Above and above left, Sri Lankan food-wagon sign painters have developed an
amazing style of decorative lettering, as shown in these photos by Viktor
Kaganovich. The sign painters draw inspiration from such sources as engraved
bank notes and American "kustom" auto detailing. Left, these real-life carved
wooden letters from an 1890s sign company catalog are not designers' con¬
cepts of how dimensional letterfaces should look, but the real thing. Below,
it's not a rainbow gradient blend—which they didn't have in the 1950s when
this pencil packaging design was issued—but a split fount printing effect. Try
asking a modern printer to use several PMS colors separated by rags in the
ink fount so the colors blend as the press rolls and he'll instantaneously
invent a plausible-sounding excuse as to why it cannot possibly be done.

LOGO, FONT a LETTERING BIBLE

173

Political cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz always
seems to hit the mark with his own incisive
perspective on current events. And he's no
slouch in the drop-shadow department,
either. His cartoon, right, sheds a telling
light upon what many believe is the shadowy
secret behind the 9-11 story. As novel as we
find Alcaraz's approach, this concept—the
shadow revealingly differentiated from its
source—has shown up from time to time
through the years as one bit of shtick in the
thinking designers' arsenal.

JAto

©2002*

No catalog of cool
type effects would be
complete without
examples of classic
American postcards
with their wonderfully
clunky letterforms
and awkward block
shadows. These two
examples are typical.
Imagine my surprise
in finding the Camp
Carson card, above
left, since I was born
in the camp hospital
while my father spent
his tour of duty
painting signs like
"LATRINE."