SR1: Courier

‘A letter can be just an ordinary messenger, or it can be the COURIER, which radiates dignity, prestige, and stability’ (Type Art History 2002). Such was the description of the typeface Courier by its designer Howard ‘Bud’ Kettler, originally commissioned to produce an exclusive font for computer company IBM. However, due to legal obstacles and its resulting lack of exclusive proprietary rights, Courier became the standard font for the typewriter industry. It remains synonymous with the decade of its conception, the 1950s, and the typewriting office environment for which it was designed.

Courier is a mono-spaced font with a fixed pitch point, meaning that each individual character shares the same width. Courier therefore requires no kerning. Mono-spaced fonts are most useful in situations where columns of characters must be consistently aligned. Courier has a consistent stroke weight, and features serifs, which render large blocks of text easier to read. The Courier font family is comprised of Courier New, Courier New Bold, Courier New Italic, and Courier New Bold Italic. As a typeface file, Courier requires little memory, and was therefore included as part of the default font library on the first personal computers. Courier thus made a smooth transition as a font for both old and new technologies.

An example of where the proportions of Courier are used to good effect can be observed in the film industry, which more often than not specify that screenplays be submitted to studios in 12 point Courier. The proportions and spacing of 12 point Courier on a page are such that one page of action equates roughly to one minute of screen time. As a result, studios are able to make quick evaluations on the length of a submission, and thus its suitability for production. Alongside the film industry, 12 point Courier was also adopted as a standard for official documentation by the US State Department. To this day, the typeface remains a standard for the filing of certain legal documents.

Courier’s popularity renders it one of the most recognisable typefaces of the twentieth century. When compared to other fonts of its time, Courier appeared modern and progressive. It was ‘streamlined, rational, efficient, [and] a move away from the ‘Antique’ past’ (Vanderbilt 2004). Through its applications, Courier became established as ‘a visual symbol of typewritten bureaucratic anonymity, the widespread dissemination of information (and a classification of documents), stark functionality, and streamlined efficiency’ (Vanderbilt 2004).

Courier became so synonymous with a bureaucratic and official tone that it also evolved to adopt the less positive connotations of government affairs. The font is now often associated with government secrecy and conspiracies, as well as espionage. The X, which features as an icon on the television series The X-Files, is an example of such an appropriation. Alongside this, the recurring pop culture presentation of Courier amidst a heavily blacked out classified document perpetuates the association.

However, as surely as the Courier typeface gained popularity in its epitome of a generation and era’s style, so too did it soon appear dated. A sign of its demise in popularity can be marked by the US Department, after several decades of consistent use, retired the typeface from its official documents in 2004, adopting as its successor 14 point Times New Roman. The new typeface was favoured for its crisp and modern look. In a highly evolved technological era, it was Courier’s strong link to the typewriter generation that now seemed to render the typeface irrelevant.

In the context of the contemporary digital age, Courier now possesses a nostalgic quality and acts as a typographic symbol for the analogue age. Associated so closely with a generation and era, as well as its consistent use as an official standard for documentation across several industries, Courier is one of the most distinct and recognisable typefaces of the twentieth century.

Reference List

• 2002, ‘History’, Type Art History, viewed 2 March 2011, http://www.typeart.com/history.asp?FID=43
• 2009, 'Courier', Wikipedia, viewed 2 March 2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Courier.svg
• 2009, 'X-Files', Ongoing World's Blog, viewed 2 March 2011, http://ongoingworlds.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/x-files.jpg
• Vanderbilt, T. (2004), Courier Dispatched, media release, 20 February, Slate Magazine, viewed 2 March 2011, http://www.slate.com/id/2095809/