Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Under Cover: 1990s J.R.R. Tolkien Calendars


(Continued from yesterday’s post on the 1980s calendars.) Ballantine Books had the license to published the J.R.R. Tolkien calendars, which had illustrated scenes from The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. Below are the calendars I worked on during the 1990s. Color comps of the title page and grid designs were submitted for approval.


Art by Ted Nasmith

Cover font was Blackmoor; cover detail

Custom alphabet for the title page and months was used
first on the Exotica calendar of Olivia De Berardinis art.


The 1991 J.R.R. Tolkien Calendar
Art by John Howe

Cover font was Aquitaine Initials Std
with variant characters; cover detail

Title page font, Halifax, was from Photo-Lettering;
detail from the One Line Manual of Styles (1971).


Rubber cement-stained comp of the grid


The 1992 J.R.R. Tolkien Calendar
Art by Ted Nasmmith

Cover detail

The editor wanted the design to be consistent throughout
this calendar and subsequent ones.


Art by Alan Lee

Cover detail

Rubber cement-stained comp of the grid

Art by Michael Kaluta

Cover font is Fantaisie Artistique which was
from Photo-Lettering; cover detail.

Detail from the One Line Manual of Styles (1971)


(Next post on Monday: A Dark Traveling)

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