What looks like a custom dry brush lettering job at first glance has actually started out with type: For his cover of The Black Eyed Blonde, Jonathan Pelham, in-house designer for Pan Macmillan UK, utilized Monster Mash, a caps/small caps font by Comicraft.
Hmmm…the design idea is good but not the type: the very obvious computer distortion in the subtitle, “A Philip Marlowe Novel,” would never have been done by a hand-lettering artist with a brush.
You have a point there, Chris. Likewise, the repeating identical stroke endings are questionable, once you notice them. I turned a blind eye to those details here, because I find the composition with the smoky letters framed by the two red spots so striking.
Dear Chris & Florian. Thank you for your criticisms. I’m heeding your advice and reworking the distorted letterforms and terminals for a more convincing and harmonious composition.
4 Comments on “The Black Eyed Blonde. A Philip Marlowe Novel by Benjamin Black”
Hmmm…the design idea is good but not the type: the very obvious computer distortion in the subtitle, “A Philip Marlowe Novel,” would never have been done by a hand-lettering artist with a brush.
You have a point there, Chris. Likewise, the repeating identical stroke endings are questionable, once you notice them. I turned a blind eye to those details here, because I find the composition with the smoky letters framed by the two red spots so striking.
Dear Chris & Florian. Thank you for your criticisms. I’m heeding your advice and reworking the distorted letterforms and terminals for a more convincing and harmonious composition.
All thanks,
J
Wow, that’s cool!