Design duo Jo Murray and Dominic Bell have recently setup Shape Studio. Pictured is Show & Tell, a newspaper for the BCUC Graphic Design and Advertising final show in 2006.

Shape Studio via It’s Nice That and sent in by Klaartje.

Since I was a child I have been fascinated with the ampersand. I used to type my high school papers on a typewriter and that key always stood out to me. “Eh” Be” “Cee” “Dee” “Dollar Sign” “Ampersand?” It was such a strange character and had such a foreign-sounding name. “Why is it called an ampersand?” I used to wonder. Was it invented by a Mr. Amper (Amper’s and)? Was there such thing as an amper and if so was what was their plurality manifest in an “&”? Years later I found out that the ampersand was a ligature of “e” and “t” thus forming the latin word “et” meaning “and: but I still didn’t know what this ampers business was all about. A few years ago I tracked down the origin, and now I feel somewhat complete where this symbolic conjunction is concerned: The word “ampersand” is derived from the explanation one might give to explain what the “&” symbol represents. One might write, “&” per se “and” (the ampersand symbol to say the word “and”). Now, speak this sentence aloud several times quickly and you and you’ll know how the term was derived, “And per se and. And per se and. And per se and. Andperseand. Ampersand.”

Liam Says:

Hey, love your blog, maybe you’ll get a kick out of this “ampersad”
i think hes upset because nobody knows how to draw him, so “+” gets all the action.

His site, NEON GRAY has some pretty cool stuff. I like this nice .gif demonstration as well.

The last presidential campaign to use an ampersand in their logo/political sign was around for a good eight years. Coincidence?

USA Political Election Logos 2000-1960

An excellent use of an ampersand in a logo. Herb was a master.

Scanned from A History of Graphic Design, by Meggs.

Learn More about Herb Lubalin here.