Tacos in Vegas

Luther Blissett 29 Jul 2009 at 2:51PM

They’re not really close to the same typeface. The historical typographic references are different. The “What Happens” type is calling on a handtooled, stylized Bauer Bodoni typical of pre-modernist midcentury type design as in some signpainting and late 50’s advertising, based out of a certain evolution of “Americana” that led to the shifting baselines and tilts to normal roman faces. This is often employed in marketing anything as “Vegas” because of it’s evocation of Las Vegas’s heyday. The type that Taco Bell has been using seems to hearken more to engraved Latin letters from the Roman Empire, a lá “Little Ceasars,” although employing similar nostalgic references to the American fascination with neo-classicism in the 50’s (think Bugs Bunny gladiator cartoons or Wildwood NJ). It’s like a beatnik typeface for referencing post-Columbian exploitation. Just check the capital “A”s. Way different.