I've been going over a few papers from the '60s, broadly in physics sub-disciplines. The image below shows a very typical style of plot I come across frequently (1963). I'm guessing this was made by hand with some sort of template, as the letter spacing and alignment is not perfect. And I guess the curved lines were made with spline rulers? I really like the minimalist aesthetic these plots have, and was hoping to replicate the formatting for my own work. I'd be interested if anyone has any further insight on what tools were actually used to make these plots back then, so I can look them up and get more info of formatting details (fonts, spacings, etc.). [![An image of a plot.][1]][1] [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/rcuYn.png