If you’re a music enthusiast and a type geek, you’ll know that finding a book to satisfy those two interests would be quite the challenge. Well, look no further! Transatlantic type foundry Commercial Type’s latest launch, Double Acts in Pop, is the answer to your prayers.
Described as a “272-page visual journey meets 1,652-word essay”, the book features Commercial Type’s entire catalogue of typefaces (60+ families). Designed by Chris Wu, edited by writer Caren Litherland, and printed by Conti Tipocolor, Florence, Double Acts in Pop is obviously visually stunning, but it is meant to be read as much as admired.
For the book, Commercial Type co-founders Paul Barnes and Christian Schwartz partnered with MTV podcaster and Pitchfork writer Molly Lambert to explore enduring musical duos, fleeting collaborations, and side project partnerships within bands. Think Wham!, Simon & Garfunkel, Lennon and McCartney, and the list goes on.
Lambert reveals the creative peaks, feuds, and hilarious pettiness of some of her favourite and most hated musical duos – all through the typefaces of one of the most prolific type design duos to date.
The double act in type design
Barens and Schwartz have worked together since 2003, when they were paired up to draw a new set of typefaces for The Guardian. “We knew each other a bit before but quickly bonded over shared interests, especially pop music,” Schwartz reveals.
“When we’ve done lecture tours, Paul always comments on how we’re ‘the best as a double act,’ so making a book about double acts in pop music seemed like an obvious idea to us.”
Schwartz reveals that some of his favourite double acts mentioned in the book are Pet Shop Boys, Wham!, and Sparks. He says: “You’ve got the more gregarious member of the pair, with the quieter one amused in the background – I like that dynamic.
“Paul can’t stand Eurythmics and wanted to leave them out; Molly hates Paul Simon but wrote about Simon & Garfunkel anyway, and I really don’t like Steely Dan, but the way Chris used Seance and Blanchard together more than makes up for it.”
Despite the more fun aspect of the project, the type design duo didn’t lose sight of the fact that explaining to music audiences that the book is also a type specimen and explaining to design audiences that it’s also a music book (that you can actually read cover to cover) would be a big part of the challenge. “It’s always been important to us that our type specimens can be read in addition to being looked at,” says Schwartz.
He believes that, while Pangrams have their place, they’re “not very interested in grumpy wizards, brown foxes, and liquor jugs”. Instead, they prefer to judge the character of a typeface when looking at real text.
Finding the right approach
Early on, the idea was to use a line or two from each Billboard #1 song,