WPA GothicThis FontStruction was selected by FontStruct staff.This%20FontStruction%20was%20selected%20by%20FontStruct%20staff.

by Stewf
see also WPA Gothic Deco by Stewf, and WPA Gothic Cyrillic by anTyp, and WPA Gothic Hebrew by JH34, and Alternate Gothic by JH34


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Description:

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) was the largest agency of FDR's "New Deal", employing millions of people. Over 2,000 posters were produced by the W.P.A. to raise awareness and support the arts.

I have a lot of admiration for these posters and a style of sign painters' lettering that was common in the U.S. during the 1930s-'40s. WPA Gothic gets much of its inspiration from this poster in particular. This FontStruction stays true to the sample’s simple letterforms, but the FontStruct grid does present a few limitations. For more refined typefaces of this style check out Futura Display, Tourist Gothic, FF Moderne Gothics, Refrigerator, and MVB Solano Gothic by some of my favorite type designers, two of which (Van Bronkhorst and Parkinson) are East Bay natives.

WPA Gothic has a few alternate glyphs hanging out in the Extended Latin slots with more to come.

To get a look at the typeface outside the confines of the FontStruct sampler, here's a sample poster.

May 25, 2008: Released a variation with low-waisted "deco" caps.

Stats:
206 characters, 679 downloads
Permalink:
http://fontstruct.fontshop.com/fontstructions/show/14740
Tags:
Sign Painting, 1930s, 1940s, Wpa, Poster
Rate it:
  • Currently 7.1
7.1 (28 votes) You need to sign in to vote.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.


Discussion

galo35290
galo35290 Mon, 12th May, 10:16 AM

I love this font. Too bad that support for most extra latin characters is missing. Besides that, it's perfect. :)

Stewf
Stewf Mon, 12th May, 10:58 AM

Thanks, galo. Diacritics are on the way. Check again later this week.

aurrutia
aurrutia Tue, 13th May, 4:23 AM

Very pro font, i like it!

anTyp
anTyp Tue, 13th May, 9:47 AM

Gorgeous typeface! Would you mind if i try to add cyrillic alphabet?

Stewf
Stewf Tue, 13th May, 9:53 AM

Please do, Anton. You certainly would do a better job than I. All I ask is that you name it WPA Gothic Cyrillic.

anTyp
anTyp Tue, 13th May, 10:06 AM

Thanks, Stewf! I’ll name it as you wish :)

ratherfancy
ratherfancy Fri, 16th May, 12:07 AM

I like this one lot. Thank you Stewf.

Stewf
Stewf Sun, 25th May, 10:37 PM

Diacritics added. Western language support complete.

SquarePeg
SquarePeg Wed, 28th May, 10:38 PM

Great work, Stewfer! Until now I was only familiar with the results of another New Deal program, the Farm Security Administration (FSA). I love this font and the posters that inspired it! Thanks for all of the links, too!

Stewf
Stewf Tue, 1st July, 4:49 PM

JH34
JH34 Tue, 5th August, 6:32 AM

I like WPA Gothic with those alternates

JH34
JH34 Tue, 5th August, 6:33 AM

I like WPA Gothic with those alternates

Axel Leyer
Axel Leyer Fri, 12th September, 12:41 AM

Just amazing...10 points! (artwork too...it has that WPA "feeling" and its so...funny!)
I´m working on a type from a poster of Jerome Roth (1936 WPA) too...
:)