The Functions of Sleep
Shawn Hazen on Book Worship:
Damn. The type is over-the-top, but the layout is so simple. I wonder if there was a phototype font that had all these amazing ligatures, or if she did it manually. Either way—good stuff.
Yes, these are prefabricated letters! Not from a phototype font, though, but from a dry-transfer sheet. The multiline letterforms used for The Functions of Sleep are from Stripes. This Letraset typeface was designed by Tony Wenman in 1972 and included all the glyphs shown here (see below). The lines of the initial and final letters were extended to appear as if they wrap around the book cover. The only other example of such a treatment that I’m aware of is the cover of Letraset USA’s Graphic Art Products Catalog, also from 1973.
Cover designer unknown. Sally Sullivan — who worked as a designer for Yale University Press — is credited for the book interior (not shown here).
Glyph set of Letraset Stripes with its many alternate glyphs
2 Comments on “The Functions of Sleep”
It must have been so hard to neatly align all those lines from letter to letter with Letraset — one minor slip and the lines didn’t match…
Iván made an insightful animation, showing how the designer would have chosen and combined the glyphs and bits from the dry transfer sheet to compose this setting. Iván is the designer of Octothorpe, a digital revival and expansion of Stripes.