Found these gorgeous old promotional materials for some ancient type foundries and print shops. They are so detailed and ornate, to think it was all hand made back then is amazing! The designers back then did have some analog assistance though, the machine illustrated in the last image is a curving machine, used to make brass rules to get those perfect curves, and this was before Si Scott!

Also, the H. Berthold card is legendary! The foundry established by Hermann Berthold in Berlin. Responsable for Helvetica’s forefather, Akzidenz-Grotesk. They were also responsable for reviving such heavy weights (and i don’t mean bold / oblique ) as Garamond, Caslon, Baskerville, and Bodoni.

Found via: sheaff-ephemera.com

BNE 12.10.09 from ANIMALnewyork.com on Vimeo.

One of the most prolific and mysterious graffiti artists of the last decade, BNE; whom you’ve more than likely seen his super adhesive stickers somewhere in the world, is having his first exhibition tomorrow in NYC. Sponsored by the online zine ANIMAL and the ad agency Mother.

Some consider his tag to over shadow many major global brands. A real lesson in branding.

The scandinavians really have an eye for the fundamental design principles. These logos from the 60’s and 70’s have a tight grasp on form and typography. I feel these embody everything a logo should be; simple, accessible, scalable.

There are a ton of other great ones at Oliver Thomas’ flickr.