Dry Transfer Lettering — Germany — perhaps circa 1970 ?

Comments

• George Thomas Posts: 623

  November 2019

  I can recommend this book as a great resource on blackletter:

  https://typographica.org/typography-books/fraktur-mon-amour-2nd-edition/

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• Stephen Coles Posts: 986

  November 2019

  @Florian Hardwig is the guy.
  

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• Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,584

  November 2019

  So far, looking also at Mecanorma, Prestype and Chartpak. I've seen listings from everybody but Chartpak with no luck.

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• Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,584

  November 2019

  Thanks, @Stephen Coles & @George Thomas!
  
  Florian helped me out once before.    And for blackletter, Dan Reynolds would be on my short-list of go-to people. 

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• Stuart Sandler Posts: 329

  November 2019

  Formatt? Ad-Letter? I have a great reference called Dry Fonts which is a book that was released in the 1970s that documented all the press-type fonts available during that period if it's helpful Thomas. DM me.

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• Stephen Coles Posts: 986

  November 2019 edited November 2019

  We’ve listed all the dry transfer lettering companies I know at Fonts In Use. The only one I know that is specifically German is Abifol/Jürafix/Typofix.

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• Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,584

  November 2019

  Wow, that's handy. Thanks all! Stuart: I will be in touch.

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• Dan Reynolds Posts: 164

  November 2019 edited November 2019

  I’d be happy to help. The medium of whatever you are looking at is probably paramount. In 1970, the number of still in-use (or at least theoretically available for use) metal blackletter typefaces was huge (because of old type in print shop drawers, etc.). The number of blackletter fonts available in other media would have been rather small.
  
  Where in Germany the thing was made is also a potential narrower downer.

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• Florian Hardwig Posts: 247

  November 2019

  Letraset was big in the German-speaking world, and Mecanorma had offices in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, too. While I can’t rule out that Formatt, Prestype, Chartpak etc. distributed their products in Germany, too, I haven’t seen evidence for it yet. The manufacturers mentioned by Stewf, Abifol/Jürafix/Typofix, were active in the GDR (East Germany) only. There are also a number of office supply brands that sold (and are still selling) dry-transfer lettering sheets, like Herlitz, Edding, APLI Decadry. At least Edding was in this market already in the 1970s.

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• Ray Larabie Posts: 1,335

  November 2019

  I wish we could change the site rules to allow Font ID requests only by @Thomas Phinney. If that guy makes a font ID request you know it's gotta be fascinating!

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• Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,584

  November 2019

  I can’t be 100% certain of the printing/lettering process, especially seeing as I have not seen the original document. The type is ~ 36- or 38-point, roughly. The letters are sometimes coming off a bit against the glass that they have been behind (possibly for nearly 50 years). So that makes me think of dry transfer. Although foil stamping (with a non-metallic foil) could do that, too. Or it could be some other process that I am not immediately thinking of.
  
  Anyhow, I shall take this offline with interested parties. 

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• Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,584

  November 2019

  George Thomas said:

  I can recommend this book as a great resource on blackletter:

  https://typographica.org/typography-books/fraktur-mon-amour-2nd-edition/

  Out of print! Around $170 second-hand. Which does not rule it out completely, just makes it a bit less attractive as an option.
  
  T

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• Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,584

  November 2019

  I am trusting that by asking for general info, and not posting samples I have managed to skirt the prohibition on font ID postings here on TypeDrawers. But I trust a moderator will straighten me out if I have gone too far! 

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• Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,584

  November 2019

  BTW, I got an ID on this, thanks to some of my Typedrawers friends here. Now I am off reading and researching further, because the history is ... complicated. Thanks folks!

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• Claudio Piccinini Posts: 670

  November 2019

  Not sure if it could be of help, as you were speaking of German speaking countires, but in Italy R41 had this style (which I seem to get had a generic name, possibly “(Carattere) Medievale nero, Gotico RN”.
  
  See also here: https://www.ebottega.it/catalogo.asp?sito=trasferibilir41&Cat=26
  And here: https://www.ebottega.it/scheda.asp?sito=trasferibilir41-R41LNRN82n&descriz=53mm-NERO.-Trasferelli-Trasferibili-R41-in-fogli-9x25cm.-Let
  

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• Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,584

  November 2019

  Thanks, @Claudio Piccinini, that is interesting.
  
  But let's take this off-forum — I feel like this has really headed over the line into font ID territory, which would be against forum rules.

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• Claudio Piccinini Posts: 670

  November 2019

  Thomas Phinney said:

  Thanks, @Claudio Piccinini, that is interesting.
  
  But let's take this off-forum — I feel like this has really headed over the line into font ID territory, which would be against forum rules.

  Good, I seriously miss the identification section from Typophile, however.

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• Mark Simonson Posts: 1,597

  November 2019

  There is always http://fontid.co.
  
  

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• Claudio Piccinini Posts: 670

  November 2019

  Mark Simonson said:

  There is always http://fontid.co.
  
  

  Are you all there? If not, I’m not interested.

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• Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,584

  November 2019 edited November 2019

  I'm most of the way there. But there is more to be done yet, as well. I know the typeface without a doubt. But the font, and even the font technology, are still TBD.
  
  I've pinged Claudio offline. 

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• Mark Simonson Posts: 1,597

  November 2019

  Are you all there?

  
  Sorry, I had to give it up. Procrastination hazard.

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• Claudio Piccinini Posts: 670

  November 2019

  Mark Simonson said:

  Are you all there?

  
  Sorry, I had to give it up. Procrastination hazard.

  Heh… I was half-joking, I know the problem of course.

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• Stuart Sandler Posts: 329

  July 2020

  Finally located my copy of this book and found more details for those who are interested: https://gramho.com/media/1785251941539278690

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• Ray Larabie Posts: 1,335

  July 2020

  Droooooool!

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• Stephen Coles Posts: 986

  July 2020

  @Stuart Sandler Very useful! Is there an index of the manufacturers included?
  

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• Stuart Sandler Posts: 329

  July 2020

  Artype, C-Thru Graphics, Cello-Tak, Chartpak, Letraset, Normatype, Prestype, Tactype and Zipatone.
  
  To be sure, if there were some way I could share this digitally, get dupes made legally and ethnically, etc I would be on board with any suggestions.
  
  All ears!

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• Stephen Coles Posts: 986

  July 2020

  BTW, here's a direct link to Fernando Mello's IG post of Dry Faces which Gramho (unethically) does not link to.

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• Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,584

  July 2020

  Lovely!
  
  BTW, Claudio’s ID was the correct one, and the case ultimately settled out of court. I wish I could tell you all about it, but I can say it involved a very famous work of art (as in, I have seen it in a museum) worth *many* millions of dollars. An expurgated explanation may show up in one of my future talks….

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• Thomas Phinney Posts: 2,584

  July 2020

  I proposed this as a talk for ATypI. I wouldn’t be able to talk about everything, but a lot, at least.

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