Predator is the third book in Wilbur Smith’s Hector Cross series, co-written by Diana Thomas under the pen name Tom Cain, and published by William Morrow in 2016. The first-edition jacket was designed by Richard L. Aquan using Shàngó Gothic Medium for the author names. The title appears to be in stretched, stroked and weathered LP Saturnia Bold, and the small text in Trade Gothic Bold Condensed No. 20.

About the book:

Former operative Major Hector Cross must face off against a pair of lethal enemies and prevent an international catastrophe in this gripping contemporary adventure-thriller—perfect for fans of Clive Cussler, Ted Bell, and Vince Flynn—from the legendary worldwide bestselling author of Desert God and Golden Lion.

One of the most formidable fighters in the world, ex-SAS warrior and former private security consultant Major Hector Cross has survived explosive tangles with depraved enemies—warlords, pirates, and arms dealers—from the Middle East to the heart of Africa. Now, Cross must take the law into his own hands once again to stop a vengeful old enemy who has resurfaced—and hunt down a deadly new nemesis in pursuit of global domination.

This compilation with “The Very Best of Chevalier” brings together a dozen hits by French singer, actor, and entertainer Maurice Chevalier (1888–1972), including “Valentine”, “Louise”, “Mimi”, and “Thank Heaven for Little Girls”. It was released in 1964 by MGM Records.

The big caps for “CHEVALIER” appear to be custom lettering, loosely based on Broadway (Condensed). The rest of the uncredited cover design is exclusively typographic, featuring twelve styles from ten typefaces (Peignot is represented by two weights, and Ultra Bodoni by roman and italic styles). Broadway also appears in unmodified form, for “Did You Ever See a Dream Walking”. Can you spot the LTypI?

[More info on Discogs]

The flyer was created to be published before the final of the Campeonato Gaúcho, the regional football tournament of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The final contest was between the two centennial clubs from Porto Alegre, Grêmio and Internacional, who together form the biggest rivalry in Brazilian football, the famous Gre-Nal.

In the first match of the final, Grêmio defeated Internacional 3–0 at their home stadium. The decisive match would take place at Internacional’s stadium. In the background of the image appears the Beira-Rio Stadium in blue flames, referencing an event that occurred in the 2000s when Grêmio supporters set fire to parts of the stadium during a derby. The coffin with three arrows alludes to Grêmio mascot, the Flecha Negra (“Black Arrow”), symbolizing that the outcome of the final had already been decided in the first match — as if the coffin had already been closed. On the ground there is a red pipe representing what would remain of Internacional’s mascot, the Saci-Pererê.

The title of the artwork, “O Grêmio Vai Sair Campeão” (“Grêmio will be champions”), references a traditional song sung by Grêmio supporters when the team is about to win a title.

First edition (hardcover) by Bartholomew House, 1967, illustrated by Bill Wenzell. The illustrations on the front of jacket are by Roy E. LaGrone. Secondary typefaces include Craw Clarendon Condensed, Filmotype Harmony (or Photo-Lettering’s copy, Almadine Script), and Century Expanded Italic.

Coffee Tea or Me? was advertised as “the uninhibited memoirs of two airline stewardesses”, and credited to Trudy Baker and Rachel Jones. In fact, it was ghost-written by Donald Bain. The 1967 hardcover dust jacket features Caruso Roxy, set in all caps. The same typeface was also used for the paperback cover, now bigger and in mixed case, as well as for the three sequels published until 1975. In 1973, the book was made into a film.

Caruso Roxy is a typeface that we’ve come to associate with the swinging 60s.

Coffee Tea or Me? The uninhibited memoirs of two airline stewardesses. First Bantam edition (paperback), November 1968 with cover art by Bill Wenzel and small text in all-caps News Gothic.

The Coffee Tea or Me Girls’ ’Round the World Diary. First edition (hardcover) by Grosset & Dunlap, 1970. The multilingual toasts are stereotypically added in more or less fitting typefaces: Peignot (French), Post-Antiqua (Hebrew), Cloister Black (German), Centaur (Spanish), Akzidenz-Grotesk Extended (Scandinavian), Jessen-Schrift (Greek), Americana (English), Mandarin (Japanese), and Century Schoolbook (Italian).

Jacket and cover with spine lettering

The Coffee Tea or Me Girls’ ’Round the World Diary. Paperback edition by Bantam Books, April 1971, with small type in Alternate Gothic.

