Alphabets: Dan X. Solo

DANIEL “DAN” X. SOLO

April 29, 1928 – May 15, 2012

Links to articles and video

Alameda’s Neptune Beach

CreativePro.com

Imprint

Justia.com

My Fonts

Oakland Magic Circle

The Type Heritage Project

Urban Influence

I have four of Dan X. Solo’s books, Art Nouveau Display Alphabets, Circus Alphabets, Condensed Alphabets, and Victorian Display Alphabets. When I wanted to photostat an alphabet, sometimes it was a chore to make the page level because the book, in some instances, did not lie flat. So, I used an X-acto knife to cut off the book’s spine, then used a three-hole punch on the pages, and put the pages into a binder. I used some of the wood type alphabets, from his books, on one of my Christmas cards.

Related Post
Dan X. Solo, Man of a Thousand Faces

(Next Monday: Wood type and the Morgan Press)

Typography: Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings

My Christmas card from 1977 was printed by letterpress.

The typography was made with Letraset transfer type,

and is from the Kabel family. I glued a candy cane to the

card. Some cards were hand-delivered. To mail the cards,

I constructed, out of foam board, a protective case, then

inserted it in an envelope. Most cards arrived intact. The

image is an enhancement of a slightly faded photograph.

The card measured 4.125 by 6 inches / 10.5 by 15.2

centimeters. Below is the letterpress type block.

Many years later I revised the card design and wording.

I used wood type fonts from Dan X. Solo's Dover books.

The words were pasted, with wax, on a board; on the

left margin I wrote the percentages next to each word.

Then I photostatted each word and pasted them down

on a board. Then the rules and ornaments were added.

Most of the cards were mailed as is, but some cards had

a cellophane-wrapped candy cane stapled to the card. The

card measured 3.5 by 9 inches / 8.9 by 22.9 centimeters.

(Next post on Sunday)