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Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

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Typography talks the talk, to go along with the overall work’s walk, speaking volumes for the artist. This important design element surrounds people daily as they move through their routines, rarely taking notice. It’s literally everywhere. In advertising, product packaging, printed publications, graphic designs, and more. Accentuating and centralizing the overall theme of the design that it inhabits, communicating the message to the masses through creative inclusions in the work.

For decades this design tool has given rise to some truly elegant type that still have impressions echoing through design today. Revisiting these themes is a cyclical commonplace that the design community embraces with stunning results. In this article, we go retro, finding beautiful examples of vintage typography and the modern work they’ve inspired. Looking back, it’s easy to see why some of this type has stood the test of time and is still lingering in the design community today.

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Let the Good Types Roll

Checks Gig Poster

Checks in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Andy Poster

Andy in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Hard Rock Cafe

Hard in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Typography Retro Poster

Bs2 in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Bs1 in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Cadillac

Cad in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Souvenir Kodak

T in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Vintage packaging

Pol in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Tr2 in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Lovely Lettering

Mat in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Marcus Walters

Ma in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Festival der Sinne

Kj in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Miss Jessie’s

Miss in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Tenucci Conferioni

Te in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

The Econasign

Label in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Mustard 03

Image21 in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Las Vegas

Lv in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Book Covers

Book in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Kodak

Kd in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Jack Daniel

Jack in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Emblem & Type

Peu in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

1941 in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Ja in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Elevator

Elev in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Smooth Jazz

Smooth in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Live Together Forever

Lo in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Ampersand

Amp in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Straub Beer

Str in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

C365, day 232 – Haberdashery!

365 in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Vintage Ribbons

Curt in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Em in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Home Memories

Home in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

The Long Winters

Long in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword

Pen in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

The Outfit

Out in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Charming Suicide

Charm in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Artistic Hebrew Type

Hebr in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Art2 in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Spune Launch Poster

Sp in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Retro Logo Mock-ups

Image14 in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Image15 in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Wheels o’wisdom

Wh in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Straub Beer

90 in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

2100 Victorian Monograms (via)

Vict in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Wood Type Notecards

Bb in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Last Click

Gaslight Menus
Gaslight is an American Brasserie in Boston’s South End district. The menus incorporate the feel of a traditional brasserie with an American twist. Designed at Tank Design by Rebecca Alden.

Tinge in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Tinge2 in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Bull

Bull in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

Craig Ward

Ww in Vintage and Retro Typography Showcase

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Robert Bowen is an emerging author, celebrated podcaster and poet, and most recently the co-founder and imaginative co-contributor of the creative design and blogging duo at the Arbenting Freebies Blog and Dead Wings Designs. Rob is also currently Co-Editor of Fuel Your Creativity along with his wife Angie Bowen.

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  1. 1
    Kenneth Brøgger
    October 26th, 2008 3:07 pm

    Nice post. I simply love retro! I really like the “Polaroid”. It seems timeless… Love it! :-)

  2. 2
    Paul
    October 26th, 2008 3:08 pm

    Really Cool !

    Retro all the way :)

  3. 3
    Alexandre Giesbrecht
    October 26th, 2008 3:33 pm

    Retro rox!

  4. 4
    adam foster
    October 26th, 2008 3:34 pm

    The old ones are the best =] Interesting post.

    Adam | codefor

  5. 5
    Fernanda Prevedello
    October 26th, 2008 5:26 pm

    lovely post!

  6. 6
    Ole Martin Kristiansen
    October 26th, 2008 5:52 pm

    Enjoyed this post quite a lot :)

  7. 7
    Rodrigo
    October 26th, 2008 6:52 pm

    wow, that was a smashing post! some really nice examples there. Definitely inspiring!

  8. 8
    Gabriel
    October 26th, 2008 8:25 pm

    it’s “confezioni”, not “conferioni”

  9. 9
    an.gg.un
    October 26th, 2008 8:51 pm

    great…

  10. 10
    Ruan
    October 26th, 2008 11:02 pm

    haha! I actually have one of those Barringer & Brown’s Mustard tins at home.
    Smashed!

  11. 11
    Roland
    October 27th, 2008 12:03 am

    Holy crap, someone spent some time google-ing images, collecting the decent ones and throwing them into a single post. What’s the point though? Why isn’t there a smaller selection with actual information about the fonts used (modern equivalents, alternatives, etc.) and why the choice of fonts has stood the test of time, as the post’s opening paragraphs warm us up to those kinds of fonts?

  12. 12
    Tom
    October 27th, 2008 12:32 am

    I love this, inspiring again, thanks!!

  13. 13
    Boris Noll
    October 27th, 2008 12:36 am

    I love such type of Typography its the way of the beauty to communicate :)

  14. 14
    manzog
    October 27th, 2008 1:44 am

    great post! I love Retro Design!

  15. 15
    Gareth
    October 27th, 2008 2:13 am

    @ Roland:

    Its an Inspiration post, its supposed to get your senses tingling and not to tell you the facts about each and every one. Its not an article, just a showcase of work..