The Coffee Tea Or Me Girls: Lay it On The Line, Bantam Books, 1973. The fat years are over: the main typeface now is Caruso Roxy’s light weight. Secondary text is in italic caps from Caledonia.

The Coffee Tea Or Me Girls Get Away From It All, Bantam Books, 1975, with Helvetica used for the text in red.

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.

After being inspired by the film Marty Supreme, I decided to add a few items of my own creation to the world this movie created. These would have been celebrity endorsed and promotional items existing after Marty’s rise to fame.

SCELBI Computer Consulting, Inc., was (briefly and significantly) a 1970s microcomputer manufacturer but was mostly known in that era for its technical publications. The cover work for some of the early books features plenty of fun with photo lettering. The company name was often rendered in Koloss, as it is here. Helvetica is the baseline text choice, and Avant Garde Gothic with multiple ligatures is used for the title.

The Galaxy game was a space conquest adventure, in the vein of the classic Star Trek games from early computing. The books (available for the Intel 8008/8080 systems as well as the Motorola 6800) contained the whole game, reproduced as machine language code with explanations for both gameplay and how the program worked.

SCELBAL was a version of BASIC for SCELBI’s own computer system, and the title of its book is set in Baby Arbuckle, a follower of Baby Fat.

The company’s First Book of Computer Games is less aesthetically coherent. It repeats the Helvetica and Koloss, then throws Neil Bold, Pioneer, and Dubbeldik into the mix.

More on the SCELBI computer in the context of early micro computing can be found here, while a number of SCELBI’s books are available at the SCELBI Museum and the Internet Archive.

Hoopbus is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit rooted in the belief that basketball has the power to transform lives, build bridges, and uplift communities. Founded in Los Angeles in 2019, Hoopbus travels from local blocks to global cities, using the game to connect people through the universal language of basketball.

Ben Loiz Studio partnered with Hoopbus to create an identity system that reflects their mission and energy, translating seamlessly across their global fleet. From logo and color palette to social media and full-scale bus designs, the identity captures the heart of Hoopbus: love, peace, and basketball.

The Hoopbus identity is built around a simple yet powerful symbol – a heart, a peace sign, and a basketball – representing compassion, unity, and sport. Inspired by the classic American school bus, the bold black logotype nods to childhood nostalgia and lettering seen on buses that bring people together.

The color palette expands on this concept, featuring the vibrant yellow-orange of a school bus balanced with expressive supporting colors: pink, orange, blue, and teal. These hues give the identity flexibility while maintaining a strong, cohesive presence across print, digital, and environmental design.

To unify all elements, we introduced a set of brand icons and patterns that give the identity rhythm, dimension, and consistency without losing its expressive edge.

The two primary typefaces are Standard CT Medium Extra Condensed and Cina GEO. We use the former in our logotype – a bold, utilitarian typeface that evokes a collective nostalgia for childhood and learning, echoing the distinctive lettering found on American school buses. Cina GEO, designed by Michael Cina of Public Type, is a geo-sans typeface with a sturdy structure that balances clarity with subtle sophistication. Its clean simplicity brings to mind the handwriting practice sheets found in early classrooms – straightforward, structured, and easy to read.

Along with the two primary fonts, we selected the secondary typefaces – Industry, a typeface that effortlessly transitions from a refined vintage aesthetic to the robust, industrial vibe of a school bus, Tuck Shop a hand-drawn display font that captures the playful feel of chalkboard markings, and Grand Slam is a retro-style font that captures the essence of classic athletic designs.

See the full case study.

Cover for the August 1930 issue of the Süddeutsche Monatshefte, which at the time was not published monthly, but quarterly. The bold high-contrast sans at the top and bottom is Jakob Erbar’s Koloss. The focus of the issue,  “Ungarn” (“Hungary”), is presented in lively lettering, rendered as if it was following a TypeCooker recipe for “construction: roman / weight: bold /contrast amount: a lot / stroke endings: serifs / width: condensed / contrast type: expansion”. Below, contents are listed in italic and roman styles of Normande.

