Our relationship with Temple University Press has been getting cozy lately. That’s a good thing. We love putting cover designs to their increasingly provocative academic titles.
While we’re in the middle of designing a handful of covers for them, there have been a couple that are making it difficult for me to stay the course typographically. As graphic designers, we frequently tow the line of selecting from a small well of perfect typefaces. However, with these last few projects, I have gone woefully away from that credo. But hey, it’s summer, and these are titles that seem to love a novel voice.
This subject matter in particular, with it’s aging rocker overtones, had me reaching eagerly for the old punk-club-flyer standby; “ransom note” typography. Well I’m here to tell you that I could not suppress the temptation. Okay, I tried to dutifully employ Univers in one of the sketches. But with this project, as well as the art just completed for a Jump Blues package, the illustrative display typeface floodgates are quickly coming unhinged. Happy summer!