Cooper Black is an ultra-bold seriftypeface intended for display use that was designed by Oswald Bruce Cooper and released by the Barnhart Brothers & Spindler type foundry in 1922.[1] The typeface was drawn as an extra-bold weight of Cooper's "Cooper Old Style" family. It rapidly became a standard typeface and was licensed by American Type Founders and also copied by many other manufacturers of printing systems.[2][3][4]
Cooper Black followed on from Cooper's career as a lettering artist in Chicago and the Midwest of America in the 1920s.[3][7][8] Cooper Black was advertised as being "for far-sighted printers with near-sighted customers", as well as "the Black Menace" by detractors.[9] While very bold, Cooper Black is based on traditional "old-style" serif lettering, rather than the hard-edged "fat face" fonts popular in the nineteenth century, giving it a soft, 'muddy' appearance, with relatively low contrast between thick and thin strokes.[6][10][11][12]
Cooper Hilite is a version of Cooper Black originally designed by painting white relief impressions into a printed proof of Cooper Black.[3] It has been digitized by ParaType and Wordshape.[13]
Imitations and variants
Cooper Black was immediately popular and spawned imitations, including Goudy Heavy Face from Frederic Goudy, Ludlow Black and Pabst Extra Bold.[14][15] Cooper Black remains popular: the editors of the typography discussion website Fonts in Use report more submissions of its use than any other face that is not a sans-serif, although outnumbered by Times New Roman once its many variants are added up.[16]
Many unusual versions of Cooper were created in the phototypesetting period of the 1960s and 1970s, a period of explosion in production of display faces. These included "Ziptop Cooper Black" from Photo Lettering Inc., a version with the top bolder than the bottom, and other distorted variants.[17]
Many digitisations of Cooper Black exist from companies including Bitstream, Adobe and others.[12] Soap, designed by Ray Larabie of Typodermic, is a uni-case variant.[18] A version from URW, which does not include an italic, is bundled with many Microsoft products.[19] Cooper Old Style has been digitised by URW.[20]
Miles Newlyn designed the New Kansas typeface, based on the Cooper Black typeface.[21]
Gallery
A specimen sheet of Cooper Hilite.
Cooper Black compared to Cooper's earlier Cooper Old Style. This was a quirky variation on the old-style serif model, similar to Cooper's lettering and predominantly intended for display and advertising use.
Goudy Heavy, a metal-type competitor commissioned by Monotype from Cooper's former lettering teacher, Frederic Goudy.
^"Cooper Black". Fonts in Use. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
^Neil Macmillan (2006). An A–Z of Type Designers. Yale University Press. p. 69. ISBN0-300-11151-7.
^ abcHeller, Steven. "Telling and selling". Eye. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
^Eisinger, Dale. "The Complete History of the Cooper Black Font in Hip-Hop". Complex. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
^ abLewis, Amanda , laweekly.com, August 6, 2012 quote: "didn't truly hit the world over the head until it graced the cover of the Beach Boys' classic 1966 album, Pet Sounds. For the next decade Cooper Black slowly asserted pop culture supremacy, making notable appearances on The Bob Newhart Show, The Odd Couple, 1976's remake of King Kong, The Sting, The Doors' L.A. Woman, “Garfield,” Tootsie Rolls, National Lampoon magazine, David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, M*A*S*H and Diff'rent Strokes, along with less notable appearances on an unbelievable number of signs, packages, labels, T-shirts and advertisements. (..) has become shorthand for late-'60s/early-'70s nostalgia, as in The Black Keys' “Brothers” or Wet Hot American Summer"
^ abBramley, Ellie Violet (10 April 2017). "Just my type: how Cooper Black became 2017's most fashionable font". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
^Shinn, Nick. "The Golden Age of Hand Lettering in American Advertising". Type Culture. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
^Middleton, R. Hunter (1937). Chicago Letter Founding. Chicago: Black Cat Press. pp. 22–23. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
^Steven Heller (6 May 2014). Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design. Allworth Press. pp. 217–19. ISBN978-1-62153-413-6.
