The practice has long fallen out of favor but there was a time when car manufacturers, especially American ones, proudly displayed the names of their creations in a heavily-chromed script font. Now, I wouldn't suggest you start creating shiny logos—that fad has thankfully been consigned to the dustbin of design history—but there's lots to learn by a close examination of the artfulness (and sometimes the awfulness) of these logos from the glory days of the automotive industry.
Stephen Coles is a respected figure in the world of typography, having spent six years with FontShop; he's now perhaps best known as the man behind the always-interesting Typographica and Fonts In Use sites. A more recent initiative is Chromeography, which draws on the photos of automobiles and electric appliances of the eponymous Chromeography Flickr Group, which hosts almost 4,000 photos, to serve up a well-presented, curated collection of the genre. I think you'll find Chromeography well worth browsing if you're looking for ideas on how to add some zip to the typographic elements of your logos. I've included a few of my favorites below.
