{"id":67370,"date":"2020-02-02T17:45:48","date_gmt":"2020-02-02T15:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grapheine.com\/graphic-design-en\/stereotypographies-typographies-racistes"},"modified":"2023-06-30T12:37:12","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T10:37:12","slug":"stereotypography-typefaces-racist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/old.grapheine.com\/en\/graphic-design-en\/stereotypography-typefaces-racist","title":{"rendered":"Stereotypography: typical, even racist, typefaces"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"42969\" img_size=\"large\"][vc_column_text]Some typefaces, such as Neuland or Chop Suey, are used today almost exclusively with a stereotypical connotation, to represent a country or culture. Yet their original meaning often has nothing to do with their current use. Used mechanically and out of context, they have acquired a new meaning linked to a cultural stereotype, to the point of being reduced to this sole use, which sometimes becomes racist. We call them \"stereotypographies<\/strong>\". Do they arise by accident, or are they deliberately created? Here's their story.<\/p>\n

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Stereotypographies in spite of themselves<\/h2>\n

Most of the time, typefaces become stereotypes because of the context in which they were created<\/strong>, rather than their original intent. Their connotations are built up over time, by being used and seen in a specific context, built on prejudice and repetition.<\/p>\n

Such is the case with Rustic Ornamented Shaded<\/em><\/a>, the first stereotypography<\/strong> known to date, drawn in 1866 at the Bruce Type Foundry. Depicting a superimposition of pieces of wood, it was first marketed under the name Novel Open, and used on official papers, as shown below on a Phoenix Company document dated January 1, 1870. It then became Rustic Shaded in reference to its rustic style. Conceived as a Victorian-inspired typeface<\/a>, it changed its name again in the '50s to Bruce Mikita, in reference to Japanese woodworking<\/strong>, in vogue at the time. From then on, the name was a reference to Japan.[\/vc_column_text][vc_gallery interval=\"5\" images=\"42794,42830\" img_size=\"large\" onclick=\"img_link_large\" custom_links_target=\"_blank\"][vc_single_image image=\"42809\" img_size=\"large\" onclick=\"custom_link\" img_link_target=\"_blank\" link=\"https:\/\/www.grapheine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/bruce-mikita-novel.jpeg\"][vc_column_text]As a result, it was used on many Japanese-language media in the United States. It can be seen, for example, on this Japanese music album \"The Art of Koto, music of Japan<\/em>\" released in 1963. It's worth noting that Mikita typeface was only used on the US cover and not the French one, as if the need to justify a \"Japanese typeface\"<\/strong> was only necessary for the North American clientele, perhaps less familiar with it.
\nWhen it was digitized in 2000, the designer in charge of the project said it looked \"rustic and handmade, reminiscent of East Asian calligraphy\". Its reputation is now established.<\/p>\n