too much . . . zapfino?

"Zapfino is a calligraphic typeface designed for Linotype by typeface designer Hermann Zapf in 1998. It is based on an alphabet Zapf originally penned in 1944. As a font, it makes extensive use of ligatures and character variations (for example, the lower case letter d has nine variations). --From the Wikipedia article about Zapfino

When I was getting started as a cover designer, I used to turn to Zapfino reasonably often because of its elegant letter forms, and the EXTENSIVE glyph palette. Five years later, I tend to stay away from it because I started seeing it everywhere. Because it's a display font, it's instantly recognizable. Is it time for Apple to add a brand new calligraphic typeface/font to its programs as a substitute? Has Zapfino possibly been overused?

Deborah Norville yarn at JoAnn Fabric




Sidewalk advertising sign for local lingerie store




Display of Christmas party ware at Fred Meyer




JoAnn Fabrics mailer




Hummingbird Organics logo (from their website)




Bread wrapper from Fred Meyer bakery




Premarin Vaginal Dryness Cream ad in Country Living magazine




(p.s. you can make these photos bigger by clicking on them . . . but you probably knew that!)

penguin classics

Sometimes, I daydream about illustrating book covers like these, from the Penguin Classics collection.

This one, for Huck Finn, is my favorite. I love the sunny color palette and the quartered layout, which neatly divides the cover. But the line drawings are just charming, and that's what sells it for me. I've already read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I already have a copy, but this is one I'm thinking of picking up for the kiddo because of the cover art. See? Cover design is important!




Here are a few more lovelies from the series:

design work

I threw together this interactive PDF portfolio of some of my graphic design work about a month ago. It includes cover and flier designs from my work at Wipf and Stock Publishers, where I still work part time from home. Enjoy!

Portfolio