Automotive Type, Part Five

My fifth post in my series featuring automotive badges and lettering is a sequel to Part Four, all about script badges. Showing just twelve badges wasn’t enough, so here’s another grid of mid century script goodness. Enjoy!

If you’re interested in digging deeper into badge type design, check out writer and type expert Steven Coles’ excellent Tumblr page, Chromeography.

Interested in a print of one of my badge photos? Visit my store and place an order.

Top row, left to right: 1950 Pontiac, 1950 Buick, 1951 Kaiser Henry J. Second row, left to right: 1954 Plymouth, 1955 Chevrolet Nomad, 1955 Willys Aero. Third row, left to right: 1956 Ford, Shasta travel trailer, 1956 Lincoln. Bottom row, left to right: 1957 Chrysler Imperial, 1960 Buick, 1965 Buick.

Automotive Type, Part Four

For my fourth post in my series featuring automotive badges and lettering, I’m continuing with my favorite period—the post-war “Jet Age” from the late ’40s to the early ’60s. This time, it’s all about script badges. I could probably post this a dozen times and not repeat a single badge. I’ve edited my collection down to twelve that I think show the diversity of the period, and that I just personally love. I’d love to see any of these expanded into a complete font. I hope there’s at least one type designer out there reading this that agrees.

If you’re interested in digging deeper into badge type design, check out writer and type expert Steven Coles’ excellent Tumblr page, Chromeography.

Interested in a print of one of my badge photos? Visit my store and place an order.

Top row, left to right: 1947 Chevrolet, 1954 Plymouth,1955 Studebaker. Second row, left to right: 1955 Packard, 1955 Pontiac, 1956 Buick (Motorama show car.) Third row, left to right: 1957 Buick, 1959 Oldsmobile, 1960 Ford. Bottom row, left to right: 1960 Plymouth, 1962 Dodge, 1963 Chrysler.

Automotive Type, Part Two

For my second post in the series featuring automotive badges and lettering, I’m highlighting the industrial and streamlined look of the 1930s and 1940s. If you look at these examples as a whole, you can see the influences of both the mass production established in the ’20s and the corporate consolidation of the ’30s. The overall look of the badges had changed from representing craftsman’s signatures to standardized logos that emphasized the swift mechanical nature of the automobiles. Even the script lettering took on a more “machine made” look and an emphasis on power and speed. The messaging behind the use of script lettering continued to change in subsequent decades, but more on that in future posts.  

If you’re interested in digging deeper into badge type design, check out writer and type expert Steven Coles’ excellent Tumblr page, Chromeography.

Interested in a print of one of my badge photos? Visit my store and place an order.

Top row, left to right: 1934 Chrysler Airflow, 1934 Hudson Terraplane, 1936 Buick. Middle row, left to right: 1937 Studebaker, 1941 Buick, 1941Plymouth. Bottom row, left to right: 1941 Pontiac, 1947 Ford, 1948 Buick.

Automotive Type, Part One

This post is the first in a series that will look at type and graphics used in automotive badging. I’ll be brief with my words and keep these posts visual. The focus of this first post is on early automotive script badges.

If you’re interested in digging deeper into badge type design, check out writer and type expert Steven Coles’ excellent Tumblr page, Chromeography.

Interested in a print of one of my badge photos? Visit my store and place an order.

Top row, left to right: 1908 Stearns, 1909 Cartecar Model H, 1909 White Steamer (first Presidential car). Second row, left to right: 1909 Ford, 1910 Knox, 1910 Cadillac. Third row, left to right: 1912 Oldsmobile Autocrat, 1913 Pope-Hartford, 1914 Locomobile. Bottom row, left to right: 1919 Pierce Arrow, 1921 Packard, 1930 DeSoto.