4/7/2023 0 Comments Chop suey font![]() ![]() This particular one was randomly named Mesquite, a plant found in Mexico. All the typefaces in this collection were named after kinds of wood to reflect their wood type origins. My theory is that it began when a digitised version of a C19th Antique Tuscan wood display typeface was released in 1990. When I asked a Mexican friend she said ‘only tourists would expect to find that in Mexico’ and the type experts I’ve asked have been unable to shed any light on the mystery. Maybe the silhouette could be a little reminiscent of traditional hacienda architecture, or the letters are spiky like a cactus, or Hollywood has taught us to think of these ornamental wood display types as being ‘wild west’ or ‘western’? But these aren’t genuine or authentic historical links to Mexico, it’s more like a fancy dress font. Since writing my first book I’ve tried to find out why decorative Antique Tuscan letters, hugely popular in the Victorian era, have become shorthand for ‘Mexico’. Or a typeface that suggests ‘gravitas’ on a newspaper masthead, ‘authentic German recipe’ on a beer, conjures up much darker associations when combined with words like ‘White Boy Summer’. Why does context matter? Because what might have been quick visual short-hand for something that seemed exotic and new in the 1950s becomes an outdated or offensive cliché when used today. ![]() ![]() But it’s not the typefaces that are at fault-it’s the context they’re used in and the associations that are forged through repetition. We live in a global and nuanced world in which naive cultural tropes from the past feel lazy or out of sync with our values today. The terms we use in this conversation even originate with printing-the word stereotype comes from making identical solid pieces of metal type for printing from a mould, and the word cliché is a French term for this process. It documents cultural attitudes and narrates social change, so it’s no surprise when it becomes a part of the conversation. This is a question I’ve been asked a few times recently because the discussion is currently bouncing around social media. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |