One plus one makes three
Old fashioned two and three color printing often overprinted spot colors (colors generated by a single press run) to create a third color. Both of these Hungarian matchbooks are two-color press runs of the same red and turquoise green. The print on the left makes use of a third, “black” color by running the red on top of the green (overprinting). read more…
The Tramp Printers
Charles Overbeck’s The Tramp Printers, Forgotten Trails of the Traveling Typographers from Eberhardt Press is a beautiful little book that would make a lovely gift for either the letterpress lover or union activist in your life. read more…
Hermann Zapf’s original Optima sketches
“During a visit to Italy, I made studies of old inscriptions in Rome and Florence. My attention was caught especially by marble inscriptions on the floor of the Santa Croce Church in Florence. Every day, most people walked over these inscriptions so unmindfully. I got the inspiration one day to use these simple forms without serifs for a typeface.”
—Hermann Zapf read more…
Baskerville specimen sheet
Reproduction of a reproduction of a rare Baskerville specimen broadside.
A full-size reproduction of the rare 1777 edition of John Baskerville’s specimen broadside from the collection of Joh. Enschedé en Zonen in Haarlem Holland, read more…
Georgia: old style text figures
Old style figures blend invisibly into text.
Old style text figures (or lower case, non-lining numerals) have become popular in graphic design in recent years. read more…
Double-entry bookkeeping and our mystery leaf
We decided to try to identify a random leaf we had in our collection. Obviously from an early book, the type resembles Erhard Ratdolt’s 1484 rotunda (rotunda being a category of blackletter*). read more…
Italic ampersands liven up logos
Bulmer MT Regular with a Goudy Oldstyle Italic ampersand
The italic versions of ampersands are typically less restrained than their roman counterparts. read more…
The Spectator: a leaf book
The Spectator: a leaf book from the The Book Club of California, printed by The Grabhorn Press, 1939
The Book Club of California has, over the decades published several leaf books—books about a historical publication that include a single page, or leaf, from the original, along with an illuminating essay about the era and the document. read more…
Confession: we once used a chop suey typeface
Back in 2000, the owner of a popular Vietnamese restaurant in San Diego that we frequented asked us to create a customized open/closed sign for his entrance. He was a droll young fellow, so we came up with an absurdly conventional old-chestnut-of-a-design using a chop suey typeface and presented a proof to him in jest. Hot Chef (as he was called by admirers) loved it, and to our surprise, we produced it for him.
Chop Suey typefaces
“Ethnic” typefaces do have a place in graphic design, though you’re well advised to avoid them, unless your client insists. After all, who would give the carry-out box in the illustration a second thought if Moishe had used the typeface Shalom? Even so, sensitivity is recommended. read more…