Automotive Type, Part Thirteen

I’m following up my twelfth edition of my series on automotive type with a wider range of truck badges. For part thirteen, I’m featuring badges appearing on everything from sport-utes, to commercial delivery trucks, to big rigs. Even with purely utilitarian vehicles like the 1952 Dodge and 1958 Divco delivery trucks, the type treatments have loads of character. Wouldn’t the Divco logo look great on a hat?

A couple of my favorites are the Peterbilt and the 1977 Dodge Street Van. The Peterbilt mark has one of my all-time favorite scripts of any logo. The Street Van badge just screams 1970s, and yet I’ve seen an almost identical style show up in a number of recent lettering designs.

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: 1952 Dodge Panel Delivery, Peterbilt Semi. Second row, left to right: 1972 Chevrolet, 1977 Dodge Tradesman B200 van. Third row, left to right: Autocar automotive hauler, 1958 Divco delivery van, International Scout II. Bottom row, left to right: 1962 International Scout, 1972 Ford Bronco, 1963 Ford Econoline truck.

Automotive Type, Part Ten

Ford advertisements in 1932 called it “The Greatest Thrill in Motoring.” The V8 engine was the most aspirational American automotive power plant of the twentieth century. Sure, there were V12s and the rare V16, but the V8 was an attainable driveway status symbol. For my tenth edition of my series on automotive type, I’m featuring some of my favorite takes on the famous alphanumeric mark that told your neighbors what you were packing under the hood.

From a graphic design point of view, there are so many great interpretations of this simple combination of characters. I love the lighting bolt style of the 1955 Pontiac badge and the subtle “infinity” of the 1962 Studebaker badge. But it’s the graphic checkerboard treatment of the 1965 Barracuda badge that’s possibly my all time favorite.

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: 1932 Ford, 1955 Pontiac, 1955 Ford. Middle row, left to right: 1955 DeSoto, 1962 Studebaker Lark Daytona. Bottom row, left to right: 1964 Studebaker Lark Daytona, 1965 Plymouth Barracuda.