I laughed, I cried, it was better than "Cats."

Very well-done and very funny!

But where are the snippy interview segments with that Cooper-wannabe, Souvenir? Oh, right. I forgot. He O.D.'d.

Wow! I want to collect every episode of this fab series.

YES!!! My favorite part of the movie is that Cooper Black (the C that talks) sounds just like Billy Bob in Sling Blade. I enjoyed Hobo's cameo too.

I am impressed by designer's, including myself, fascination with Cooper Black. What is it? is it the round serifs? the lower case f? the silliness?

It is one of my favorite typefaces of all time, I rarely use it, but it's great.

Recently I have been capturing images of Cooper Black in every day use. One thing struck me... it is widely used by Asian-American Businesses. I may be making a false generalization, but that's what I have seen here in chicago's chinatown I & II.

Long live Oz

One of the small pleasures of the Greek type conference in Thessaloniki was spotting Greek versions of popular Latin typefaces. David Lemon from Adobe was busy photographing examples, and the Cooper Black Greek on the awning of a restaurant was particularly amusing.

> it is widely used by Asian-American Businesses.

Interesting.

> Greek versions of popular Latin typefaces.

(Here I go again...)

Yes, Greek slaves seem to be particularly submissive.

hhp

Hrant, you slay me. But seriously. Cheshire Dave did an amazing job on that little movie. It's beautiful, and he got all the documentary touches right from the show he's so beautifully plagiarized. I just gave him posting access. Look for more Cooper Black hilarity to soon ensue.

As for the use of the face: I see it used much more often in the English signage in or for Korean businesses than Chinese, Japanese, or southeast Asian businesses. The Korean half of my family cannot explain the discrepancy.

Yes, the Cooper movie is wonderful!

Almost makes me change my mind about the font itself... :-)

BTW, isn't there a Cooper Black Appreciation Society or some such thing?

> The Korean half of my family cannot explain the discrepancy.

Your wife is Korean? Lucky guy.

BTW, you should take a whack at learning Hangul: to me it's the world's best writing system (by a few nautical miles), and provides amazing insight.

As for people not being able to provide too much insight into their own culture, I think it's a general truth, and it just goes to show: when you're too close to something, you can't see what it really is.

hhp

Ah, the inimitable Cooper Black! — described by the designer as “for far-sighted printers with near-sighted customers.”

Here are a few more Cooper Black tidbits from the 1925 BB&S (the original foundry) catalog:

“Cooper Black enjoys the preference of publicity experts because it does something for advertising that no other type of itself alone can do — it dominates. And it needs no aid of tricky arrangement nor elaboration of design to overshadow everything else typographic and deliver the sales story in a most impressive way. . . . Unquestionably the broadside is the heavy artillery of the direct advertising campaign — and Cooper Black is the ammunition of greatest carrying and hitting power for the big berthas of the modern selling drive.”

“Different types dominated in their day — but since this big fellow appeared in the arena no other seems adequate for the main event.”

This stuff kills me.

Now, after a twenty-minute download, if I could only actually view this darn movie everybody is raving about. >:-(

Very nicely done. I really hope there are more in this series but I can imagine how long production must take.

I'm particularily fond of the little touches: Rosemary's and Oz Black's pictures hanging on the wall behind Cooper Black; little Times jumping around in the playground. (Although I'm not sure why Times is so young - it's only 9 years younger than Cooper.)

The only thing that bugged me was that the shadow of the window blinds on that Cooper "C" was fixed while it was bobbing around. (Sorry, I worked in 3D animation for 7 years, so it's not just in the world of type that I'm anal!)

hhp

Oh dear, the window blinds problem. I'm looking into fixing that, as well as the fact that the shadow on Times doesn't move either. As to its age, I claim, uh, artistic license. Probably Times New Roman IV. You just know that typeface named his kids after himself.

Someone was also kind enough to point out that Winchell's logo is actually that bastard Souvenir. For a future edit of the movie, if any of you folks have great examples of CB in use (1920s especially, but also a couple contemporaries), I'll be most grateful and put you in the special thanks.

Thanks for all the kind notices. I'm thrilled that people have enjoyed it so much. And I'm sorry about the twenty-minute download, Kent. My only consolation is that the protagonist in my unfinished novel is named after you. Well, you and the Shakespearean character.

Cheshire Dave -- It’s not your fault I live in the middle of nowhere and have a slow connection. I generally detest being required to download and upgrade plug-ins (IE 5 + Flash 4 weren’t reading your movie) — but I did it, and I must say that this one piece made it all worthwhile. Kudos.

I have the 1925 BB&S catalog (3 years after the debut of CB, just as it was hitting it’s stride). If you want, I can scan the showings when I get a chance.

I actually sat and watched the whole thing, without once trying to do something else (as I usually do). I was entranced! And educated, as well, since I didn't know of Cooper Black's esteemed history, nor resurgance! Thanks! :)

I posted scans from the BB&S catalogue for Cheshire Dave. In case any CB fans out there are interested, you’re welcome to look at them:

www.kentlew.com/Type/CooperBlack.html

-- K.