It was also used in the opening title sequence, end credits and on Paul Allen's business card in the 2000 film American Psycho. The typeface was used in the logo of the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and the Universal Pictures logo from 19 until 2012. Frazier, no great fan of sans-serif types, wrote of it in 1925 that "a certain dignity of effect accompanies.due to the absence of anything in the way of frills," making it a popular choice for the stationery of professionals such as lawyers and doctors. It is also classically seen acid-etched into glass on the doors of law offices, banks and restaurants. The typeface is often used in stationery, for social printing and business cards. ATF later cut other versions, such as bold styles, condensed and shaded styles, but never a lower case. It was developed on the initiative of ATF manager Clarence Marder while Goudy was living in Hingham, Massachusetts. Goudy created it early in his career while in need of commissions, although he wrote in his 1946 autobiography that he "treasured" the drawings for their quality and noted that the design remained largely used. It is not at all characteristic of Goudy's work, which is generally in the old-style serif genre. Goudy designed Copperplate Gothic in capitals only, since the design was intended to be used for headings and key words rather than for body text. The typeface shows an unusual combination of influences the glyphs are reminiscent of stone carving or lettering on copperplate engravings, 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. While termed a "Gothic" (another term for sans-serif), the face has small glyphic serifs that act to emphasize the blunt terminus of vertical and horizontal strokes.
Goudy and released by American Type Founders (ATF) in 1901. ( March 2012) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ĭopperplate Gothic is a typeface designed by Frederic W. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. This article includes a list of general references, but it remains largely unverified because it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations.