Mark Twain

Liverpool, 1909

Winston Churchill

1936 photo of a poverty-stricken migrant mother by Dorothea Lange

Theodore Roosevelt

Anne Frank

Abraham Lincoln

Charles Darwin

V-J Day in Times Square

Albert Einstein

Charlie Chaplin

Abandoned boy after the London bombings

Alfred Hitchcock

This burning monk set himself on fire to alarm the world of repression in Vietnam

Che Guevara

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter August Strindberg

Dorothy Counts was one of the first black students admitted to the Harry Harding High School, in Charlotte, NC. After four days of harassment that threatened her safety, her parents forced her to withdraw from the school.

Operation Baker nuclear explosion

Bread line during the Louisville flood, Kentucky
1937

Artist’s Grandmother

When was the project designed?

This is a project we worked on in 1999, a time when we were in transition as far as the computer/lettering went. Although hand-lettering still requires actual ‘handwork’ ….on the board…. with ink …., much of it has moved onto the computer exclusively – with the mouse and a skilled hand replacing the pen or brush. Especially as much of the work we do is vector based – for ease of use in things such as packaging, logos and book covers.

We were given the assignment to rework and update the logo through a Toronto ad agency, who I assume handled the rest of the identity package, as well as dealt directly with the client.

The original Fairmont logo from a century ago

What was the inspiration?

The inspiration was to take the original “vintage” logo with its Victorian style lettering and bring it to this time period, reflecting the much greater scope that the hotels have currently. Some of these grand hotels go way back into Canadian history (1886) and used to be better known as Canadian Pacific Hotels, built by the Canadian Pacific Railroad to accommodate wealthy travellers who started to discover Canada during the early days.

A photo of some of the sketch work

Updating such an old logo required a delicate balance of “keeping the old” while “melding in” the new. Many versions were created that refined the look as it progressed, such as re-shaping the ‘r’ to a more contemporary readable style and tweaking x-heights. In addition, alternate letters, “F” Monograms, and different “wreath surrounds” were created.

Here are some variations that progress from fairly early on to the bottom final art. These are only a small cross section of variations that were provided. Note esp. how the new ‘r’ we suggested at the beginning was tossed only to be reinstated later, and also how it was simplified and thickened up as time progressed. The middle area shows a much more simple version, that was rejected in favor of a greater nod to Victorian flourishes.

What was the design process like?

Like any assignment, the design process was: get information from the client as far as the needs of the project and then design and rework the lettering/logo until it works perfectly and the client is happy with the result. In this project there were many such revisions.

The final lettering

The Fairmont San Francisco

Much thanks to Andrea Hoffmann for helping with this article.

It was during this period that Kubrick’s respected—and often-imitated—style first became apparent. His photographs are vintage Kubrick: a complex blend of composition, drama, light and mystery.

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