Hi Simon

Clarendon has always been my favourite when working on jazz posters myself. Used with a sans serif...perfectly elegant.

hash

Did you see this thread? {Clarendon was the first suggestion out of the gate there, too.)

Why not just use a solid American-looking gothic? That way you’re getting a cultural connection and have a relatively neutral design that can be applied to all kinds of jazzy stuff.

Clarendon - Franklin Gothic - News Gothic - Gotham - Helvetica Neue Thin Extended.

The 2 first ones have been extensively tested and approved by Reid Miles on his designs for Blue Note records.

dr

Can't go wrong with a Reid Miles tribute. A big fat Clarendon with Akzidenz Grotesk, or AG Bold Condensed with a lighter Clarendon, etc etc. That's already been said, I'm just chippin' in.

I should also mention that photography is important for that "look," but I don't know if your project is strictly type based or what.

Photography...

Yes, also something I'm looking into - but primarily my concerns were firmly in the lap of type, which I *know* is usually the wrong way to go about things, but that's just the way I design. :)

We have accounts everywhere with stock sites, but everything is so generic and bland (with the exception of Morguefile; somewhere that constantly surprises me, being royalty free, and, well, free).

Clarendon looks like an ideal face, and something, possibly due to font "jamias-vu" (see it often, always forget it's there) I'd never have thought of.

Thanks so much for suggestions, I'll start experimenting when I hit the office tomorrow.

simon

You could use a typeface that has a "cultural" axis.
By that, I mean that instead of the usual axes such as weight, scale and slant, there are, for instance, historical variants.
Chalet, of course, represents several scenes.
Hypatia has options too, with old-style and geometric as variants on the same body.
Of my faces, Eunoia and Panoptica provide alternate vibes within the same general brand.