft. Filmotype Zanzibar, accompanied by Bodoni and Century Schoolbook.

“Couples” (No. 252) ft. Filmotype Dancer and Filmotype Jackson. Small text in Times.

“Service” (No. 253) ft. Filmotype Veteran, the outlined variant of Filmotype Free.

Branding and design work for the University of Southern California’s Springfest 2020, featuring both Nab (Nikol Safronova) and Neue Montreal (Pangram Pangram).

We wanted to create an visual identity that could transition from color to color seamlessly while fitting in a larger, overarching repertoire. Nab, a font created specifically for this brand identity, worked while to cohere each flyer.

In years past, USC’s Springfest has prominently featured the flower as a symbol of inflection in the season and attitude of students at the university. For this year's concert, we decided to create semi-psychedelic flowers to represent the atmosphere of the concert as a whole as well as each individual act scheduled to perform.

Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Springfest 2020 was cancelled. However, we are grateful to have created this visual repertoire.

The band logo of Rüfüs Du Sol is based on Futura Extra Bold.

“Spring” (No. 291), ft. all-caps Benguiat Caslon with swash alternates, set on an angle. The small type in the arrows is in reversed Helvetica caps.

Covers for various clip books of line art issued in 1976 by Harry Volk Jr. Art Studio, Pleasantville, New Jersey. This year marked their silver anniversary, see the “Spring” booklet above, indicating that the company was established in 1951. The celebration continued in the following year, see the covers from 1977. According to Bart Solenthaler, Volk went out of business sometime in the 1980s.

See the previous post about the clip books issued in 1955 for more information on Harry Volk Jr. Art Studio.

Coinciding with the silver anniversary, Volk introduced a new logo, featuring rounded sans-serif letterforms. The right arm of V extends to a hand holding a pencil and drawing on the o, turning it into a globe. The Herb Lubalin Study Center points out that this logo was designed by Herb Lubalin – “not his greatest logo, but charming”.

“Vote” (No. 280) ft. Pacella Monitor. The new Volk logo here is framed by tightly spaced caps from Kabel Light.

“Holidays” (No. 281) ft. ITC American Typewriter.

“Homes – Buildings” (No. 282) ft. Bronstein Bold. Like Letraset’s Lazybones, this bold script by FotoStar/Facsimile Fonts is a close follower of PLINC’s West Cooper Nouveau Swash Swash Bold.

“Birthday” (No. 284) ft. Davida.

“Expressions” (No. 285). ft. Bookman Swash Bold Italic with alternates.

“Religion” (No. 286) ft. Pretorian.

“Winter” (No. 287) ft. Norton Chocolate Frosted, a snow-capped variant of S.E. Norton’s series of bold grotesque caps for Photo-Lettering.

“Holidays” (No. 289) ft. Advertisers Gothic.

“Men” (No. 290) ft. Buxom, again by FotoStar/Facsimile Fonts, a copy of Baby Fat, distinguished by less deep notches in M and N.

“Marine” (No. 652) ft. Bobo Bold.

“Summer” (No. 655) ft. Abbey Scroll.

“Old Fashioned” (No. 656) ft. Romantiques No. 5 / Bracelet.

“Crime” (No. 658), with Gill Kayo caps set on a circle.

“Transportation” (No. 659) ft. Dynamo.

“Autumn” (No. 660) ft. Hobo.

“Do-It-Yourself” (No. 661) ft. ITC Ronda.

“Insurance” (No. 662) ft. Microcircus.

“Fall & Winter Sports” (No. 663) ft. Kabel Black.

“Christmas” (No. 664) ft. Tintoretto. The hooked I reveals that this face was not intended for all-caps settings.

“Menu” (No. 665), ft. Bookman Italic in all caps, with an initial swash M.

“Homemaker” (No. 666) ft. Wexford.

“Senior Citizens” (No. 667) ft. caps from Eurostile Light Extended.

“Save!” (No. 669) ft. Mania.

“Executives” (No. 670) ft. Hess Neobold.

“Family” (No. 671) ft. more Benguiat Caslon.

“Crowds” (No. 672) ft. Banco.

“Mail” (No. 673) ft. Buster.

“Circus-Fair” (No. 674) ft. Filmotype Van Horn.

“Spring & Summer Sports” (No. 675) ft. Eurostile Bold Extended in all caps.

“The Little Patriot” (No. G62) ft. Caslon Antique. The logo of the Grafika subseries is in ITC Fat Face with ligatures for ra and fi, accompanied by Kabel Light with omitted tittles.

“Sly Sayings” (No. G63) ft. Paprika.

“Animal Clichés” (No. G64) ft. Thalia.

