Yale Brissago 87 (Philip Burton and Armin Hofmann)

Sometimes it pays to ask a question. Like, we were told that this might be the work of Philip Burton. So we asked him. Here’s what he had to say:

Here's the story: I was on the design faculty in the School of Art between 1981 and 1989. I don't remember the exact year but Steve Jobs gave us 22 computers. (Alvin EIsenman's charm.) ¶ Each second year student in the graduate program had one at their desk. In fact, we had new tables designed so that the students could sit at their traditional slanted-top desk and swing around and use the computer on the new desk ¶ I had seen one of my colleagues demonstrate the new Fontographer program and I was thrilled with the idea of being able to design my own typeface. ¶ Armin Hofmann—who was guest teaching at the time—sat at the traditional desk and I sat at the computer table. I chose the letters from one of the Winterhilfe posters at the back of Armin's 1965 book as a model for new ones. ¶ I would draw the letter with Fontographer, print it out, and Armin would retouch it using black and white Plaka paint. Then I would go through the refinement process and pass it back to Armin. This went on for the better part of the day while the students watched. ¶ The result is what you see on the Brissago poster. The name of the typeface is Norfolk because Armin’s project with the students that year was a poster for the summer music program at the Ellen Battell Stoekel estate in NW Connecticut (owned by Yale). ¶ One of the students asked if she could use the new typeface on her poster. That was the birth of the name. The "Y" and Swiss cross at the bottom was done by Armin.

A scarce, sweet thing with a great story. And it pairs nicely with this.