Typography Tuesday

Today we present Ludlow Typefaces: A Specimen Book of Matrix Fonts, circa 1940. The Ludlow Typograph Company was founded in 1906 by William I. Ludlow and William A. Reade to manufacture and distribute a typecasting and composing system to compete against Linotype. Unlike the Linotype machine, which used a keyboard and a complex conveyance system to compose and cast each line of type, the Ludlow system was simpler and cheaper, using hand-set molds (called “mats,” short for matrices) in a special composing stick that could then be cast as a line of type in the Ludlow casting machine (view this excellent vimeo of how the Ludlow Typograph process works). The other advantage of Ludlow over Linotype was that ordinary Linotype was limited to typefaces smaller than 24 pt, whereas Ludlow faces reached 96 pt, with some special fonts as large as 240 pt. Manufacturing of the Ludlow Typograph began in Chicago in 1912. It proved to be a very successful system, and the company continued operation into the late 1980s.

All of Ludlow’s typefaces were proprietary. The company’s principal typographer was R. Hunter Middleton, who served as director of type design from 1933–71. Other notable type designers for Ludlow included Ernst F. Detterer, Robert Wiebking, and Douglas Crawford McMurtrie. 

Shown here are the uses of Middleton’s designs for Karnak Medium and Karnak Obelisk (part of the Karnak series of eight faces developed between 1930 and 1941), Bodoni Black and Bodoni Campanile (part of Ludlow’s Bodoni series developed between 1930 and 1942), Tempo Bold (part of the Tempo series for which Middleton designed twelve faces between 1930 and 1942), and Ludlow Umbria, a shadowed, san-serif display face developed in the early to mid 1930s. Also shown here is Douglas McMurtrie’s Ultra-Modern, part of the only series he designed for Ludlow between 1928 and 1930. Although pricipally a designer, McMurtrie was Ludlow’s director of advertising from 1928 until his death in 1944.

Block letter practice from a couple of days back. Tricky business.

The Flashpocalypse Is Coming

You’ve probably heard the rumblings ‘round the web by now that on June 30th, Google will no longer support Flash ads uploaded into AdWords and DoubleClick Digital Marketing. That means that marketers need to start coming up with a new plan yesterday in order to make sure their advertising isn’t disrupted when the Flashpocalypse hits at the end of the month. But why is this all happening? And what is going to be the new best practice in online advertising?

Google has been encouraging marketers to switch from Flash to HTML5 for years, largely because Flash ads are fairly limited – they’re not responsive, they don’t run on iOS devices, they’re slow to load and some people block Flash all together. The rapid growth of mobile web usage has supported the need for a new design philosophy for a while - and Google is now enforcing it.

HTML5 ads match the medium in which they appear, comfortably leaving Flash ads in the past along with websites made from tables. These ads are styled with webfonts — making it super easy for brands to carry their visual identity from their websites straight into their online advertising. These ads, unlike their predecessors, can be responsive – meaning one ad will work in every size. They’re also fully dynamic, allowing marketers to speak directly to their targeted audience. HTML5 ads are essentially microsites: they can leverage any HTML5 feature, making them as feature-rich as any website. This means ads can serve hyper-targeted content such as an ad for a raincoat during a torrential downpour, or even sunscreen on a gorgeous, sunny day. HTML5 ads can keep your customers dry, and sunburn-free.

Offering your customers a more personalized experience will make them happy, and give you and your ads better results.

Awful Typography Destroys Suspension of Disbelief

Little Brother

by Signvision Melbourne Larry Stammers.

Big Belly Band

Designer Daniele Simonelli in the group of five home-brewers has designed beautiful packaging for their Big Belly Band. 

Frank & Edith - by Simon Walker

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Angela Southern

SVA faculty member Ross MacDonald’s prop work for Quentin Tarantino’s new movie The Hateful Eight (for more info and images, click here)