^Phinney, Thomas. "Fat faces". Graphic Design and Publishing Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
^Kennard, Jennifer (3 January 2014). "The Story of Our Friend, the Fat Face". Fonts in Use. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
^ abHeck, Bethany. "Cooper". Font Review Journal. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
^"Cooper Hilite". Fonts in Use. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
^"Cooper Black". Microsoft. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
^"Cooper Old Style". MyFonts. URW. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
^"New Kansas". Miles Newlyn. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
Further reading
Allan Haley. Typographic Milestones. John Wiley and Sons: September 1992. ISBN978-0-471-28894-7.
Blackwell, Lewis. 20th Century Type. Yale University Press: 2004. ISBN0-300-10073-6.
Fiedl, Frederich, Nicholas Ott and Bernard Stein. Typography: An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Through History. Black Dog & Leventhal: 1998. ISBN1-57912-023-7.
Jaspert, W. Pincus, W. Turner Berry and A.F. Johnson. The Encyclopedia of Type Faces. Blandford Press Lts.: 1953, 1983. ISBN0-7137-1347-X.
cooper, black, ultra, bold, serif, typeface, intended, display, that, designed, oswald, bruce, cooper, released, barnhart, brothers, spindler, type, foundry, 1922, typeface, drawn, extra, bold, weight, cooper, cooper, style, family, rapidly, became, standard, . Cooper Black is an ultra bold serif typeface intended for display use that was designed by Oswald Bruce Cooper and released by the Barnhart Brothers amp Spindler type foundry in 1922 1 The typeface was drawn as an extra bold weight of Cooper s Cooper Old Style family It rapidly became a standard typeface and was licensed by American Type Founders and also copied by many other manufacturers of printing systems 2 3 4 Cooper BlackCategorySerif display typeDesigner s Oswald Bruce CooperFoundryBarnhart Brothers amp SpindlerDate released1922Re issuing foundriesAmerican Type Founders WordshapeOswald Cooper Its use in pop culture increased worldwide since 1966 when the Beach Boys used it for the cover artwork of their album Pet Sounds It was then featured in the Doors L A Woman 1971 and David Bowie s Ziggy Stardust 1972 and in the opening credits of The Bob Newhart Show Diff rent Strokes Garfield M A S H Enos The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Everybody Hates Chris and other shows The font is used for the Disney Sing Along Songs from the intro 5 6 As a result Cooper Black has become emblematic of late 1960s early 1970s style 5 It is also known in railroading for its association with the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Yellowbonnet paint scheme also dating to the early 1960s which had Santa Fe in large yellow letters on locomotive sides Cooper Black followed on from Cooper s career as a lettering artist in Chicago and the Midwest of America in the 1920s 3 7 8 Cooper Black was advertised as being for far sighted printers with near sighted customers as well as the Black Menace by detractors 9 While very bold Cooper Black is based on traditional old style serif lettering rather than the hard edged fat face fonts popular in the nineteenth century giving it a soft muddy appearance with relatively low contrast between thick and thin strokes 6 10 11 12 Contents 1 Cooper Hilite 2 Imitations and variants 3 Gallery 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksCooper Hilite EditCooper Hilite is a version of Cooper Black originally designed by painting white relief impressions into a printed proof of Cooper Black 3 It has been digitized by ParaType and Wordshape 13 Imitations and variants EditCooper Black was immediately popular and spawned imitations including Goudy Heavy Face from Frederic Goudy Ludlow Black and Pabst Extra Bold 14 15 Cooper Black remains popular the editors of the typography discussion website Fonts in Use report more submissions of its use than any other face that is not a sans serif although outnumbered by Times New Roman once its many variants