  16. 16
    Rob
    October 27th, 2008 2:21 am

    I do have a rather huge soft spot for typography, but retro typography pushes all the right buttons for me…. nice post :)

  17. 17
    luxbrand
    October 27th, 2008 3:20 am

    Hmmm, no mention of House Industries http://www.houseind.com who were the first guys that sprang to mind when I saw retro typography.

  18. 18
    Paul
    October 27th, 2008 3:56 am

    Very nice typography post. Great inpiration source

  19. 19
    Jason Beaird
    October 27th, 2008 5:27 am

    Very inspiring. Great collection, Smashing!

  20. 20
    Dee
    October 27th, 2008 5:38 am

    This is an awesome site…I love Retro!! this is one of my favorite sites..Thanks so much to those that put this all together..:)

  21. 21
    IhateDesign
    October 27th, 2008 6:51 am

    i love the style of cadillac, its a classic, but the examples going in the same way, luv it cheers!!

  22. 22
    Mark Aplet
    October 27th, 2008 7:00 am

    I love this old style typography I really like The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword – http://www.seblester.co.uk/ because the flourishes are so perfectly executed. If your into this retro typography search around for tin typography or tin can type. There is a lot of really neat stuff on old cans. like in this picture: http://www.pixeljunkie.org/index.cfm?BlogID=273

  23. 23
    pica-ae
    October 27th, 2008 8:19 am

    wow, that is very cool indeed!
    wonderful collection of beautiful designs

  24. 24
    Joseph
    October 27th, 2008 8:27 am

    Lovely selection of old typefaces.

  25. 25
    Kema
    October 27th, 2008 9:03 am

    You’ve got to be kidding me. Just random photos for ‘inspiration?’ How about a detailing of the fonts used, or the techniques for kerning or otherwise which led to the creation of these pieces?

    This is worthless.

  26. 26
    mabigreen
    October 27th, 2008 1:51 pm

    i love these collection… very nice inspiration. i will use it for my next work ;)

  27. 27
    Joachim
    October 27th, 2008 1:52 pm

    Nice collection, love it :) How is the “ampersand” not a plain E? Can’t see no t.

  28. 28
    g0ma
    October 27th, 2008 5:38 pm

    wow! great collection! thanks!

  29. 29
    Will
    October 28th, 2008 6:13 am

    Nice stuff. I can also recommend the Universal Penman if you want to go retro properly…

    http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Penman-Picture-Archives/dp/0486206165

  30. 30
    Pan Kierownik - Fajne Chłopaki
    October 28th, 2008 8:27 am

    Retro Polish labels – from comunist era you can found also at http://www.pantuniestal.com

  31. 31
    pointer
    October 28th, 2008 12:12 pm

    old days… some of these are just super duperlicious

  32. 32
    djichtus
    October 29th, 2008 5:28 am

    Hello,
    This is all great retrospective of typography, I appreciate a lot
    Thanks

  33. 33
    Toni
    October 29th, 2008 8:33 am

    Be retro to avoid outdating.

  34. 34
    Justafa
    October 29th, 2008 9:33 am

    Retro saga is never-ending.

  35. 35
    bangbouh stock
    October 29th, 2008 12:15 pm

    great collection. thanks!

  36. 36
    Marcello
    October 30th, 2008 1:37 am

    Really inspiring!

    PS: I quote Gabriel, it “Tenucci Confezioni”, not “Tenucci Conferioni”

  37. 37
    Stephen Coles
    October 30th, 2008 1:28 pm

    Very well curated, men. Here’s my favorite recent find.

  38. 38
    Stephen Coles
    October 30th, 2008 1:29 pm

    Hmm, your comment preview is not so accurate because it truncates any anchor text to “Link”. Should remedy that.

  39. 39
    Ruth
    November 1st, 2008 3:17 pm

    Awesome! Typography rocks my world!!

  40. 40
    Odair
    November 6th, 2008 2:16 am

    Great pictures…

  41. 41
    Jane
    November 21st, 2008 8:20 am

    It would be great if you could like to my kodak packaging on flickr rather than fffound. Many thanks. http://www.flickr.com/photos/maraid/179274962/

  42. 42
    Vitaly Friedman & Sven Lennartz
    November 22nd, 2008 4:47 pm

    @Jane (#43): the link was updated, thank you and sorry for inconvenience.

  43. 43
    Andrew
    December 1st, 2008 10:37 am

    Beautiful resource! Thanks!

  44. 44
    boudj
    February 2nd, 2009 6:58 am

    a good dose of inspiration !

  45. 45
    Red Labor
    February 10th, 2009 5:02 am

    We used to have some cool screen printed wallets with vintage type from old theatre posters ; they’re sold out now but they look cool!
    Royal wallet: vintage theatre typography wallet http://resisttoday.com/store/bags/105
    Iron wallet: vintage typography remix wallet http://resisttoday.com/store/bags/103

  46. 46
    Isaiah Q
    February 20th, 2009 11:33 am

    I really like the “Last Clicks.” Really beautiful showcase, thank you for sharing.

  47. 47
    tom@plasticprinters
    April 9th, 2009 10:27 am

    i always love trying to create stuff like this. or throw elements of retro into my designs.

  48. 48
    Grafiko
    June 2nd, 2009 4:35 am

    Great collection, thanks for sharing

  1. 00

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