“Trivia” (No. G65) ft. Advertisers Gothic.

“Villains” (No. G67), ft. a money-grabbing octopus and Bob Quinzel’s Cucumber typeface.

“Printed Forms” (No. G69) ft. Futura Black, ITC Avant Garde Gothic (with alternates), Cooper Black, and Windsor.

“Drop-Ins” (No. G68) ft. Davida complete with its ornaments.

“Time” (No. G70), ft. Optex and Cooper Black.

“Impact!” (No. G71), featuring a version of the triline face designed by Lance Wyman for the 1968 Mexico Olympics, see Mexico Olympic. This is probably Photo-Lettering’s adaptation that went under the name Olympic, or the Lettergraphics version known as Hotline. Note how the type echoes the vibration caused by the jackhammer.

“Cartouches” (No. G72) ft. Arnold Böcklin in all caps.

“Ad Animals” (No. G76) ft. more Thalia.

A rare cover in color, celebrating the United States Bicentennial. “The King-Size Clip Book of Bicentennial Art Volk Corporation” appears to use lettering, or heavily modified type. Several details like the swash caps for G and Z suggest that a version of Cloister (Bold) Italic was involved. Other glyphs don’t match a showing of the Monotype cut, and might come from different sources.

“The Good Old Days” (No. 71) ft. Filmotype Quentin and P.T. Barnum

Covers for various clip books of line art issued in 1960 by Harry Volk Jr. Art Studio, Pleasantville, New Jersey. Most if not all typefaces used for these covers were available from Filmotype, with many of them being originals by the American phototype company. See the previous post about the clip books issued in 1955 for more information on Harry Volk Jr. Art Studio.

“Spring” (No. 69) with caps from Filmotype Ridge on a bouncing baseline. The same face had been used for the spring-themed booklet from 1958, too.

“Spring” (No. 69) ft. Filmotype Ginger

“Announcing” (No. 73) ft. Filmotype Giant in all caps, paired with Venus Extended and Futura.

More Filmotype Giant and Venus Extended for “Agriculture” (No. 72).

“Ad Libs” (No. 74) ft. Ginger, another, bold member of Filmotype’s “G series” of condensed Grotesques from the early 1950s. The casual serif at the bottom is Orlando. Both styles were made available in digital form in recent years. Ginger was digitized by Mark Simonson in 2008, and Orlando by Charles Gibbons in 2013.

“Direct Mail” (No. 75) ft. more Filmotype Giant. This style was digitized by Patrick Griffin and Rebecca Alaccari in 2011, together with the oblique Filmotype Escort. Among the secondary typefaces are Volta and Copperplate Gothic.

“Service” (No. 79) ft. Filmotype Quiet, with Venus Extended and Century Schoolbook Italic.

“Winter” (No. 87) features a special effect typeface from Filmotype’s library. Quest is derived from Filmotype Flyer, with letterforms that are texturized to the right and the bottom. In this context, this gives them a frosted look.

“Buildings” (No. 284) ft. Filmotype Flare, the heaviest and widest style in Filmotype’s series of sans serifs with vertical terminals, combined with more Venus Extended and Futura.

“Sales” (No. 286) ft. Filmotype Ebony, the oblique companion of Flare. See also the clip book cover on the same topic from the following year. Small type in Futura Extra Bold Condensed and Futura.

“Summer” (No. 291) ft. Filmotype April.

“Men” (No. 292) again with Filmotype Flare.

“Groups” (No. 294) ft. Filmotype Veteran, an outlined version of Filmotype Free.

“Autumn” (No.296) ft. Filmotype Horizon.

“Education” (No. 297) ft. Filmotype Vanity, the first of Filmotype’s effect style outline typefaces. It’s based on Filmotype Ginger.

“Christmas” (No. 298) ft. Filmotype Zanzibar.

“Telephones” (No. 301) has more Filmotype Giant. Note how the text in Century Schoolbook Italic wraps around the line art.

“Medical/Surgical” (No. 302) ft. Filmotype Quick.

“Show Biz” (No. 303) with the title in more Filmotype Veteran.

“Couples” (No. 304), again with Filmotype Vanity.

“Politics” ft. Filmotype Ginger, Venus Extended, and Times New Roman.

Paste Pot & Scissors (No. 11). ft. Filmotype Arctic and Filmotype Fox. Paste Pot & Scissor was originally a promotional newsletter to subscribers that featured a letter from Harry Volk, usage and production tips, and real-life examples. These issues were often 2-color and printed on uncoated matte paper.

Paste Pot & Scissors (No. 17, October 1960), ft. Filmotype Veteran.

