Vendôme, a quirky typeface designed in 1952 by François Ganeau while working at Fonderie Olive. I recall reading that it was named for Place Vendôme, a square in the 1st arrondissement in Paris, but i can’t actually find any written proof of that, so i’ll speculate that there is some connection. The face itself is inspired by 16th and 17th century type by Claude Garamond and Jean Jannon (which, to my eye, it feels more like Jannon’s lowercase a and the overall tone).
For me, though, the type is characterized by its fantastically violent beaks and its unabashedly classic design. It’s like what Trajan’s drunkle might look like after several glasses of Knob Creek on a cold winter day. A great (pseudo-)contemporary use of the type is the album art of Magzine’s The Correct Use of Soap
—marcos
