Post Modernist Type in the 60’s and 70’s

The best way to represent the Beatles and Abbey Road in a typeface might be to look at the type of that era so it can really be reminiscent of it. Having said this, the typeface must also be fairly contemporary so it is still relevant for a modern day graphic design campaign, perhaps the typeface can take a stylistic element of a post modernist typeface and apply it to a more contemporary typeface, maybe something bold and sans serif. 

A Broad Look at 70’s Type

While Abbey Road was released in 1969 at the latter end of the 60’s, it was subsequently listened and enjoyed in the 70’s so type from the 70’s is probably more relevant. Taking a broad look at a large selection of 70’s type, here are the trends you can see:

• Outlines 
• Drop Shadows
• Inlines
• Curvy rounded sans serif letterforms
• Very chunky bold sans serif letterforms 
• Ornamnetal serifed type
• Basic geometric shapes
• Contrasting weights in strokes

While some of these will make for a more pastiched typeface, some of these things may apply well to something more contemporary so out would be worth trying them out and I can see which ones look the best. 

Milton Glaser

Probably one of the most prolific designers of his time, Milton Glaser is the quintessential post modernist designer. He worked on quite a few typefaces, some very stylised and decorative and some a bit more subtle and more versatile. It’ll definitely be worth looking ta his work for inspiration and ideas to be reminiscent of that era, e.g. he has a few stencilled typefaces, perhaps the idea of Abbey Road halving 2 different halves could be communicated with the letterform literally being cut in half, maybe one half could be different than the other. Also his typeface Hologram Shadow plays with perspective and shadow a lot and is quite reminiscent of the figures of the Beatles walking across the zebra crossing, maybe a typeface could be designed which takes this idea into account.