Paddington

Browsing around the store built into FontExplorer X, I ran across Paddington, designed by Freda Sack in 1977. Considering how long the typeface has been around, and the fact that it's sold by a major foundry, I was surprised I'd never seen it before.

So I searched around Google to see if I really was in the minority and found barely any mention of it; leading me to assume Paddington is not very well known, which is a shame.

What's to like about Paddington? It's a second cousin to Cooper Black, but with that little something extra that keeps it from being as predictable and (dare say) mainstream. Cooper Black can't avoid its own irony -- it screams 1970s America pop culture (and countless t-shirts with colored bands around the neck and sleeve), and is damn near impossible to use in any serious fashion.

Paddington has the same vibe as Cooper Black, but is less recognizable, refined, and cliché. It feels more ad-hoc, like something you'd see brushed onto the side of a dilapidated auto shop in an industrial area than on the back of a soccer uniform or classic rock album. It's thick, chunky, personable, warm, and has lots of character (especially in the descender of "g").

By default, Paddington has pretty bad kerning data and requires quite a bit of massaging when set -- especially at large display point sizes -- but the results are worth it. Here's a quick example I created. The energy between the 'h' and the 'u' is pretty nice.

Don't have a practical application for Paddington yet, but I'll keep it in my tool box for just the right project.