For anyone who checks the blog on a semi-regular basis, will know that we’re mad about Mad Men. (see Halloween photos). I recently came across the Mark Simonson Studio’s blog. Mark Simonson is a wonderful graphic designer turned typographer. One of my favorite thing about his studio’s blog is the continuing, and completely entertaining column Typecasting: The Use (and Misuse) of Period Typography in Movies, which breaks down the accuracy of type used in period-centric movies and television shows; where the post about Mad Men caught my eye.

I figured that Mad Men would be pretty accurate based on their attention to detail in costumes, scenery and social attitudes, but as it turns out, there are some pretty big type faux pas.

Mad Men Opening Credits

One of the biggest errors is in the opening credits. Lucida Handwriting is used for one of the passing ads while the Man Man (who we assume is Don Draper) falls to his uncertain demise. Lucida Handwriting looks about right. The only problem is that it wasn’t created until 1992.

Overall, I’m quite impressed with the author’s research. He looks at ads produced by Sterling Cooper to products in the background of a 1960’s grocery store. Most of this will seem trivial to some people, but for graphic designers, the type is just as important as any other prop. I mean, Peggy sure would look strange showing up to work in a shoulder padded power suit from the 80’s, don’t you think?