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f

ACME PARALLEL LINE

DRAWING MACHINE. Had I

a nickel for every closely

spaced parallel line I've

drawn in my life... well,

suffice it to say, I wouldn't

have to write books for a

living. This contraption was

de rigueur in its day, and no

well-appointed graphics

studio was without one.

Simple adjustments allowed

variable spacing between

lines. It was also useful for

propping up casement

windows that wouldn't

stay open.

W GALLERY of PRIMITIVE INK-DELIVERY DEVICES. Don't laugh, but the following arcane instruments were all

that were available to ancient lettering man. (A.) PEN. For freehand ink rendering only. Came in a huge variety

of point styles and sizes. Required continuous dipping to refresh ink supply. (B. and C.) PAYZANT PENS. For freehand

use when maintaining a specific stroke width was desired. Came in a variety of point sizes and had a large ink reservoir,

requiring less frequent dipping. (D.) DOUBLE-STROKE RULING PEN. For those times when drawing lines, one at a time, seemed

far too time-consuming. Was useful for mapmaking when a consistent relationship between two differently colored and sized

strokes was required. (E.) RULING PEN. The specimen is a fancy version of the classic ruling pen used for all technical ink renderings

before the invention of the technical fountain pen. Delivered an ink stroke of consistent width for about eleven inches before the ink ran

out. (F.) RAPIDOGRAPH PEN. Still available in antique and artist supply shops, Rapidographs come in a variety of point sizes. Although they

clog constantly, leak frequently, skip and blob repeatedly, they represented a huge step forward compared with the other tools shown here.

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LOGO, FONT & LETTERING BIBLE

65

I

n days gone by, the handmade and
imperfect qualities produced by these
tools (with our help) were viewed as
"artistic" and were accepted in the design
field. Not now. Today, perfectly sharp cor¬
ners and machinelike accuracy are expected
and demanded, and these qualities the com¬
puter provides to even the least adroit of us.
By the time I began learning the trade,
the revolutionary Rapidograph technical
pen came along, obviating the ruling pen for
inking lines of consistent width. Rapid¬
ographs constantly clogged, and dried up if
you didn't use them for a month, necessitat¬
ing taking them apart for cleaning. The
Rapidograph was still better than the rul¬
ing pen, which held only a small amount of
ink at a time and frequently blobbed up at
the beginning of a stroke, or wouldn't
"lower" the ink to start at all.

I messed around with Speedball lettering
pens but found them frustrating. For letter

ing I preferred Rapidographs and for illus¬
tration, only the Winsor & Newton, Series 7,
no. 2 sable brush would do. Only one in twen¬
ty of these Winsor & Newton brushes were
made correctly, but I remember one especial¬
ly good one that I used for ten years, until
falling hair made its line weight too narrow.

Inking a circle was accomplished with an
instrument called a compass, whose ful¬
crum point left a hole in the middle of
your paper. Yes, we actually did our ink¬
ing on paper then (rather than just
printing it out on paper with a laser
printer). Circles and ellipses could
also be inked with various plastic
"ellipse templates." If you weren't
careful, the ink from your Rapid¬
ograph would usually bleed
under the edge of the template,
leaving a smudge that would
then have to be whited out
with white paint.

W RADIATING LINE
DRAWING MACHINE.
Rays emanating from
a central point are a
good way to jazz up a
logo and there was never
a better way to accomplish
the task—in the stupid
old days, that is—than
with this gizmo. Trans¬
parent plastic display
provided convenient ocular
readout ensuring accurate
spacing. Centrally placed
crosshairs allowed perfect
registration to center
point without that telltale
thumbtack hole. Today,
this thing is totally useless.