From Paul Hoser’s entry in nsdoku.lexikon, published January 16, 2025, by NS-Dokumentationszentrum München (translated):

The Süddeutsche Monatshefte was founded in Munich in 1904. The editor was Paul Nikolaus Cossmann, who moved more and more in a nationalist direction, and during the First World War he succeeded in forcing the democratic shareholders out of the publishing house and replacing them with extreme nationalists. After the collapse, he also had Weimar democracy disparaged. Above all, he fought against the Treaty of Versailles and the “war guilt lie”, i.e. the Versailles Treaty's stipulation that Germany alone was to blame for the outbreak of war. […] Despite its nationalist tendencies, the magazine was critical of the National Socialists. It hoped for the restoration of the Wittelsbach monarchy: Significantly, the January 1933 issue was entitled “König Rupprecht”. The magazine was discontinued in 1936. Cossmann died in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1942.

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Shaping Atmospheres was a symposium and an exhibition concerned with geoengineering. It took place last November at the University of Toronto’s Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, and brought together “technical, social-political, and philosophical perspectives to speculate on the significance and implications of shaping atmospheres”.

Source: www.daniels.utoronto.ca License: All Rights Reserved.

Raf Rennie’s identity for the event is based on a logo in tightly spaced caps from Shàngó, an uppercase-only typeface by CastleType. When additional formats like the schedule poster and the speaker slides required a more flexible typographic option, Rennie found it in Kessler by Production Type. Alaric Garnier’s typeface shares various stylistic traits with Shàngò (see the visual comparison below), but crucially offers lowercase characters.

The similarities aren’t coincidental: both designs have their roots in titling alphabets that originated in the book arts movement of the early 20th century, and can be described as period interpretations the classical Roman capital. Garnier’s primary inspiration was an alphabet designed by Eric Gill* in 1905 for the bibliophilic editions of Harry Kessler, founder of the Cranach Press in Weimar, initially published in cooperation with the Insel Verlag in Leipzig. Shàngó, on the other hand, is a revival of Schneidler Initials, drawn by F.H. Ernst Schneidler, proprietor of the short-lived Juniperus Press in Stuttgart, and first cast by the Bauer type foundry in Frankfurt in 1937. A precursor was included in the Wassermann, a voluminous portfolio of sheets for teaching lettering and type design started by Schneidler in 1925.

Production Type. License: All Rights Reserved.

Shàngó (top) and Kessler (bottom, here the Display cut) exhibit various similarities: both feature classical proportions with a narrow E and S, W is made from two overlapping V’s, J descends but has no full hook, and U is stemmed.

Other aspects are different: in Shàngó, the A has a lower bar and no top serif, the leg in R doesn’t meet the stem, and M has splayed stems. Shàngó offers swash caps, three weights, and Gothic, Sans and Chiseled variants. Kessler crucially has a lowercase – as well as optical sizes, italics, and a monospaced companion (not pictured here).

The typographic palette for Shaping Atmospheres is completed by Octave, Josh Finklea’s reconsideration of Frutiger’s Univers, released with Sharp Type.

*) Production Type is conscious of the contentious aspect of publishing a work that is in some way connected to child rapist Eric Gill. Proceeds of Kessler’s licensing are transferred to L’Enfant Bleu, an association providing protection, care, and information to children victims of ill-treatment.

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Animation by Daria Khazova

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

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

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Co-curator and organizer Ala Roushan of OCAD University presents the Shaping Atmospheres project.

With terminals as sharp as fangs, Gothic Tuscan Pointed was a natural choice for the title of Basil Copper’s popular study of vampires. First published in hardback by Robert Hale in 1973, this is Corgi’s paperback edition from 1975. The specific font in use likely is the phototype adaption made by Headliners as part of the Morgan Press Collection, which includes a lowercase. The descender in p apparently was cut short to avoid spacing issues.

One of the oldest and most terrible superstitions is that of the vampire. This blood-curdling legend of the undead has fascinated millions throughout the centuries, and today it is still a powerful myth … or is it? What is a vampire? Have they ever existed? And, if not, how has their dreadful reputation become so well established?

[More info on ISFDB]

The typography of the title page is carried over from the first edition by Robert Hale & Co., featuring Cloister Black – with appropriately bat-shaped top serifs in V – and Futura. The Shakespeare motto is added in Plantin.

Plantin is also used for the interior typography, with headings in Cloister Black.

The teaser quote on the back cover is set in the underused fett weight of Trump-Mediäval, digitally available as Bitstream’s Kuenstler 480 Black. The synopsis is in Rockwell.

Serge Lutens “Bell Jar” fragrance packaging (c. 1992 – c. 2000)

Serge Lutens is an iconic niche perfume house with a devoted following. The fragrance line that bears the founder’s name was born of a series of collaborations with Shiseido, a Japanese cosmetic company. After Lutens served as olfactive director for such fragrances as Nombre Noir (1982) and Féminité du Bois (1992), Shiseido opened Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido to sell his fragrance creations in a Parisian boutique.

