5 Examples of Images Within Typography
I’ve always been drawn to typography that incorporates images – I’m talking about that bold type that frames a series of photographs or illustrations. As a graphic element, this typographic style allows the designer to include more photos than would otherwise be permitted. The letters provide a natural frame for the photos.
This type of design is popular with postcards that depict cities – the typical old-timey card declares, “Greetings from …” and then the city name frames landmarks that might entice the recipient to visit.
But in addition to marketing, this type of design lends itself to personal projects as well: Perhaps a milestone birthday invitation could contain images of the celebrant’s life.
Here are five examples of images in typography. And please list your favorite designs in the comments!
The marketing postcard for last year’s Oakland Pride included Oakland, Calif., landmarks and drag queens.
Carolyn Hazard designed this postcard for music store Tower Records, with a variety of album covers in the letters.
The I Work in Pages blog has a tutorial for how to create transparent letters with images inside.
MTV redesigned its logo last year, dropping “Music Television” from the base and filling the “M” with scenes from its reality programming.
Souvenir postcards such as this one from Oklahoma City are ideal for squeezing in as many landmarks as possible in a tidy manner.
Jennifer Moline is a writer for PsPrint and the PsPrint Design Blog. PsPrint is an online commercial printing company.
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A Twitter follower suggested another Oakland example: http://ouroakland.blogspot.com/2010/01/greetings-from-oakland.html?spref=tw
Images in typography can work well, creating thought provoking and often emotive pieces of design. But unfortunately more than often in my opinion I think that imagery within type can also ruin the look of a design, cluttering up clean typography and over complicating the layout and ultimately confusing the viewer. The best example of imagery used in the above post would have to be I Heart NY the simple sans serif typeface is easy to read against the white space, and the images relate directly to the type. This said I still believe this design could still greatly be improved.
I agree, Alan — you really need the right font and the right images or else it will just be a mess.
Wow, these designs can really be considered retro! i don’t think images in typography can work well, but i do think if you want to give a design a late 70’s early 80s feel, then go crazy.
I really think the images with the typography are really creatively done. It just really matters on how you integrate the images into the words itself. I guess its up to the designer on achieving his/her full creativity through the images!
I agree this post! It’s very important to choose the right font for a creative work.
This stuff is cool! But it has to be done right or it looks old school.