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| A set of British cigarette trade cards (circa 1922-1939) on mending old books from the George Arents collection at the New York Public Library. They should have published a set of cards on how to conserve books with that stale smell of cigarette smoke ; ) |
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| Learn to kern with KernType. Typographical tutelage brought to you by Mark MacKay and Maria Munuera of Method of Action. :: Thanks Bonnie! |
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| The Book Border ornaments seen above, appeared in an 1891 issue of the New Zealand newsletter, Typo, a monthly journal and literary review published by Robert Coupland Harding, considered by many to be New Zealand's first and most eminent typographer. The book borders were originally designed by Harding and produced by the Johnson foundry of Philadelphia in 1879. Soon after, they received worldwide recognition by job printers and typographers who would customize them by inserting their own type inside the book borders. Typo was first published in 1887, and lasted just one decade. Harding was a scholar and critic of typography and printing, and did most of the writing for each issue while composing them at the case. He was among the first to argue the merits of a standardized system of measurement for typefounding and papermaking, and soon gained international praise for his reviews of new type designs and specimen books. Harding was considered a visionary by many, and was very concerned about the future of the printing craft at the threshold of the 20th century. The Linotype and Monotype machines were replacing typesetters at that time and he had no love for the typewriter "which had dislodged calligraphy" he claimed. "The typewriter of today is only a germ of greater things to come" he wrote in an 1894 issue of Typo, and "there would be no place for the typefounder at the close of the 20th century". His suggestion that "a pile of thousands of sheets will be printed (from type-written or other copy) by a single electric flash" was by no means an incredible one. He believed the large printing houses would likely become silent factories by the middle of the 19th century, without type, presses or ink. Despite his many dim predictions for the future of the printing craft, he still felt confident that moveable type would remain. No doubt he'd be very pleased to see the current resurgence of the letterpress printing craft if he were alive today, however he might be very surprised to learn we are not all reading and writing in shorthand as he falsely forecasted. The time-honored roman character lives on, in every typestyle imaginable—and so many others that are not.           |
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| Packaging for Gilbert pencils. |
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| Cover of a how-to book of sign painting. |
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| Promotion for the Marinoni steam-powered lithography press from 1883. It was used for newspapers and the printing of large posters from many of the famed 19th and 20th century ateliers in Paris. Based upon the detail of the printing, I presume this is a poster, most likely printed on the Marinoni press. |
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| Advertisement for the color printing of C. Adrien. |
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| From a book celebrating the invention of the chromolithograph printing process said to be invented by Charles Godefroy Engelmann in 1837. All of these early color lithograph examples are from a 2007-8 exhibit on chromolithography held at the Musée de l'Imprimerie in Lyon. You can see a few more items from the exhibit here. |
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| In 1946 the publishers of Madamoiselle magazine produced a home planning scrapbook as a design for living. It was designed for the original DIY homemaker and had checklists, charts, diagrams, graphs and floorplans for the young housewife to consult in planning the house of her dreams. The front cover and interior illustrations were created by Frederick Chance who illustrated many cover designs for magazines such as Vogue and Fortune in the 1930s. By the late 1980s, Chance was still at work doing layouts for covers of a rock magazine, according to Brian Withers whose father, illustrator George Withers, was a close friend of Mr. Chance. I am surprised I could find so little biography available on Frederick Chance, as he was such an accomplished illustrator. His cover design for this guide is very reminiscent of some of Alex Steinweiss dinstinguished album cover artwork. Chance certainly deserves far more recognition for his own work.  :: From the Letterology Archives |
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Caricatures of cats in compromising situations become all the rage in early 19th century England. The comic book soon goes viral... and advertising is born. ; )
:: From Henry Alken's oddly comic caricatures in Symptoms of Being Amused. Vol. 1, Thomas McLean, 1822. Via Bonhams.
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| Originally published as a poster in 1936, this full page ad found in a 1955 Graphis magazine was designed by Giovanni Pintori for the Olivetti Lexikon Elettrica. Pintori was head of Olivetti's graphic design and advertising department at one time, and his name has become synonymous with the brand. So spare, so simple and so wonderful! See more of Pintori's work at SFMOMA and on ninionbooks flickrsite. SFMOMA also has a nice video about Pintori's poster work for Olivetti here. :: Via the Letterology Archives |
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| Not certain who to credit with this colorful typeface, as I found it on Etsy a while ago. I just call it Cartoon Condensed Bold; Comic Sans elder cousin. |
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| I nearly choked on my lunch with laughter the other day after reading Alyson Kuhn's cleverly written post over at Felt & Wire about a recent home improvement project of long-time friend, Patrick Reagh who has lived and worked in Sebastopol, California as a letterpress printer for many long years. Last I heard from Patrick, he mentioned our friend Alyson was going to be writing something about his newly-remodeled shower. This puzzled me, but Patrick is always full of surprises and I knew it would be good. This time, he penned a wry parody of typographer Beatrice Warde's legendary manifesto, This is a Printing Office, and had it kiln-fired onto a tile for his new bathroom shower. This is a Shower Stall, his soapy declaration about cesspools of scum, should now withstand the ravages of slime there on his shower wall for many years to come. |
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| Above is a broadside of Warde's original text which Patrick letterpress printed in 2009. It hangs nearby in his bathroom, he claims, "as a reference for those who are unfamiliar with the text. You know, the unwashed masses. It is suitable for framing, and yes, there are a few available for sale should anyone be interested." Beatrice Warde's original version of the broadside is found on the walls of countless printing shops and has been translated into many languages over the years. It has also been cast in bronze and mounted at the entrance to the U.S. Government Printing Office in Washington DC. The version you see below was set in Centaur and Arrighi types and printed for the Type Directors Club of New York on the occasion of their dinner honoring Beatrice Warde in 1950. |
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Just immediately below are Patrick's designs for his business cards with an uncanny likeness. I would expect nothing less of Patrick. They are perfect—portraits of a printer produced from printers' ornaments! You can find more past posts on P@ Reagh here and here, and check out Alyson Kuhn's featured post at Felt & Wire for more details and photos. :: Thanks Alyson! Photos below © 2011 StudioAlex. |
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