Over the years, the specific branding of these fragrances has transformed as the Serge Lutens brand gradually replaced the Shiseido labeling. The fragrances themselves remained consistent.

There have been two major revisions to primary and secondary packaging for a total of three distinct presentations. The initial packaging featured a color scheme of ivory and two shades of violet. The details on the box and label featured Shiseido, the brand’s corporate typeface with the distinctive S glyph for any occurrences of this letter in the fragrance’s name and Palais Royal Shiseido Paris. The volume declaration uses Optima, partly with stretched proportions.

The first revision occurred c. 2000 and introduced a major redesign. The color scheme was switched to black, ivory and grey and Serge Lutens’ name appeared on the packaging along with a stylized rendering of the façade of Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido. All text on the packaging is rendered in Cochin. Again, the scaling of glyphs in the volume declaration has been adjusted; in this presentation, the horizontal scale is set at 50%.

The second revision occurred in 2010. Compared to the previous revision, this revision is less dramatic. This version also features the most typographic variety. The color scheme was adjusted and elements that had previously been ivory have been changed to a light violet. Serge Lutens is rendered in Nicolas Cochin. The fragrance name is rendered in Caslon Openface (Bitstream’s version). As there is no italic or oblique version of this typeface, the glyphs have been sheared at approximately 15 degrees to simulate italics. The rendering of the Palais Royal Shiseido has been replaced with a stylized rendering of Serge Lutens’ initials. The text below this logo reading “Paris” is rendered in Nicolas Cochin. The fragrance concentration and volume disclosure remain as they were in the previous design, rendered in Cochin with the scaling of glyphs in the volume declaration still adjusted to a horizontal scale of 50%.

Serge Lutens “Bell Jar” fragrance packaging (c. 2000–2010)

Serge Lutens “Bell Jar” fragrance packaging (2010–)

Starting in 1962, the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company issued a series of seven annual Christmas albums. From Discogs:

The first three albums in the series were produced by Forrell, Thomas & Polack Associates, Inc. The last four, by Forell & Thomas, Inc. The manufacturer of the records is not identified explicitly. But based on the data printed on the labels and inscribed in the runout of the records, volumes 1, 2, 3 ,5 and 7 were manufactured by the custom records division of RCA Records, and Volumes 4 and 6 were manufactured by Capitol Records.

While the initial release was titled “Favorite Christmas Carols”, the following albums were named “Your Favorite Christmas Carols”, “Your Christmas Favorites”, and “Your Favorite Christmas Music”. Apart from the changing colors and credits, the basic design is always the same, depicting a large ribbon with mistletoe against an ornamental wrapping paper in the background. The title typeface is Cloister Black.

Other text on most of the covers is set in designs by Filmotype, namely Rodgers, Wasp, and Fleet. Volume 5 is an exception in that it replaces Rodgers with Caslon Bold Condensed – which was carried by Filmotype as “CA51”. Some smaller bits also use the bold weight of Trade Gothic Extended. Lastly, the text on the golden starburst stickers is in all-caps Clarendon.

The final volume features a different photo for the ribbon.

S01E01, “The National Anthem”. The title lettering is a little similar to Eagle.

In 2016, Brazilian artist Bily Mariano da Luz, better known as Butcher Billy, started creating covers for fictive comic books inspired by the British TV series Black Mirror. From his Behance page:

What if, in an alternate universe, the cult tv show Black Mirror had been inspired by a series of old school comic books from the 70’s? Horror, suspense, crime, romance… anything goes.

He posted these covers to his Tumblr. “Once series creator Charlie Brooker discovered the images through Twitter, Billy was eventually hired to do artwork featured in the episodes themselves.” — Wikipedia

The lettering appears to be drawn by hand, but at least some of it is based on typefaces. The “Black Mirror” title is patterned after Koloss.

There’s also a related series for the fourth season, which is not shown here. Titled Tales from the Black Mirrors, it adds elements from Tales of the Unexpected.

S01E3, “The Entire History of You”. The title appears to be based on Samdan (or maybe Danzig 4P) which in turn is inspired by the band logos of Samhain and Danzig.

S02E03, “The Waldo Moment” ft. a wide grotesque

S03E04, “San Junipero”, with the title featuring Mastoc. “Heaven is a place on earth” is based on Cooper Black Italic.

