Crafting Letters: The Beautiful Ludlow Typography Specimen Books c. 1958 – Design You Trust — Design Daily Since 2007

Crafting Letters: The Beautiful Ludlow Typography Specimen Books c. 1958

Ludlow Type 2 1 1141x1536

The Ludlow Typograph Company, established in 1906, produced specimen books titled “Some Ludlow Typefaces” in editions A, B, C, and D to showcase their proprietary fonts and ornaments.

These books, particularly issue ‘D’ from circa 1958, featured designs by principal typographer R. Hunter Middleton, known for fonts like Coronet and Stencil, as well as contributions from designers such as Robert Wiebking and Hermann Zapf. The Ludlow Typograph was a hot metal typesetting system used primarily for large-type materials like newspaper headlines and posters. Despite the decline of letterpress printing in the 1960s, Ludlow’s matrices remained in use into the mid-1980s, partly due to their application in rubber stamp manufacturing. At its peak in the early 1980s, the company reported that 16,000 Ludlow machines were operational worldwide.

h/t: flashbak

Ludlow Type 4 1 1064x1536
Ludlow Type 18 1 1064x1536
Ludlow Type 20 1 1075x1536
Ludlow Type 22 1 1058x1536
Ludlow Type 23 1 1053x1536
Ludlow Type 24 1 1074x1536
Ludlow Type 25 1 1072x1536
Ludlow Type 27 1 1065x1536
Ludlow Type 28 1 1067x1536
Ludlow Type 31 1 1091x1536
Ludlow Type 33 1 1116x1536
Ludlow Type 34 1 1116x1536
Ludlow Type 35 1 1116x1536
Ludlow Type 37 1 1116x1536
Ludlow Type 38 1 1094x1536
Ludlow Type 41 1 1063x1536
Ludlow Type 42 1 1070x1536
Ludlow Type 44 1 1080x1536
Ludlow Type 46 1 1068x1536
Ludlow Type 50 1 1048x1536
Ludlow Type 19 1 1070x1536

If you want more awesome content, subscribe to 'Design You Trust Facebook page. You won't be disappointed.

More Inspiring Stories

Unbelievably Precise Hand Lettered Quotes That Are Almost As Small As Coins
German Artist Shows What’s Problematic About Modern Societies In His Illustrations
Creative And Dreamlike Photo Manipulations By Josh Pierce
This Artist Reimagines Disney Princesses as Twisted Characters and They're So Creepy
"Failed Memories": The Superb Glitchy Digital Art Of David Szauder
Famous People And World Leaders Reimagined As Hipsters By Amit Shimoni
NSFW Outrageous Pop Culture Graphic Designs That Will Undoubtedly Amuse You
Hilarious Sculptures Inspired By Tom And Jerry’s Most Unfortunate Moments
Funny Comics Showing How Women Behave When Nobody’s Looking
Traveler Leaves Hilarious Graffiti Hidden For Hotel Guests In Rooms He Has Stayed In Over The Last 11 Years
Famous Album Covers Brought Onto Their Original New York City Locations Where They Were Shot
Faces of Death: Macabre Art by Vladimir Chebakov
Comics About An Ice Cube Which Artist Created At The Lowest Point Of His Creative Career
30 Honest Apps By Viktor Hertz Perfectly Fit In Quarantine Days
Meet Trophy Wife Barbie: She Smokes, Drinks, And Raises Hell
What Art Icons Would Look Like In Today’s Society
Artist Draws Video Game Characters With Their Full Inventory
Hilarious Comics By Norwegian Mom Jade Nordahl That Perfectly Capture What Motherhood Is Like
Stunning Photorealistic Portraits By Nikolay Yarakhtin Hand-Sketched On The Streets Of Saint Petersburg
This Artist Creates Tattoos That Look Like Holographic Stickers
Women’s Everyday Problems Illustrated By Romanian Artist
Barbenheimer: The Superb Movie Poster Mashups by Rahal Nejraoui
25 Amazing 1970s Album Advertisements
The Many Faces of Cyberpunk: 3D Worlds of Sarper Baran