The Rush Job – poster, Typsettra, c1975

Over the years, many have assumed that the script for The Rush Job poster was done by Les Usherwood. In fact, it was the work of Anthony Liliefeldt – one of the many talented lettering artists who passed through Typsettra’s studio.

Rough sketches like this rarely survive, but long-time Typsettra employee John Aivalis managed to preserve these. Fortunately, Liliefeldt’s script lettering proved to be a better solution for the title.

Notes

Type shops were always looking for creative ways to showcase new typefaces or headline styles they had produced or acquired. This poster was designed specifically for agency art directors, but anyone working in advertising typography would have appreciated its wit and typographic flair. We’re grateful to long-time Typsettra employee Albert Macchusi for providing us with this copy.

The large size of this poster – almost a metre tall – made it possible to use Gill Sans Light for the text. However, on-screen the type often appears faint, making the text much more difficult to read than it was originally.

The display faces featured are a mix of contemporary and newly released alphabets, along with exclusive designs created in-house by Les Usherwood, Dave Thomason, and other Typsettra staff. The next to last headline – Did I settle up with you guys last month? – may be the first use of Raleigh Medium, drawn by staff lettering artist David Anderson. Raleigh would become a very popular display face. – Rod McDonald

Items in this Collection

Title: Curabitur blandit tempus porttitor

Media format description

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Artifact

Date

1975

Title

The Rush Job

Description

Poster

Black and white poster

18.5 × 34.75 inches

Publication

Publisher

Client

Typesettra

Credits

Agency:

Studio:

Creative_Director:

Art_Director:

Design: Unknown

Typography:

Hand_Lettering: Anthony Liliefeldt

Calligraphy:

Illustration:

Art:

Author:

Writing:

Printing:

Biography:

Principal Typefaces

Display: Hand Lettering: The Rush Job; Left column, top to bottom; Skylark, Meridien Black, Blackmore Condensed*, ITC American Typewriter Light Condensed, ITC Machine Bold, Dominante Bold, Cicero Bold*. Center column; ITC Grouch, Andrich Minerva Light Italic, Contact Bold Condensed, Roslyn Gothic Medium, Americana Bold, Flange Extra Bold*, Roslyn Gothic Bold. Right column; Bernhard Gothic Extra Heavy, Goudy Bold, Felton Bold*, Ivernia Light*, Extension Bold*, Raleigh Medium*, Varsity Black. *typefaces exclusive to Typsettra.

Text: Gill Sans Light (Berthold Diatronic)

Find more:

Skylark Meridien Blackmore ITC American Typewriter ITC Machine Dominante Cicero ITC Grouch Andrich Minerva Contact Roslyn Gothic Bernhard Gothic Goudy Felton Ivernia Extension Raleigh Varsity Gill Sans

Region

Ontario

Language

English

Holding

Private collection of Albert Macchusi (poster) Canadian Typography Archives (sketch)

Copyright Status

Artifact copyright

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Notes copyright

Accompanying notes are licensed under Creative Commons licensing CCbyNC which allows for non-commercial use with attribute.