fontfilter: classic Penguin crime novels
June 6, 2007 8:20 PM Subscribe
Fontfilter: I'm designing a new business card for myself and I want to appropriate the design of the classic Penguin crime novel. Like this one. Can anyone identify the fonts used in the original?
ITC Johnston is actually closer (at least as far as the caps go) to the Penguin cover type.
Are you sure about that, luriete? I thought it was undisputed that Gill Sans was the Penguin typeface, but there is an ongoing debate as to whether it is a better or worse typeface than Johnston? See, eg...
posted by robcorr at 12:52 AM on June 7, 2007
Are you sure about that, luriete? I thought it was undisputed that Gill Sans was the Penguin typeface, but there is an ongoing debate as to whether it is a better or worse typeface than Johnston? See, eg...
posted by robcorr at 12:52 AM on June 7, 2007
A quick Google search would seem to indicate you can pick up a non criminal copy of Gill Sans for less than $30.
posted by rongorongo at 3:33 AM on June 7, 2007
posted by rongorongo at 3:33 AM on June 7, 2007
Or, gill sans MT comes with winders...or at least it's on all my machines.
posted by TomMelee at 4:51 AM on June 7, 2007
posted by TomMelee at 4:51 AM on June 7, 2007
luriete, I'm missing the part where someone said they were infringing the copyright on typefaces.
posted by grouse at 5:30 AM on June 7, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by grouse at 5:30 AM on June 7, 2007 [1 favorite]
Two free hints: spend the money to get the card printed in real old-school two-colour offset. It'll make it look that much more authentic.
Also, space the lettering out. Gill Sans tends to set tight in modern computer typesetting. The lettering on these old covers is metal type, well spaced.
posted by zadcat at 7:55 AM on June 7, 2007
Also, space the lettering out. Gill Sans tends to set tight in modern computer typesetting. The lettering on these old covers is metal type, well spaced.
posted by zadcat at 7:55 AM on June 7, 2007
ITC Johnston is actually closer (at least as far as the caps go) to the Penguin cover type.
Dude, you need glasses - Look closely at the E as well as the S. It's Gill Sans.
posted by twistedonion at 8:44 AM on June 7, 2007
Dude, you need glasses - Look closely at the E as well as the S. It's Gill Sans.
posted by twistedonion at 8:44 AM on June 7, 2007
He said he wanted to appropriate the design, not "pirate the typeface." Relax.
Gill Sans is great. It's the quintessential 20th-century British typeface. It's also used by the London Tube, the BBC, and Mute Records (see various mid-'80s Depeche Mode album covers).
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 12:03 PM on June 7, 2007
Gill Sans is great. It's the quintessential 20th-century British typeface. It's also used by the London Tube, the BBC, and Mute Records (see various mid-'80s Depeche Mode album covers).
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 12:03 PM on June 7, 2007
...and more recently, the band Bloc Party.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 12:07 PM on June 7, 2007
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 12:07 PM on June 7, 2007
“Shortly after the bar and disc device was introduced, a new corporate typeface was introduced on the Underground. It was designed by Edward Johnston and was introduced on new signs and publicity from 1916. It has remained in use to this day, although now modified and known as New Johnston.”
posted by dpcoffin at 12:30 PM on June 7, 2007
More on the entwined histories of Gill Sans and and Edward Johnston's lettering for the London Underground.
posted by tepidmonkey at 3:51 PM on June 7, 2007
posted by tepidmonkey at 3:51 PM on June 7, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by tepidmonkey at 8:26 PM on June 6, 2007