Cooper Black

Oswald Bruce Cooper designed Cooper Black, an extra bold roman face, based on the forms of his earlier typeface Cooper Old Style, which appeared with Barnhart Brothers & Spindler Type Founders in Chicago. Copper Black was produced by Barnhart in 1922 and acquired in 1924 by the Schriftguß AG in Dresden, where it was later completed with a matching italic. Although Cooper Black appeared in the first third of the 20th century, it still looks comtemporary and it can be found on storefronts in almost any city scene. The flowing outer contours create forms that are both strong and soft, making Cooper Black an extremely flexible font.


The story behind the typephase

20 years after Cooper black was designed a big tragedy struck was followed and was dropped from public's eyes. In 1920 Cooper Black when was first created was really popular to the public but it didn't took long for it's ground breaking. In 1940 Barnhart died and with him gone things turn to a different level for Cooper black when in 1966 Beach Boys released their rock n' roll album 'Pet Sounds' with the cooper as the main typephase. After that unable to resist representing the rock n' roll it moved to a really downfall when was desperate for work and was used for drugs, pills and cocaine. In the middle 80's Cooper Black hit the bottom when in the 90's fought for its survival by trying to show to the world why it was designed. Today is a hit for advertisers because of is friendly, simple and bold design.