Around the same time that I began creating my font,
Grandmaster Clash (which was based on vintage Iron-On Letters from 1970's New York.) Charlie Morgan and Rory McCartney began their exhaustive research on the very same letters. That research has culminated in this AMAZING archive. It even includes a few pages on my typeface and some examples created from it.
The iron-on lettering that is the subject of Heated Words: Searching for a Mysterious Typeface remains without attribution. Created anonymously and passed down over decades and across subcultures, the typeface is unique within the histories of typography and street fashion. With roots dating back to the first calligraphic forms, the enigmatic letters evolved from embellished military flight jackets and sports uniforms in the early part of the twentieth century. Seemingly omnipresent from the 1970s onward in youth culture in New York City, this particular blackletter typeface--bold and imposing--would go on to decorate the fabric of the most influential music and fashion subcultures of the last half-century. Heated Words provides a unique thread through the subcultural landscape of the last fifty years. With insights from voices in the fields of music, fashion and typography, the unique volume features previously unpublished archival images, including hundreds of illustrations and ephemera. Exploring the visual branding of the "outsider" and the resurgence of analog typography, Heated Words is presented through a layout and design that echo the frenetic history of the letters themselves.