Poster for the Fifth Spring Rally in May 1974, organised by La Traction Universelle and L’Auto ancienne d’Alsace. This edition titled “L’Alsace et ses environs” marked the 40th anniversary of the Citroën Traction Avant which was first produced in 1934.

All white-on-blue text features Pump Bold (1970). “1934-1974” uses Annonce, “40me Anniversaire” shows caps from Helvetica Inserat. The small print with credits is set in Folio.

Glitchy seasonal Spring Menu 2019 for Behind This Wall, a contemporary basement bar in Hackney Central, London.

Source: www.johnsonbanks.co.uk License: All Rights Reserved.

Torbay is a borough in Devon, England, […] spanning the towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located around an east-facing natural harbour (Tor Bay) on the English Channel. A popular tourist destination with a tight conurbation of resort towns, Torbay’s sandy beaches, mild climate and recreational and leisure attractions have given rise to the nickname of the English Riviera. — Wikipedia

In 1982, British graphic designer John Gorham (1937–2001) was commissioned to devise a poster for the English Riviera. His solution presents a detail of the scenery in a carefully defined color palette, echoing the style of travel posters made in the second quarter of the 20th century. The composition here is boiled down to the absolute essence: a sandy stripe for the beach, separated by a thin white line of spume from a turquoise rectangle for the sea, underneath a gradient from white to deep blue for the sky — Rothko meets Albers. In the foreground: The silhouette of a stylized Torbay palm tree. Not only is it perfectly centered, its crown is drawn with symmetrical leaves — this is the English Riviera. The type is Gill Sans (what else?) set in three stacked and justified lines of caps from the Light weight (first issued in 1931), with the names of the three towns joined by middle dots. Johnson Banks’ blog post about John Gorham suggests that this work of his became quite influential:

His poster for the English Riviera unfortunately encouraged a whole generation of designers to pretend that they actually were 1930s poster artists.

For those interested in Gorham and his work, see also Mike Dempsey’s article about his “local hero”.

Gorham’s iconic poster spawned many variations and follow-ups. These were designed by David Hughes and others. Most of them maintained the combination of Gorham’s symmetrical palm tree and light Gill Sans. The website of the English Riviera Tourist Board used to have a dedicated page with a full list of the annual posters, from 1983 to 2004. Unfortunately the images are gone, but bloggers designatweeta and Torquay Palms reposted some of them. A selection is reproduced below.

Source: www.anatomised.com Anatomised. License: All Rights Reserved.

Pool, 1986. “One of several posters designed by David Hughes in this long-running campaign for The English Riviera.” — Anatomised

Source: designatweeta.wordpress.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Beach huts, 1988

Source: designatweeta.wordpress.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Teacup, 1990

Source: www.pinterest.de License: All Rights Reserved.

English Rose, 1991

Source: designatweeta.wordpress.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Snorkel, 1997

Source: designatweeta.wordpress.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Spring Breaks, 1992. From a series of seasonal ads featuring Bernhard Modern Bold Italic (ATF, 1938).

Source: designatweeta.wordpress.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Autumn Breaks, 1992

Source: designatweeta.wordpress.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Christmas Breaks, 1992

Source: designatweeta.wordpress.com License: All Rights Reserved.

English Spoken Here, 1993. The script is Ariston extrafett (Berthold, 1936).

Source: www.flickr.com Torquay Palms. License: CC BY-SA.

Little Differences, 1994

Source: designatweeta.wordpress.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Diving Board, 1995

Source: www.flickr.com License: CC BY-SA.

Camel, 1999. From a series of ads that showed John Gorham’s original poster in other places, from Egypt to Australia and Mars.

Source: www.flickr.com License: CC BY-SA.

Uluru, 2004

Source: www.englishrivierabid.co.uk License: All Rights Reserved.

The current version (2018) features a weaker, asymmetric palm tree (or is fireworks?) in red and blue. The type is still in Gill Sans caps, but now in two weights, paired with Arial Rounded Bold, set on a wave.

Source: www.flickr.com Jainbow. License: All Rights Reserved.

A variation of the original palm tree poster, spotted in 2012 outside Torquay Station.

Nana Suzuki’s showroom advertisement, as placed in the Spring/Summer 2019 issue of MODEM magazine. Design by Nuno Maio, who used Blaze Type’s type family Oroban, style: Elegans.

We are a strategic fashion sales agency and consultancy firm representing today’s most visionary and innovative brands.— Nana Suzuki

An ad campaign for the seasons. On the first day of a season the next season gets advertised. Advertising methods change from year to year. The first-year-campaign consists of DIN A5 flyers. Campaign-Launch: 22. September 2016

http://www.alexanderwinkelmann.com/theseasons/