relationship. What, for instance, does the face signify? Aesthetics aside, why
would someone buy a font with such a namesake? Apparently the name is
more experimental than the typeface design itself, for it tests the limits of
signification and association. While most typeface names are comparatively
benign, something called Manson cannot avoid conjuring up images of
violence and criminality, in the same way that Nixonconjures deception
and deceit. Given this name, the quirky letters are no longer just the distant
relations of ancient Greek inscriptions, but are kissing cousins of the
swastika tattoo carved into Manson’s forehead or the words Helter Skelter
that were drawn in blood on the walls of Sharon Tate’s home.
Bowing to criticism, however, and thereby eschewing the issues
that Barnbrook initially sought to raise, the 1995 Emigre Fonts catalog
included a specimen of Manson renamed Mason; perhaps suggesting the
Order of Masons, which itself has a cultist underpinning, or the
ethnocentric comedian Jackie Mason, who has a large cult following, or
more likely it refers to a stone mason, from whence the inscriptions derived.
But despite revisionist nomenclature, the name Manson not only sticks, but
also gives the face an aura, if not a meaning, that it would not have had if it
were originally called Mason. As proof, two recent book jackets for The
Death of Hitlerand The Violence of Our Lives: Interviews with American
Murderersused Manson/Mason for what critics of this nomenclature would
assert were the wrong reasons: to signify and/or dignify violence. Although
only designers who know the name, not the average reader, will actually get
the reference, the impetus to use this face was its name, which when linked
to these specific titles reinforces the idea that this typeface represents
violence.
Typefaces are given names either to define otherwise abstract
letterforms according to purpose (e.g., News Gothic), or to celebrate the
face’s maker or inspiration (e.g., Benguiat), or to sell a particular fashion
(e.g., Cubist Bold). In the 1930 s, A. M. Cassandre named his transitional
sans-serif Peignot after Charles Peignot, the design impresario who helped
launch his career; Frederic Goudy called one of his numerous type designs
Deepdeen after his rural New York State retreat. And Milton Glaser called
his popular display face, originally used on his Dylanposter, Baby Teeth
because of the physical relationship to a baby’s pearly whites (yet it could
easily have been called Stairstep for the same reason). The majority of
classical text faces are named after their designers: Garamond, Bodoni,
Firmin Didot, Baskerville, Caslon, Gill, Cooper, and Bernhard are the
major street signs of typography. Naming a face after its creator is one way
to ensure immortality, or at least notoriety.
tuis.
(Tuis.)
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