S03E05, “Men Against Fire”. The title is based on the lettering from the poster for Full Metal Jacket. Compare to Zarana and Checkmate.

Haiti Goes Latin is an album of Latin music recorded by Les Docteurs du Rythme in Haiti, and released by Ansonia Records in New York in 1975. The cover photograph depicts the Marché en Fer, or Iron Market, a public market in Haiti’s capital, Port‑au‑Prince. It’s by local artist Jacques Karaha, who might be responsible for the typography, too. At least he’s credited for other cover designs.

The names of the band and of arranger Michel Desgrottes are set in Smoke, while the album title is shown in the inline caps of Metropolis licht. The small print is in Univers.

In 2023, the reincarnation of Ansonia Records reissued some tracks from the album in digital form.

[More info on Discogs]

Nr. 22, Donald auf großer Fahrt (Walt Disney Productions, 1972; Ehapa-Verlag, 1981) ft. Zipper

Walt Disneys Lustige Taschenbücher is a long-running series of German comic books with stories about Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. The paperback-sized books were first published by Ehapa-Verlag in 1967 and mostly feature translations of comics produced in Italy and Scandinavia. You can see all issues including the latest one – no. 586! – on the dedicated website.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Lustige Taschenbücher often used typefaces by Letraset for the cover designs. The series title itself is set in caps from Twentieth Century Ultrabold, which was carried by Letraset under the misnomer Futura Extra Bold. See the captions for the typefaces used on the individual covers.

Nr. 49, Ohne Fleiß kein Preis! (Walt Disney Productions, 1977; Ehapa-Verlag, 1981) ft. Octopuss

Nr. 51, Kopf hoch, Donald! (Walt Disney Productions, 1977; Ehapa-Verlag, 1981) ft. Koloss

Nr. 53, Dagobert, der Milliardenakrobat (Walt Disney Productions, 1978; Ehapa-Verlag, 1978) ft. Candice

Nr. 55, Dagobert macht Geschichten (Walt Disney Productions, 1978; Ehapa-Verlag, 1978) ft. Odin

Shàngó Gothic Medium as used on the book jacket of A Fate Inked in Blood. The first volume of Danielle L. Jensen’s Saga of the Unfated was published by Del Rey.

From the author’s page:

A shield maiden blessed by the gods battles to unite a nation under a power-hungry king—while also fighting her growing desire for his fiery son—in this Norse-inspired fantasy romance from the bestselling author of The Bridge Kingdom series.

Cover design by Ella Laytham, using an illustration by Eleonor Piteira. The secondary typeface is Agency Gothic CT, which has an alternate flat-top A in the lowercase.

Lords of Chaos is a 2018 film depicting the story of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem, directed by Jonas Åkerlund.

The film premiered in January 2018 at the Sundance film festival before being released in 2019 in the USA, UK, and Sweden.

As part of the promotional material the typeface Anorexia by Bonez Designz was used. The typeface features within trailers, posters, digital items and film credits. The director’s name on the poster appears to be in (a version of) Cloister Black.

(Anglo-American) Blackletter for German: Cloister Black is used for the title of Auf Wiedersehen, an easy listening album recorded by Kermit Leslie & His Orchestra and released by Time Records in 1962. The typeface used for the white text below is the Bold Condensed style of Lydian by Warren Chappell, student of Rudolf Koch.

Design by Murray Stein, using art by Albanian painter Ibrahim Kodra (1918–2006). Typography by The Composing Room, Inc.

[More info on Discogs]

The Royal Scam is the fifth album from American rock band Steely Dan, released on ABC Records in 1976.

The artist and album title are set in all-caps Koloss, with an added shadow effect. On the back cover, the track listing and credits appear in all-caps Optima.

From Wikipedia:

The album's cover features an image of a man in a suit sleeping on a bus stop bench in Boston and dreaming of skyscrapers with monstrous animal heads at the top. [Larry] Zox originally created the painting of the skyscraper/beast hybrids for an unreleased Van Morrison album, and designer Ed Caraeff suggested superimposing a photograph of a sleeping vagrant taken by Charlie Ganse to make the cover for The Royal Scam. In the liner notes for the 1999 remastered reissue of the album, Fagen and Becker called it has “the most hideous album cover of the seventies, bar none (excepting perhaps Can’t Buy a Thrill).”

Tom Nikosey is credited with the typographic design.

[More info at Discogs]

The back cover