Copperplate CC is a Copperplate Gothic revival designed by indestructible type* for the Cowboy Collective
Copperplate CC is designed and maintained by Owen Earl, who is the creator of the font foundry indestructible type* and founding member of the Cowboy Collective.
Designed by Frederic Goudy in 1902, Copperplate Gothic is an American classic. The mix of simple capital letterforms with delicate serifs feels both sturdy and refined. It has made its way onto business cards, bank windows, and high quality mustard labels.
indestructible type* is joining the Cowboy Collective by making free and open-source digital revivals of classic American typefaces. Copperplate Gothic is a perfect starting place because despite its ubiquity and public domain nature, a free digital revival has yet to be made.
For this project I went back to the source materials. Unfortunately the original drawings were lost in a 1939 fire, but the American Type Founder catalogues from that era provide some insight into the Goudy's design. I wanted to stay true to the source material, so this digitization differs from other versions. Unlike some, there are no small caps by default, as this was not originally present. The serifs are also smaller then most reproductions, and I have elected to keep the somewhat bizarre naming convention that calls the non bold version "heavy".
In some ways this Copperplate is not the one we are all familiar with, but perhaps it is more true to the 1900s spirit.
1.0 Initial release
Copperplate CC is licensed under the SIL open type license, meaning that it is free to use and modify. If you'd like to build this font yourself using the source code, follow the following instructions.
-
Download the complete source code, either by cloning this repository or downloading the .zip file.
-
Download and install:
fontmake which can be found here
gftools which can be found here
ttfautohint which can be found here -
Run the build.sh script located in the "scripts" folder. This should make the complete font.
If you have questions or want to help out, send me and email at [email protected]