"squirrel" is probably right, but I was involved with a number of printing companies over the years and I know there are a TON of different fonts out there. There must be a font catalog (or something similar) on the internet you could look at.
Hey C, Tman is correct...I just went through all of my 285 fonts on my computer. That was a fun search, too. Close, but not the exact one. There must be fonts from the early 1960's that are not on one's computers today. Some of the fonts could have been redesigned as the years have rolled onward. If you find one that is close, make a jpeg out of it and stretch it sideways. Jnaki The early computers had early "standard" fonts, but the newer years brought on the designs to be fancy for communications. I am on my 4th gen computer with new fonts plus some of the old ones. The older ones, like the ones we are currently using on the HAMB. commercial accounts had access to many more that we "ordinary" people did not have...Try a silk screen company for fonts...a treasure trove.
Not sure of the casting and machining process used in the 60s on Mickey s parts . But I am sure it had nothing to do with a computer or font selection back then! lol Larry
Do a Google search MILLIONS of fonts out there, including car related like chrysler, Ford etc. You might not find it, many you have to pay for, and it will take a LOT of searching But there are TONS out there!
a small example of the many, slightly different logos M/T used over the years. None of them match this valve cover, do they? http://vintagewheelcatalogs.com/m-t/
Yes...there's millions, and as such almost nobody does their own. The super unique, capitalized "PORSCHE" logo on the side of 60''s race cars came from a font. When I chose a font for my business I made sure it existed in the 60's...because ithe was going to be used on my gasser in the future. So I'm betting Mickey selected the font/typeface...but didn't invent it.
My guess is that the M/T logos were probably all drawn by hand, not selected from a typeface catalog. Like I said before, it's art. And if the only two letters available are the upper case M and T, then it's not really a typeface.
While that's a possibility the other is they match one of the many out there. And I don't need to get it exact, just as most of the GT350 logos on rocker panel replacements aren't exactly right there's "close enough"...just wanna engrAve the valve cover and a font similar would be cool.
The closest I could find is City Light (Light describes the weight of the type; light, medium or bold etc) published by Berthold in the 1930s. But the Mickey Thompson version is "extended", drawn out horizontally. City Medium may also work too. Hopefully his will be a starting point for you.
I worked 40 years in the graphic arts, as a lithographer, art director, production manager and eventually a business owner. (60's through 90's) When it came to trademarks and logos, most companies I know of, had them uniquely designed to be unlike any off-the-shelf font. A business can't own a trademark if it's a font that somebody else owns, whether available for free or for a fee. If a company wanted printed material with their trademark, the company had to supply the printer with clip art to use. That's not to say a font designer couldn't be hired to create a trademark that consists of a couple of letters. But a business wouldn't need an entire alphabet plus numbers and dingbats, just the trademark. The company pays for the design service and then owns the design and controls its use. I can't say what Micky Thomson did, but it would be unusual to take a readily available font that anyone could use, and couldn't be trademarked, to be his logo. It's not unheard of for an owner of a small company to self design a trademark or logo using inspiration from a lot of things, including various fonts. It does seem that the M, backslash, T has been used by no other company. It also seems other fonts different from the valve cover have been used in Mickey Thomson literature, but not exactly as trademarks those cases. Odds are the trademark as on the valve cover is uniquely designed. I could be wrong but I'm betting on that.
I'd call it the Mickey Thompson font. it wouldn't take much effort to DRAW a complete alphabet in the style of the logo.
That's exactly what I was looking for, thank you. The actual M/T is too wide for my purpose, but I assumed if it existed at all there was likely a thinner variant available. One day sooner than later I'll start a thread showing the reasons for the questions I pose on occasion.
I doubt he would have searched all fonts etc to make sure it was unique, I bet he came up with it from something he liked and worked it a bit to make it his. JW
"I think, I'd say, I doubt, I assumed, I bet, I could be wrong, I'd call, My guess". Get the answer you're looking for?
Go here: http://www.myfonts.com/ Type "wide slab serif" in the search field. Spend an eternity searching for the closest match you can find.
Some of us are old enough to remember the days before computers. Some aren't. Almost all of that stuff was done by hand, drawn by hand and then pattern makers made the patterns for casting by hand. Even typeface was first drawn by hand before being mass produced. Sign painters had different font patterns to follow and they did it all by hand. Some threw artistic license into it or perhaps used a stencil but laser Cut vinyl letters didn't come around yet. Then again the first master set of stencils were done by hand. And Typing was actually done by smacking a formed letter against an ink ribbon. The "word processor" wasn't around. Typing was Just a bit more refined than chiseling a rock.
That Old American Font. Hot blooded and God fearing! Sent from my SM-J727T1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
A lot of art directors would use a particular font as a starting point and them modify it so it was unique. The CROWER logo appears to be an off the shelf stencil font, but there were some subtle modifications to make it one of a kind. There were no such things as page maker back in the sixties....the closest thing to a font catalog was a proof sheet from a printer that was still using a Linotype machine.
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