In July 2016, Australian electronic group the Avalanches released their second album,Wildflower.While the front cover has no type at all, except for a sticker withJersey M54for the band name, all-capsArnold Böcklinfor the album title, andITC Franklin Gothicfor additional text, the typographic party takes place on the back: it features a different style for each track on the album, with embroidered letterforms. Most of the song names are based on fonts, with or without modifications. The Leaves Were Falling:Brush ScriptBecause I’m Me: handwriting?Frankie Sinatra:Benguiat Caslon(or a digital version thereof, likeEmfatick NF)Subways:ArialBoldGoing Home:Gillies GothicIf I Was A Folkstar:West BarnumColours:Electric CircusZap!: (similar to)Strand MidniteThe Noisy Eater:Baby TeethWildflower:Arnold BöcklinHarmony:TangoLive A Lifetime Love:AlluraPark Music:ITC Avant Garde Gothic(?)Livin’ Underwater (Is Somethin’ Wild): loosely based onWilliamson Skidoo(?) and an unidentified scriptThe Wozard of Iz:PretorianandFuturaOver the Turnstiles:Motter FeminaandTurnpikeor similarSunshine:BroadwayLight Up: lettering?Kaleidoscopic Lovers:Commercial ScriptStepkids:Kabel BlackSaturday Night Inside Out:Druk Condensedor similar? The headings for the sides of the vinyl version are inWindsorExtra Bold Condensed. The art direction is credited toChris HopkinsatLost Artand band memberRobbie Chater. Hopkins also provided design and illustration, the latter together withEmi Ueoka.Fergadelic(Fergus Purcell) did the butterfly logo.Kris Vierratook care of quilting and textiles. Inner sleeve ft. a naïve sans and script lettering based onKalligraphia Inner sleeve with moreBaby Teethand lettering similar toWilliamson Skidoo. The Biz Markie photo is byDavid Corio.
This typographic ecosystem creates a kaleidoscopic, maximalist brand energy that mirrors electronic music's sampling culture through visual collage. Rather than cohesive brand voice, each track gets its own typographic personality—from the dynamic warmth of Brush Script to the geometric precision of Futura to the rational authority of ITC Franklin Gothic. The embroidered execution transforms digital fonts into tactile craft, creating unexpected intimacy within electronic music's typically cold aesthetic.
The deliberate typographic chaos serves The Avalanches' sampling-based methodology perfectly—just as they layer disparate musical sources, Hopkins creates visual harmony through controlled discord. The mix spans all form models: dynamic scripts (Brush Script, Commercial Script), rational grotesks (Arial, Franklin Gothic), and geometric constructions (Futura, Avant Garde), unified only by the embroidered treatment that gives every letterform shared tactile DNA. This approach prioritizes expressive range over systematic brand coherence, appropriate for an album celebrating musical diversity.
Rather than traditional pairing, this functions as typographic sampling—violating Kupferschmid's harmony principles deliberately to create productive visual tension. The front cover's restrained Arnold Böcklin/Jersey M54/Franklin Gothic combination establishes baseline authority before the back explodes into maximum contrast across form models. Each track becomes its own micro-brand while the embroidered execution creates unexpected structural unity, proving that shared surface treatment can harmonize fundamentally incompatible typographic DNA.