A Fabulous Update to The Ultimate 1970s Retro Font

Cooper Black has been a classic for over a century, and it’s the inspiration for a fabulous new font from Emil Bertell: Chunk Black. Chunk Black features a hefty character with rounded serifs and a soft yet sturdy overall appearance. Chunk Black provides a timeless and friendly feel, making it ideal for packaging, branding, display font, menus, music promo, magazines, art projects, educational materials, film titles, t-shirts, logos, posters, television credits, and more.

It might seem surprising that Chunk Black was inspired by a font that was originally released in 1922. Both Cooper and Chunk evoke a strong 1960s and 1970s vintage vibe. This is likely because Cooper Black appeared on the Beach Boy’s Pet Sounds, The Doors L.A. Woman, and David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. It was also used in the opening credits of The Bob Newhart Show, Diff’rent Strokes, Garfield, M*A*S*H, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and many other shows during the ’70s. So although Oswald Bruce Cooper’s font was released in 1922, it is indelibly linked to late ’60s and early ’70s popular culture.

While Emil Bertell has retained the original’s spirit of a font “for far-sighted printers with near-sighted customers,” Chunk Black has some unique curves and less austerity, revealing a hint of self-awareness regarding its strong relationship to 1970s vintage. This makes Chunk Black perfect for any project with a retro feel, especially those featuring the incredibly popular and commercially successful echoes of 1970s pop culture. 1970s retro is so popular and ubiquitous that it feels contemporary again, and it is everywhere—packaging, print, social media, fashion, visual identity—everyplace. It’s a decade people adore, and utilizing that in your project is very wise.

Based in Turku, Finland, Emil Bertell is one of the foremost typographers in the world, and founder of Fenotype Typefaces. YouWorkForThem is proud to host 142 products from this great designer, and we hope to offer more as Bertell develops them. Bertell’s collection does not allow you to choose “highlights.” It is so consistently excellent, that we can state with absolute authority that each font he creates is a masterpiece. Here are the randomly chosen Laurel and Paper Tiger. No explanation needed.