The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (1979 book and double LP)
Pan Books edition. The type on the bottom appears to be the wide light weight of Eurostile and the same typeface but in a normal width of bold weight.
Two covers for the 1979 edition of British author and screenwriter Douglas Adams’ comedy science fiction franchise: an eponymous novel, published by Pan Books in the UK, and the double LP featuring the four episodes, released by Original Records in the UK and Canada.
The art group Hipgnosis and illustrator Ian Wright were credited for designing the cover for the original British release, which included three Filmotype fonts shown in this example. Also, it was one of these examples of video art used for the design.
First, there was Fleet. VGC then copied the face as C-13 in or before 1972, and this font was digitized by Castcraft in 1990 as OPTIFleet. Omaha (named after a city in Nebraska in the United States, also by VGC as M-15) comes with the big capital letters in the center [edit: it’s Monroe, see comments] and Orlando (copied as G-25) for the back cover.
![Front cover of the LP. The title set in Omaha has alternate glyphs for D, N, and P. [More info on Discogs]](https://fiu-original.b-cdn.net/fontsinuse.com/use-images/N185/185342/185342.jpeg?filename=71SL6JkwlOL._AC_SL1087_.jpg)
Front cover of the LP. The title set in Omaha has alternate glyphs for D, N, and P. [More info on Discogs]
Back cover. The text on the left side was set in Univers.
4 Comments on “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (1979 book and double LP)”
Wow, I’ve read/watched/listened to/played all the HHGG media, but I don’t think I’ve seen this before, except maybe the “DON’T PANIC” type, though I’m not sure where. Blows my mind that Hipgnosis would use Filmotype fonts on anything.
The 'G’ in 'Guide’ and 'Galaxy’ on the front of the book and rear of the LP would suggest that it’s Filmotype Monroe rather than Orlando.
Good call, Storm! Some of Filmotype’s faces came with alternates, but yes, I agree: in addition to the G bar, the serifs on the middle bar of E and at the top of A also suggest that it’s Monroe. So do the raised legs in K and R, and the U with the right terminal towering over the left one, when compared to the digital Orlando. I’ve adjusted the credit.
Monroe is lighter than Orlando, and much lighter than the letterforms in the use. But I guess the weight there was beefed up by adding a contour. This – increasing the weight – is also what Castcraft did when they digitized Monroe in the early 1990s.
Filmotype faces may have made for distinctive headings. The individual designs are not too distinctive, though: the library comprises numerous fonts with partly minute differences in weight, width, detailing, etc. Shown here is a detail from a Filmomaster catalog issued around 1974, with Monroe and Orlando.
On the occasion of the Guide’s 42nd anniversary in 2020, Pan Macmillan design manager Stuart Wilson put together a journey through the visual history of the series.