are added up 16 Many unusual versions of Cooper were created in the phototypesetting period of the 1960s and 1970s a period of explosion in production of display faces These included Ziptop Cooper Black from Photo Lettering Inc a version with the top bolder than the bottom and other distorted variants 17 Many digitisations of Cooper Black exist from companies including Bitstream Adobe and others 12 Soap designed by Ray Larabie of Typodermic is a uni case variant 18 A version from URW which does not include an italic is bundled with many Microsoft products 19 Cooper Old Style has been digitised by URW 20 Miles Newlyn designed the New Kansas typeface based on the Cooper Black typeface 21 Gallery Edit A specimen sheet of Cooper Hilite Cooper Black compared to Cooper s earlier Cooper Old Style This was a quirky variation on the old style serif model similar to Cooper s lettering and predominantly intended for display and advertising use Goudy Heavy a metal type competitor commissioned by Monotype from Cooper s former lettering teacher Frederic Goudy See also EditSamples of display typefacesReferences Edit Cooper Black Fonts in Use Retrieved 12 September 2017 Neil Macmillan 2006 An A Z of Type Designers Yale University Press p 69 ISBN 0 300 11151 7 a b c Heller Steven Telling and selling Eye Retrieved 12 September 2017 Eisinger Dale The Complete History of the Cooper Black Font in Hip Hop Complex Retrieved 12 September 2017 a b Lewis Amanda Cooper Black The Story Behind Louie s Typeface laweekly com August 6 2012 quote didn t truly hit the world over the head until it graced the cover of the Beach Boys classic 1966 album Pet Sounds For the next decade Cooper Black slowly asserted pop culture supremacy making notable appearances on The Bob Newhart Show The Odd Couple 1976 s remake of King Kong The Sting The Doors L A Woman Garfield Tootsie Rolls National Lampoon magazine David Bowie s Ziggy Stardust M A S H and Diff rent Strokes along with less notable appearances on an unbelievable number of signs packages labels T shirts and advertisements has become shorthand for late 60s early 70s nostalgia as in The Black Keys Brothers or Wet Hot American Summer a b Bramley Ellie Violet 10 April 2017 Just my type how Cooper Black became 2017 s most fashionable font The Guardian Retrieved 12 September 2017 Shinn Nick The Golden Age of Hand Lettering in American Advertising Type Culture Retrieved 1 April 2017 Middleton R Hunter 1937 Chicago Letter Founding Chicago Black Cat Press pp 22 23 Retrieved 9 July 2017 Steven Heller 6 May 2014 Design Literacy Understanding Graphic Design Allworth Press pp 217 19 ISBN 978 1 62153 413 6 Phinney Thomas Fat faces Graphic Design and Publishing Centre Retrieved 10 August 2015 Kennard Jennifer 3 January 2014 The Story of Our Friend the Fat Face Fonts in Use Retrieved 11 August 2015 a b Heck Bethany Cooper Font Review Journal Retrieved 12 September 2017 Cooper Hilite Fonts in Use Retrieved 12 September 2017 Tracy Walter Letters of Credit pp 130 1 Font Family Page fontsinuse 5 March 2018 Congrats Cooper Black First non sans to reach one hundred documented Uses Tweet via Twitter Coles Stephen Ziptop Cooper Black Fonts in Use Retrieved 12 September 2017 Typodermic Fonts This page has moved Cooper Black Microsoft Retrieved 12 September 2017 Cooper Old Style MyFonts URW Retrieved 18 November 2017 New Kansas Miles Newlyn Retrieved 23 December 2020 Further reading EditAllan Haley Typographic Milestones John Wiley and Sons September 1992 ISBN 978 0 471 28894 7 Blackwell Lewis 20th Century Type Yale University Press 2004 ISBN 0 300 10073 6 Fiedl Frederich Nicholas Ott and Bernard Stein Typography An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Through History Black Dog amp Leventhal 1998 ISBN 1 57912 023 7 Jaspert W Pincus W Turner Berry and A F Johnson The Encyclopedia of Type Faces Blandford Press Lts 1953 1983 ISBN 0 7137 1347 X External links EditFonts in Use Why this font is everywhere on Vox Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cooper Black amp oldid 1130443084, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
