It’s Alive! Frankenstein at 200 exhibition at the Morgan Library & Museum
Source: mikomcginty.com Miko McGinty. License: All Rights Reserved.
Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel Frankenstein was first published in 1818. In the fall of 2018, the Morgan Library & Museum in collaboration with the New York Public Library presented It’s Alive! Frankenstein at 200, an exhibition that –
traces the origins and impact of her novel, which has been constantly reinterpreted in spinoffs, sequels, mashups, tributes and parodies. Shelley conceived the archetype of the mad scientist, who dares to flout the laws of nature, and devised a creature torn between good and evil. Her monster spoke out against injustice and begged for sympathy while performing acts of shocking violence. In the movies, the monster can be a brute pure and simple, yet he is still an object of compassion and remains a favorite on stage and screen.
Miko McGinty was in charge of the exhibition graphics and combined three gloomy typefaces. The title is presented in Gandur New. This tall and dark blackletter is part of Daniel Sabino’s contemporary interpretation of simplified texturas from 1930s Germany. (Side note: In 2025, Gandur Neue was chosen for Luc Besson’s Dracula.)
Headlines inside the exhibition are set in all-caps Gratis. Martin Aleith’s typeface design has letterforms that look like they were constructed from strips of duct tape (or band-aid?). The text typeface is the most eerie in the palette, of course: it’s Dalton Maag’s Aktiv Grotesk, a revenant of the dreaded Arial.
Source: mikomcginty.com Miko McGinty. License: All Rights Reserved.
Source: mikomcginty.com Miko McGinty. License: All Rights Reserved.
Source: mikomcginty.com Miko McGinty. License: All Rights Reserved.
Source: mikomcginty.com Miko McGinty. License: All Rights Reserved.
Source: mikomcginty.com Miko McGinty. License: All Rights Reserved.
This post was originally published at Fonts In Use