Novelty Typefaces^361Goudy Stout was designed in
1930 by Frederic W. Goudy,
one of America’s otherwise
foremost type designers.
Why the equivocation?
Because Goudy Stout was a
frivolous typeface. “In a
moment of typographic
weakness I attempted to
produce a ‘black’ letter that
would interest those
advertisers who like the
bizarre in their print. It was
not the sort of a letter I cared
for...,”admitted Goudy.
Even luminaries
blunder when they succumb to the unpredictable tastes of the marketplace,
consequently a rather long list of talented designers have perpetrated
typographic crimes and misdemeanors, placing many ill-advised typefaces
into currency. Among them are Hermann Zapf ’s Sapphire, Emire Reiner’s
Floride, Morris F. Benton’s Hobo, J. Hunter Middleton’s Plastica, A. M.
Cassandre’s Acier Noir, and Roger Excoffon’s Calypso.
Benton’s Hobo, which has been on typositor for many years, has
aged poorly. When issued by the American Type Foundry and Intertype in
the early 1920 s, Hobo had fashionable characteristics that made it a viable
advertising display face. Its vertical strokes and curved bars with the
variation of stress on different letters gave it a quirky character and eye
appeal; the elimination of all lowercase descenders saved on space. In the
right designer’s hands Hobo isn’t half bad as a decorative alphabet, but used
incorrectly, which is usually the case, the results are abominable.
With all the elegant typefaces extant, why are so many of the ugly
specialty faces used? Or more to the point, why were they designed in the
first place?
Typography is a handmaiden to commerce, and as Goudy sug-
gested, pleasing the client is at least one of the typographer’s raisons d’être.
Decorative, ornamented, or novelty typography dates back to the early