The Story of Walt Disney World, 1972

I spend most of my Mondays at Art Center directing students to designers or artifacts that might be inspirational. Last week, Ladislav Sutnar was the designer du jour. The week before, I relentlessly shoved Josef Müller Brockmann down everyone’s throats. This is great to help someone see another way of making or seeing.

But, I treasure the artifacts that are rarely designed by a historically recognized designer. For example, I love my father’s Class of 1963 Directory for Wesleyan University, and an old hangover remedy pack from Harold’s Club. I love this Story of Walt Disney World book. The design is clumsy and has a remarkably odd composition, but it’s optimistic. I love the vignettes and detail images.

This Commemorative Edition booklet was created soon after Walt Disney World opened in 1971. I love the map. There is an attraction in Frontierland, Thunder Mesa and Western River Expedition, meant to take the place of Pirates of the Caribbean. Since the actual Caribbean was so close, there was a concern that Pirates would seem redundant in Florida. In the end, Pirates was added to WDW, and Thunder Mesa was replaced with Big Thunder Mountain.

I’ve owned this booklet for fifteen years, only yesterday, did I notice it made the shape of the “D” in the old Walt Disney World logo. Oh yeah, I’m observant.

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Western typography, Walt Disney World

Designers are obsessive. We tend to not do things halfway. If we collect thimbles, we must have every kind ever made. If we like Trade Gothic, we’ll defend it to the death. When we travel, we are the odd people seen taking pictures of a doorknob, or every manhole in Amsterdam. I’m no different. While other people are busy taking photos of their families in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, I’m shooting the typography on the sign in front of Frontierland. I have a special love for western type, and there’s no shortage of it at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. For your viewing pleasure I have collected much of this typography for you.

As an aside to those guests taking the family castle photo, for the love of God bring your subject closer and let the castle be in the background. Unless you need to see your subject’s shoes, they will be tiny people in the distance and you will wait forever for everyone to pass. This is my insane pet peeve. I want the job that allows me to kindly suggest to guests that this is a bad thing to do.

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