Peignot (typeface)

Peignot

Category	Display
Designer(s)	A. M. Cassandre
Foundry	Deberny & Peignot
Sample

Peignot is constructed sans-serif display typeface, designed by A. M. Cassandre in 1937. It was commissioned by the French foundry Deberny & Peignot. The typeface is notable for not having a traditional lowercase, but in its place a "multi-case" combining traditional lowercase and small capital characters. The typeface achieved some popularity in poster and advertising publishing from its release through the late 1940s. Use of Peignot declined with the growth of the International Typographic Style which favored less decorative, more objective typefaces like Akzidenz-Grotesk.

Peignot experienced a revival in the 1970s as the typeface used on The Mary Tyler Moore Show 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 both by Linotype and by Adobe.

Usage

The Mary Tyler Moore Show opening title sequence

Viacom's original logo

• The logo for the 1980s game show Dream House
• The Random House hardcover edition of Philip Roth's novel When She Was Good (1967)
• The 1970s toy "Spirotot" used Peignot in its instruction manual
• Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels used Peignot in its titles
• The 1971-76 Viacom logo
• The title graphics of ABC's Movie of the Week from 1969-1975.
• The cover of the Elton John soundtrack album for the movie Friends (1970), though Peignot was not used on the materials for the movie itself.
• The original "pinball" logo used by Viacom
• The Jerry Springer Show used Peignot for its first three seasons (1991-1994).
• Shanghai Surprise, the 1986 film
• Several Muppets films use Peignot for their title sequences
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show opening title sequence
• That's My Mama second season opening title sequence
• The Oprah Winfrey Show fantasy opening title sequence
• Gary Larson's The Far Side and The Far Side Gallery
• The Boo Radleys album Giant Steps
• "Magic Tree" car air-fresheners.
• The logo of Easy Living magazine
• Universidade Estadual de Londrina
• Radio Philippines Network
• Baltimore Police Department cars

See also

• Samples of display typefaces