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MGM’s Leo the Lion

Leo the Lion in the restored MGM logo, 2008-present

Below, a visual history of MGM’s Leo the Lion.

Details here and here.

Around the lion’s head: ARS GRATIA ARTIS is a Latin translation of ‘art for art’s sake.’

Slats, the original ‘Leo the Lion’ at Goldwyn Pictures, 1916-24

Slats, in the first official MGM logo, 1924-28

Jackie, the second lion, 1928-56

Tanner, 1934-56

George the Lion, 1956-57

Leo the Lion, 1957-83

Modernist logo used only in two films, Grand Prix (1966) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Leo the Lion in the MGM/UA Entertainment Co. logo, 1982-87

Leo the Lion, 1987-2008

Tom, 1963-67

Found via Big Fun

Tags: design history by steve
5 comments . . .

Lost cat

‘yeah thats not what I was looking for at all.’

This is making its way around the interwebs. If you ask a designer for a ‘freebee,’ you never know what you’ll get. Read here.

Found via Laura Edmisten

Tags: cool finds by steve
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Cooper Black postage stamp

Oswald Cooper’s most famous typeface gets a US postage stamp!

Well, sort of. But it is legal, usable US ‘Zazzle’ postage. Snag your’s here.

Designed by David M. Anderson.

Tags: cool finds, fonts, illustration, typography by steve
1 comment . . .

Printing Machine invented

Thomas Bernard and Florian Chevillard have invented The Printing Machine.

Presented at the Festival de l’Affiche in Chaumont, France.

It helps if you understand French. If not, that’s okay too.

Found via Monsieur Bandit

Tags: cool finds, exhibitions by steve
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‘Tipoteca Italiana is a private foundation that was founded in 1995 to advance printing knowledge and preserve venerable printing technologies. Its founder, Silvio Antiga, a 65-year-old printer who owns a printing firm in the Veneto region, has collected more than 20 vintage presses and typesetting machines, along with hundreds of wood and metal type ‘fonts”

From T Magazine, Steven Heller looks at the incredible Tipoteca (tif) and where the term ‘font’ comes from.

I haven’t been there, but a friend visited several years ago – and brought me a whole bunch of really cool ephemera.

Found via Campbell BrownKorbel

Tags: design history, education, fonts, typography by steve
2 comments . . .

Design is History

‘I created this site as part of my graduate thesis at Fort Hays State University in an effort to share with others what I have learned on my own.’

Dominic Flask’s Design is History website – featuring highlights from design history.

Found via Grain Edit

Tags: design history, education by steve
4 comments . . .

It’s Typography: film, song and dance

‘Baskerville, a bad asskerville’

This spring, my Digital Typography students set out to make a short film about type history.

The class – held at The Art Institute of California Sacramento – was set up like a working design studio – with myself as ‘hands off creative director.’ All students had a role, from art direction to project management, web design, editing and production.

At one point, songsmith John Slingerland threw a party at his home – and invited a few unwitting guests – just to record the background vocals for the film’s gets stuck in your head musical number.

And, featured in the credits, a very early beta version of Jeanne Texte – which I had to prep for them as my homework assignment.

It was a fun quarter; this was a great team to work with, their enthusiasm snagged everyone in their handmade typographic web.