A typeface called Carousel

While working on the new website and logo refresh for Associate, my mind cast back to the first logo design for Associate back in 2009 which was set in the typeface Carousel. And so I thought it was a good opportunity to revisit and appreciate this typeface with it’s natural symmetry and graceful letterforms that are still so appealing today, a design classic in my book.

We owe so much to type designers for their contributions to our visual communications. We are surrounded by type and typography in our everyday lives. Typography is influenced by cultural trends just like other creative arts and design disciplines. And mid century was a huge cultural shift which can be seen in the examples of typography and design of the time. One of the stand out designs from 1966 is a typeface called Carousel, a display typeface and design classic with lasting appeal.

With it’s elegant and decorative curves, ultra contrast between thick and thin strokes, each letterform is perfectly balanced, Carousel is a highly crafted typeface. The 1960’s worlds of advertising, marketing, magazines and newspapers were seeking out novelty to attract the public and display fonts had a large part to play. New fonts and designs were created to support the innovative ideas flourishing at those times.

And this was when Carousel was designed by Gary Gillot in 1966. Gillot was in the business of marketing and advertising and created this typeface to use in advertising and marketing campaigns of the time. This style of typeface was described as a fat face letterform, a serif typeface with an extremely bold design. These fat faces were among the first typefaces to be used solely for advertising purposes. Naturally, they were always used in larger point sizes and in display functions. Lasting appeal and as beautiful as it was in 1966.

References: https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/typography-history-art. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typography#Advertising https://www.fonts.com