Das Giraffenbuch by Mordillo
Das Giraffenbuch, 1973.
Born in Argentina in 1932, Guillermo Mordillo was one of the most widely published cartoonists of the 1970s. In 1969, he was awarded the Silver Medal at the V International Biennale of humorous designs at Tolentino, and in 1977 he won Best Cartoonist of the year at the Salon International de l’Humour in Montreal. In the years between, the Insel Verlag in Germany published two paperbacks with cartoons featuring giraffes. The cover typography uses the Shadow Italic style of Churchward Marianna. Joseph Churchward’s obese letterforms are a perfect fit for Mordillo’s chunky, bulbous-nosed characters. I only wish Marianna would have been spaced tighter. It looks better with touching letters.
Mordillo passed away on 30 June 2019.
Das Giraffenbuch 2, 1974.
3 Comments on “Das Giraffenbuch by Mordillo”
The typeface choice was likely inspired by (or aimed to emulate) the dumpling lettering on previous Mordillo covers. Crazy Cowboy was published by Emme Edizione / Harlin Quist in 1972.
In 1974, Insel issued Crazy Crazy. Das Dschungelbuch. It later (?) was made available in the UK by Hutchinson (via Gareth Hague).
Thank you so much Florian!
It would be exceptionally wonderful, if it was possible to create a font like in his covers from Crazy Cowboys or Crazy, Crazy! I loved his font so incredibly much as child that it became the first one I learned and added to my repertoire. Nowadays I am looking for a digital version as display font.
Thank you for your post
Franziska
Hi Franziska,
Thanks for your comment! I’m not aware of a font that’s based on Mordillo’s lettering. Technically, it would definitely be possible to create one that emulates its look. One would need to look into the legal aspects, especially if it’s intended as a commercial product advertised with reference to the artist. However, the range of applications is probably somewhat limited, and much of the appeal of the cover designs comes from the colorfulness and the 3D effect via the shading/gradients.
Among existing fonts, the one that probably comes closest is Blow Up by Hannes von Döhren.