Anatomy of a Logo and Under Cover: Time Machine

Time Machine was a 25-book series produced by the late Byron Preiss. With the success of the Choose Your Own Adventure booka, published by Bantam Books, Byron developed a time travel adventure series.

For his presentation to Bantam Books he explained to me that he wanted a retail display box. Below is a photocopy of the box cover; inside was the box stand with two shelves and room for 24 books. The title font is Electus, from Photo-Lettering. In school I recalled seeing this font which was used by the design firm Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar for their client, Electric Circus, a New York City nightclub.

When Bantam Books bought the series, work began right away on the design. Below are the sketches of a symbol for the series. Arrows, sun dial, and figures going through some form of transformation.

Byron and I decided on the figure going through a portal. Having grown up reading Dr. Strange, the image of him entering an inter-dimensional portal was a major influence on the design of the Time Machine symbol. Below is the splash page from Strange Tales #138 with art by Steve Ditko.

The figure between the E and 1 was an early attempt at incorporating the symbol in the title.

Trying to determine how many lines to use to define the figure.

The next three images show the last stage of creating the symbol art: outline version was photocopied and filled in before completing the finished art.

Sketch of the title logo followed by a tight pencil rendering.

The finished lettering with the symbol between the words. Below the title are the numbers which were created as needed. The 6 was turned upside down for the 9.

The original design of the 4 which was modified in the finished art, shown above.

When the series numbering reached double digits, I made a film positive of the 1 and 2. Then the film was placed over to a photocopied number. A photostat was made of the combined numbers.

Press release letterhead design by Bantam Books

Decal design by Bantam Books

The cover text and title font is ITC Berkeley Oldstyle, except for the two lines of text above the logo which is ITC Benguiat Condensed, from the Benguiat font family used on the Choose Your Own Adventure books.

Secret of the Knights

Jim Gasperini

Illustrated by Richard Hescox

Cover by Richard Hescox

Search for Dinosaurs

David Bischoff

Illustrated by Doug Henderson and Alex Nino

Cover by William Stout

Sword of the Samurai

Michael Reaves and Steve Perry

Illustrated by Steve Leialoha

Cover by William Stout

Sail with Pirates

Jim Gasperini

Illustrated by John Pierard and Alex Nino

Cover by Dave Stevens

Civil War Secret Agent

Steve Perry

Illustrated by Alex Nino

Cover by Steve Fastner

Box set with the first five books

The Rings of Saturn

Arthur Byron Cover

Illustrated by Brian Humphrey and Marc Hempel

Cover by William Stout

Ice Age Explorer

Dougal Dixon

Illustrated by Doug Henderson and Alex Nino

Cover by William Stout

The Mystery of Atlantis

Jim Gasperini

Illustrated by Kenneth Smith

Cover by Kenneth Smith

Wild West Rider

Stephen Overholser

Illustrated by Steve Leialoha

Cover by Steve Leialoha

American Revolutionary

Arthur Byron Cover

Illustrated by Walter P. Martishius and Alex Nino

Cover by Alex Nino

Mission to World War II

Susan Nanus and Marc Kornblatt

Illustrated by John Pierard

Cover by Darrel Anderson

Search for the Nile

Robert W. Walker

Illustrated by José Gonzalez Navaroo

Cover by William Stout

Secret of the Royal Treasure

Carol Gaskin

Illustrated by Ernie Colón

Cover by Ernie Colón

Blade of the Guillotine

Arthur Byron Cover

Illustrated by Scott Hampton

Cover by Steranko

Flame of the Inquisition

Marc Kornblatt

Illustrated by John Pierard

Cover by Paul Rivoche

Quest for the Cities of Gold

Richard Glatzer

Illustrated by José Gonzalez Navaroo

Cover by William Stout

Scotland Yard Detective

Seymour V. Reit

Illustrated by Charles Vess

Cover by Charles Vess

Sword of Caesar

Robin Stevenson and Bruce Stevenson

Illustrated by Richard Hescox

Cover by Richard Hescox

Death Mask of Pancho Villa

Carol Gaskin and George Guthridge

Illustrated by Kenneth Huey

Cover by Steranko

Bound for Australia

Nancy Bailey

Illustrated by Julek Heller

Cover by Steve Fastner

Caravan to China

Carol Gaskin

Illustrated by José Gonzalez Navaroo

Cover by William Stout

Last of the Dinosaurs

Peter Lerangis

Illustrated by Doug Henderson

Cover by Mark Hallett

Quest for King Arthur

Ruth Ashby

Illustrated by Scott Caple

Cover by Charles Vess

World War I Flying Ace

Richard Mueller

Illustrated by George Pratt

Cover by Steve Fastner

World War II Code Breaker

Peter Lerangis

Illustrated by Alex Nino

Cover by Steve Fastner

Foreign Editions

There’s more information about each Time Machine book at Demian's Gamebook Web Page.

Promotional material for retailers

Front

Back

Poster

(Next post on Monday: The Forever City)