Typophile

8 1/2 Titles Font

Horton Munson

I am working on a project to catalog movie titles, and one of the things I want to do is include the typefaces that are used. I expect that there will be many that I can't ID, so I am going to use this board as a resource. If this gets annoying, just ask me to cool it.

My first movie puzzler is Federico Fellini's 8 1/2. The title itself is probably custom but based on a typeface, and the credits are some type of Clarendon/Egyptian/*Italienne* that I can't find. Anyone know better?

I know it looks like it could be a typeface, but I think there is a good possibility that it was custom lettering. It doesn't look like any typeface that I know, plus the "D" and "I" are noticeably different in the smaller and larger sizes. Notice that the serifs are about the same size, even though the letters aren't. The two "F"s look different, too.

Here's the only other type in this title, in case that helps solidify the professional opinions.

I'm still seeing slight differences in repeated letters, so I'm more convinced it's lettering, not type. Judging by both samples now, I would say the lettering is based on Baskerville, but drawn wider and heavier. I wouldn't have thought that would work, but it does.

Captured from web.archive.org on 21 Sep 2019. view this capture