Kapital & Moral by Poing and Maja S.K. Ratkje
Most of the text on the sleeve is set on a slope. This artificial slant was a bit of a shock to me – there is no italic style for Monumental Grotesk – but I’m fine with such manipulation when it works.
The pairing of Poing and Maja Ratkje is a very modern one: Ratkje is a contemporary singer and composer, and Poing travel the world as a mini-orchestra for hire. The topics of Kapital & Moral are all timeless. So it makes some sense, somehow, that Monumental Grotesk, a typeface based on 1930s styles, grounds it in a specific time.
Håvard Gjelseth, the art director, placed Kapital & Moral squarely in the past. Monumental Grotesk is paired with Lettera, a monospaced face that performs the part of a typewriter. The colour palette and typographic stylings are decidedly Bauhaus, and so it plays a fair bit older than its age.
Part of the promotion material includes a large silkscreened cardboard poster (wonderful work by Kjetil Brandsdal of Drid Machine). Monumental Grotesk is a loud and important part of the cover art. I’m happy to see it play a different tune than I imagined it for.
As is my habit, I like to recommend the music my typefaces promote. So, have a listen: Maja Ratkje and Poing perform John Lennon’s Working Class Hero.
The slightly brutal, unrefined shapes of the Piet Zwart design work well in this overprinted silkscreen setting.
