VISUAL COMMUNICATION HISTORY BLOG

If you are a graphic designer who is suddenly confronted with having to design a retro logo or a label that asks for a no hold barred approach, needs every pattern, texture, flourish, all the typographic twists and turns and curlicues - and all correctly placed, no less - you may be quite intimidated by the task at hand. I know, I certainly would be. Kittl is a truly astonishing online app that lets you create these complex types of logos. You st…

From the David Ramsey Map Collection. See original posting here >>>

The U. S. National Archives collection on Flickr is one of the greatest places to find visual communication history related material. 131 sets in total, and one of them is all about patent application drawings, mostly from the 19th Century - although there are a few contemporary prize gems (such as Michael Jackson's application for anti-gravity shoes) as well: View the full set  here >>> .

A selection of images from the blogpost entitled Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Typography published on the BibliOdyssey blog earlier this week in which title pages, headings and letterforms of maps issued between 1880 and 1920 by the Sanborn company are shown. The images below are from the Virginia map from October 1907 (top); the South Carolina map from June 1919 (middle); and the Washington DC map from1903 (bottom).