No 5 - Font Talk: Copperplate Gothic

FONT TALK

Copperplate Gothic

Copperplate Gothic is a typeface designed by Frederic W. Goudy and released by the American Type Founders (ATF) in 1901. While termed a "Gothic" (a metonym for sans-serif), the face has small glyphic serifs that act to empahsize the blunt terminus of vertical and horizontal strokes. The typeface shows an unusual combination of influences: the glyphs are reminiscent of stone carving, the wide horizontal axis is typical of Victorian display types, yet the result is far cleaner and leaves a crisp impression in letterpress or offset printing.

The typeface is most often used in stationery, for social printing, and is classicaly seen acid-etched into glass on the doors of law offices and banks.

The font was used by r media for Darul Andalus logo and later it was used by Berita Harian for its masthead.

References

• 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 & 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.
• Macmillan, Neil. An A–Z of Type Designers. Yale University Press: 2006. ISBN 0-300-11151-7.