Peignot (pronounced Pen-yoe) is a sans-serif display typeface, designed by the poster artist A. M. Cassandre in 1937.[1] It was commissioned by the French type foundry Deberny & Peignot.[2]

Peignot
CategoryUnicase
stressed sans-serif
Designer(s)A. M. Cassandre[1]
FoundryDeberny & Peignot[1]
Date created1937
Peignot sample text
Sample

The typeface is notable for not having a traditional lowercase, but in its place a "multi-case" combining traditional lowercase and small capital characters.[2] Cassandre intended for Peignot to be used in publishing and stated that "[t]here is no technical reason in printing why we cannot return to the noble classical shapes of the alphabet and discard the lower case forms."[1]

The typeface achieved some popularity in poster and advertising publishing from its release through the late 1940s. Stylistically Peignot is a "stressed" or modulated sans-serif in the Art Deco style, in which the vertical strokes are clearly wider than the horizontals. Use of Peignot declined with the growth of the International Typographic Style, which favored less decorative, more objective, traditional typefaces such as Akzidenz-Grotesk.

Peignot experienced a revival in the 1970s as the typeface used on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (and its production company, MTM Enterprises) and the second season of That's My Mama. While often classified as "decorative", the face is a serious exploration of typographic form and legibility. It is now owned by Linotype Corp. and is distributed by both Linotype and Adobe.

A very similar typeface, Chambord by Roger Excoffon, was released by the Fonderie Olive in Marseille in 1945; it had a traditional lowercase.[2] A font resembling Peignot was used for the Intellivision video game system. Derek Vogelpohl distributes a digital version of that font as freeware under the name SF Intellivised.

Usage

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The Mary Tyler Moore Show opening title sequence
 
Viacom's original logo

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d McNeil, Paul (November 9, 2017). The Visual History of Type (print). London: Laurence King. p. 300–301. ISBN 9781780679761. OCLC 1004655550.
  2. ^ a b c Savoie, Alice. "French Type Foundries in the Twentieth Century". Type Culture. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  3. ^ "Holyoke Mall then and now: What stores remain from mall's 1979 opening, other facts and figures". 25 July 2014.
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