Typography of the decade
by Tom May, Creative Bloq Oct / Nov 2024
1990’s. Banco
Note: This is an excerpt from the full article which can be read here
Banco was originally designed by influential French typeface designer Roger Excoffon in 1951-52 for Fonderie Olive, and the font was later revived in 1991 by Phill Grimshaw. It features tapering, slightly slanted strokes made with a sharp-edged flat brush, giving it a dynamic, hand-sketched appearance, and it's primarily used in advertising and display typography.
"This typeface may have been designed in the 1950s," says Steve Campion, creative director at Good Noise. "But it came to prominence in the 80s when a designer, Kevin Thatcher, adapted it in 1981 for the masthead of skateboarding magazine Thrasher." And that made a big impact on Steve personally.
"I started skateboarding in 1987, and it was skating in the late 80s that got me interested in graphic design," he remembers. "Back then, skateboarding was a long way from the mainstream sport it's become today, and there were only a handful of skateboard companies around. Each company had its own unique attitude and style, and the same went for the skateboarding magazines."
At the time, the big two from the US were Transworld Skateboarding and Thrasher. "Thrasher had the edge in terms of attitude and aesthetics: it felt quite raw and ‘punk’," recalls Steve. "The magazine featured interviews and articles on both skating and music, with amazing photography and an unusually large number of adverts, each one beautifully designed and laid out by hand."
The same Kevin Thatcher masthead is used on Thrasher magazine today, over 40 years later. "And I believe it’s one of popular culture's most iconic logotypes," enthuses Steve. "It’s difficult to see Banco in use without thinking of Thrasher."
1990’s. Mrs Eaves
Note: This is an excerpt from the full article which can be read here
Mrs Eaves was designed by Zuzana Licko in 1996 and is based on the famous transitional serif Baskerville, originally designed in 1757. Named after John Baskerville's live-in housekeeper, Sarah Eaves, it was designed to soften the stark contrast of Baskerville's design. Zuzana Licko studied printed samples rather than the lead type models used in later Baskerville revivals, resulting in a version with heavier, more characterful strokes and reduced contrast.
It's a personal favourite of Steve Campion, creative director at Good Noise. "Mrs Eaves has many design traits that resonate with our studio’s aesthetic of being imperfect, yet pleasing," he explains. "It's elegant, with a feminine touch and full of personality. The overall feel is that it has loose spacing between the characters and, when set in a large body of text, can appear very open and not actually that easy to read. It does, however, have an undeniable charm. Interestingly, its designer never specified how Mrs Eaves should best be used.
"The font is popular on book covers and dust jackets, though we've found it works very well when used in shorter bursts of text," Steve adds. "In our work, we've utilised it a number of times for the body text of menus in high-end restaurants."