Merry Christmas from the people of Prismania – broadside, Headliners, Jim Donoahue, 1969

We suspect that the real purpose of this piece was as the cover for a folder that held the release of the neo-Prismania range from Headliners International. It’s release at Christmas may simply have been coincidental.

Geometric alphabets surged in popularity during the late 1960s. One of the earliest examples of this style was neo-Prismania, designed in 1964 by Detroit lettering artist Dick Isbell for Headliners International. Isbell’s design was inspired by Prisma, a typeface originally created by Rudolph Koch and released by the Klingspor Foundry in 1931.

Koch’s Prisma is considered to be one of the first multi-line typefaces. Designed as a display companion to his widely successful Kabel family, it was available only in uppercase letters and figures. Initially regarded as a novelty, Prisma saw limited use – until the 1960s, when graphic designers rediscovered its potential. The era’s vibrant, large-scale supergraphics provided an ideal backdrop for its distinctive Art Deco linear aesthetic, securing its place in the visual culture of the time.

The body text is set in Sans Serif, (Lanston Monotype’s version of Kabel). Kabel was also designed by Rudolph Koch and released by Klingspor in 1927. Like Futura, released the same year, Kabel is classified as a Geometric Sans. However, it is a more idiosyncratic design than Futura. In the Light weight the x-height is notably low, gradually increasing in the bolder weights. The Light and Bold weights of Lanston’s Sans Serif family were released in 1930.

In the 1960s Kabel, in all its variations, experienced a strong resurgence in popularity, particularly in advertising typography. – Rod McDonald

Artifact Text

Merry Christmas from the people of Prismania
Greetings from the Prismatics, a mad group of new faces, living in a state of frivolity at Headliners of Canada.