Asti Cinzano
Artist
Leonetto Cappiello
1875–1942. Caricaturist, poster artist. Born in Livorno, Italy.
Cappiello moved to Paris in 1898 and made his name as a caricaturist. He turned to posters soon after and signed a long contract with the printer Vercasson, later moving to Devambez.
His formula was a single striking figure, often unrelated to the product, set against a flat black or coloured ground. Chocolat Klaus in 1903 is usually named as the breakthrough. The lettering on his posters is plain, condensed and loud, which is exactly what makes it useful as type.
- Leonetto Cappiello
- 1920
- Art Deco
- France
- Sans, Display, Slab, Wide sans
- Devambez, Paris
- Bibliothèque nationale de France
- Gallica btv1b9005979b
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public domain
Fonts
Asti Capitals
Letters from the poster
Full typeface
Download
Vermouth Slab
Letters from the poster
Full typeface
Download
History
Cinzano was already an old vermouth house when Cappiello drew this sheet in 1920. Asti names the sparkling wine. The poster sells the brand with one figure and two lines of type.
ASTI is a yellow capital with a slight flare. CINZANO is a wider, heavier orange slab. Both sit clean on black, which is why they read as type.
The Bibliothèque nationale de France holds a copy printed by Devambez in Paris.
Source and rights
Leonetto Cappiello died in 1942. His work entered the public domain on 1 January 2013. The scan comes from Gallica, the digital library of the BnF.
Scan from Wikimedia Commons, catalogue record Gallica btv1b9005979b. Brand names on the poster belong to their owners and are never used as font names.
Related posters
Same era, lettering or artist.
