In the early stages of developing collateral and advertising for Duke Performances’ Soul Power series, it became clear there were no commercially available typefaces that could do the program justice. Types used in various blaxploitation film posters and funk/soul collections had become overused and parodied the material they were meant to represent. We wanted something more dignified. I became interested in the revival of Art Deco during the seventies and soon found a period sample of a face called Blackline. The final was developed using a combination of ScanFont and FontLab. The new name, Monel 400, is a reference to the alloy used in the construction of the Chrysler building’s iconic spire.
