Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Killer B's

It's Spring and time to bring out some of my favorite killer B's that have been hibernating in my archives for too long. The first B was illustrated by stamp engraver Martin Mörck for the Bucamel wine label. Designed by Mucho of Barcelona for Bodega Tierras de Orgaz. 






An 8x10" pen illustration of a rustic B found on Etsy. Signed "Coyne" 1975, and just one letter of an entire rustic alphabet set featured there last year. 






























B Signage
::From Brown Dress with White Dots. No credits listed.


Specimen de Caracteres, circa 1920.

U&lc magazine, Volume 20, No.2, 1993. Design credits thank Woody Pirtle, John Klotnia and Ivette Montes de Oca of Pentagram Design for their contributions to this issue, but no specific mention of the cover designer. This issue has many articles about book collecting, book jacket design, 20th century type specimen books, and newly released childrens' books.

Circus matchbox label from Russia. 
Doh! I've just been informed this B is actually a cyrillic killer V. Regardless, it delights me just the same.


Greeting card and screenprinted poster by Anthony Oram.

Honeycomb B from Jessica Hische's Daily Drop Cap killer promotion.

B in lights by Jeff Rogers

Illustration on book cover by Paul Thurby. Available as a print here.

A rustic pastoral B to celebrate Spring. I can almost see the bees humming.

B. Blumenthal & Company button gauge from the Button Art Museum.

5 comments:

  1. It is actually not "B" but Russian "V" on the matchbox.

    ReplyDelete
  2. V? Looks like a fairly healthy variant Russian typographic B to me.

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  3. Pentagram, no "r." Got about a dozen U&lcs from that era that I treasure. Important during my formative years at my first design job.

    Enjoy your blog a great deal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fixed! Thank you for the mention of that glaring typo. I'm very grateful to have such attentive readers!

      Delete
  4. You're right, Jennifer, these Bs are killers - I love the bookseller. Just warming up enough in England for bees to emerge, but they're not looking too pleased with life. Roll on summer!

    ReplyDelete

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