http://www.fontshop.com/fontfeed/archives/avant-garde-gothic-alternates-...

Avant Garde Alternates, done by Elsner + Flake. Personally, I think this can turn into an easy solution to make things look “custom,” when it probably would look better to just leave it as normal characters. A lot of fashion/lifestyle mags have used this over the past few years, many in a cheap and lazy way, so tread with caution.

Or you could argue that the Elsner + Flake alternatives, are closer to Herb Lubalin’s original vision of how the font should be used?

http://www.graphic-design.com/Type/Avant/Avant2.html

I don’t want to disparage Herb Lubalin’s original, or Elsner+Flake’s recreation/reinterpretation/revival (choose your term depending on your age).

I do want to disparage its overuse in recent years, though. The slanted A can work really well at the beginning of a word, but when designers put it in the middle of a word following a letter like L or H, it seems likely a deadly weapon in the hands of a child. Like I said, you have to be careful with it, and we’ve all seen examples of Avant-Garde Alternates in recent years where people used it inappropriately. I work largely in the action sports industry, so I’ve seen such horrible usages of it I want to punch blindly at the air.

thanks!

Im now too scared to even attempt working with it, after that read.
:)

Richard — I should mention I’ve seen some really awesome usages of Avant-Garde with alternates. Very few. It really depends on the word. If you’ve seen Helvetica, the movie, several people point out its solidness, how it lives in a defined space. Almost any letter combination will work. Avant-Garde is the complete opposite — it only works for the right word. Most type sellers and foundries have type testing apps on their site, so try your word(s) out before you buy.

HA! its my birthday today and i got Helvetica on DVD. havent watched it yet tho.. I fully agree with you, ive seen words written in avant garde, and been amazed at how beautiful they look, and also the opposite.. i must say tho, i dont think ive seen a word look better in Avant garde than ’avant garde’..

As Herb himself pointed out, the whole typeface was designed to be suitable for one thing, and one thing alone — writing ’Avant Garde’ in caps.

The recent abuse of what is a fantastic typeface (if used well) is painful to see.