Ellison Wonderlandis a collection of short stories byHarlan Ellison(1934–2018). First published in the United States in 1962, this is the jacket for the first UK edition, issued byMillingtonin 1979. Instead of working with an illustrator, designerLorie Epsteinopted for a purely typographic approach featuringQuartermaine. She separated the thin and thick strokes ofStuart Longley’s open, dimensional unicase typeface and gave them different colors: blue and purple for the author’s name, and orange and pink for the title. The Science Fiction Book Club mention in the bottom right corner is set inITC Avant Garde Gothic, with its alternateeand faux small caps.
This typography communicates psychedelic literary authority — the kind of experimental, mind-bending energy that matches Harlan Ellison's boundary-pushing science fiction. The chromatic separation of Quartermaine's strokes creates a hallucinogenic effect that feels both futuristic and wonderland-like, perfectly capturing the surreal, consciousness-expanding nature of Ellison's storytelling.
Quartermaine's open, dimensional unicase structure allows for the brilliant chromatic stroke separation technique — its high stroke contrast and architectural letterforms can be visually deconstructed without losing legibility. The dimensional quality of the typeface creates natural depth that's enhanced by the color treatment, while ITC Avant Garde Gothic's geometric modernism provides clean contrast as supporting text, its alternate glyphs adding subtle typographic sophistication.
The pairing creates perfect hierarchy through contrast of treatment rather than size — Quartermaine's psychedelic color-separation dominates while Avant Garde Gothic's clean geometry recedes into functional support. This allows the experimental display treatment to shine while maintaining professional publishing credibility through the restrained secondary typeface.