For Polar Shift, the latest record from the band Judgement Day, I created custom lettering for the cover as well as a custom typeface for the tracklisting and spine, inspired by old victorian books from the artistic printing tradition.
Why create a custom typeface? Well, I was originally interested in using an existing revival typeface from that period like Brioche by Jessica Hische or Alabaster by Jesse Ragan, but Brioche wasn’t bold enough and Alabaster wasn’t released yet. So rather than compromise, I decided to draw a custom typeface to match exactly what I was looking for. I researched original source material from the turn of the century, drawing inspiration from historical sources and adding details of my own.
Some original sources I looked at are below:
And here are some of my early sketches:
And a specimen of the final design:
Also, an early sketch for the cover:
