In praise of the chrome logos and lettering affixed to vintage automobiles and electric appliances — those unsung metal emblems and badges that are overlooked, forgotten, damaged, lost to time or the dump.
Under construction. Potholes common. Services minimal. Blame the management.
Best: photography, lettering
Color: white, black, gray, silver, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, beige
Era: 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s
Car Make: AMC, Alfa Romeo, Austin-Healey, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, DeSoto, Dodge, Ford, Holden, Hudson, International, Jaguar, Karmann Ghia, Lamborghini, Lincoln, Mercedes, Mercury, MG, Morris, Oldsmobile, Packard, Plymouth, Pontiac, Porsche, Studebaker, Volvo, VW
Car Model: 88, 500, 3000, Apache, Bel Air, Camaro, Capri, Charger, Continental, Cougar, Corvette, Custom, Dart, Fairlane, Falcon, Fury, Galaxie, GT, Hornet, Impala, Mustang, Special, SS, V8
Not Car: bicycle, camera, espresso machine, fan, refrigerator, scooter
Lettering Style: romanscript, sans, serif, script, slab, swash | condensed, extended | baseline connection, underline | italic, left leaning
Motif: circle, crown, globe, lightning bolt, rocket, shield, wings
Exit: Group | Fonts | This site is set in FF DIN Round.
Presented by: The best rates available from US Auto Insurance Company
Your ad here. Contact Chromeography for metrics and info.
In praise of the chrome logos and lettering affixed to vintage automobiles and electric appliances — those unsung metal emblems and badges that are overlooked, forgotten, damaged, lost to time or the dump.
Under construction. Potholes common. Services minimal. Blame the management.
Best: photography, lettering
Color: white, black, gray, silver, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, beige
Era: 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s
Car Make: AMC, Alfa Romeo, Austin-Healey, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, DeSoto, Dodge, Ford, Holden, Hudson, International, Jaguar, Karmann Ghia, Lamborghini, Lincoln, Mercedes, Mercury, MG, Morris, Oldsmobile, Packard, Plymouth, Pontiac, Porsche, Studebaker, Volvo, VW
Car Model: 88, 500, 3000, Apache, Bel Air, Camaro, Capri, Charger, Continental, Cougar, Corvette, Custom, Dart, Fairlane, Falcon, Fury, Galaxie, GT, Hornet, Impala, Mustang, Special, SS, V8
Not Car: bicycle, camera, espresso machine, fan, refrigerator, scooter
Lettering Style: romanscript, sans, serif, script, slab, swash | condensed, extended | baseline connection, underline | italic, left leaning
Motif: circle, crown, globe, lightning bolt, rocket, shield, wings
Exit: Group | Fonts | This site is set in FF DIN Round.
Presented by: The best rates available from US Auto Insurance Company
Your ad here. Contact Chromeography for metrics and info.
I’ve packed the Chromeography sidebar with tags. Now you can navigate by color, era, car make/model, lettering style, and motif. More to come.
Cadillac is the only major manufacturer savvy enough to cling to the swoop and swash of their historic identity or advertising. I type upon a phone looking out the bus window at parked-speed rush hour. Rear ends of many makes and models named in noncommittal sans, no enameled scripts to be seen. Perhaps it makes technological sense, we’ve safely driven out of the human age where the disappearance of script might mark the last remnants of time when cars could be linked to hand craft in the making as well as (attainable) luxury in the buying? Read on…
“Consider this: this badge was designed by hand. It would have been transferred from a drawing to a mold by a toolmaker, by hand. After each badge was mass-produced, in all likelyhood in a factory entirely owned by Chrysler, it would have been painted and polished by hand. Each badge would be applied to each car by hand and not by some double-sided tape but by actual holes in the panel. They really don’t make them like they used to.” — Ben Kraal