Let Me Off at the Top! by Ron Burgundy
Will Farrell’s newscaster character, Ron Burgundy, is stereotypically 1970s, with his bushy moustache, namesake-colored blazer, and antiquated ideas on gender.
The cover of his new book, promoting the sequel to the Anchorman film, does a pretty good job simulating the cheap dust jackets of the same era, its author and title set in bold, condensed type with rounded serifs. Bernhard Condensed is a near perfect pick for the pastiche. Ashbury, released in 2012, is anachronistic, but the designers must have been looking for a muddy, transitional face and appreciated Ashbury’s bumpy-soft contours. They enhanced the effect by adding some weight to the Bold and condensing it a bit. The choice and placement of Futura Light feels like an afterthought — but polished elegance was not the goal here.
3 Comments on “Let Me Off at the Top! by Ron Burgundy”
Like it, don’t love it. Overlapping serifs? No drop shade or rounded corners on the underline? Lazy typography.
I’m reminded of the book covers in Royal Tenenbaums. Those were pretty good.
Ah, I guess there is a drop shade on the underline, but still. Kinda half assed.
Also (as I’m sure you’ve seen before, but might make a good FIU post, the book covers typefaces are cataloged here).
I agree they didn’t do full diligence on this cover.
Love the Tenenbaums covers. I have a very old draft article on those waiting to be finished.