Hard Case Crime (2010 to 2014)

Hard Case publishes hard-boiled American crime fiction, both new and old, in the style of vintage paperback originals. The logo was designed with soft, wobby outlines, like those of a tenth-generation photostat. The palette is generally limited to tints of single process colors, as in the days of expensive hand-made zinc blocks. A carefully chosen stable of cover artists includes the legendary Robert McGinnis, creator of the iconic posters for _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_ and _Casino Royale_. We use faces that were common in mid-century publishers’ art departments, de-kerned and respaced to match the rhythms of hastily set metal type, and supplemented with hand-drawn lettering based on period models.