Fast/1st typography – broadside, Cooper & Beatty, Tony Mann, 1963

In 1963, Tony Mann devoted the entire year to developing a new identity for Cooper & Beatty. He used the time to test different design directions. Among these was this striking broadside, printed in bold orange – the colour that would soon become synonymous with C&B. Mann relied heavily on new sans serifs like Univers (and later Helvetica) as core typefaces. He even briefly experimented with replacing the ampersand in ‘C&B’ with a hairline plus (+) sign, although it didn’t carry over into the final branding. Despite not having a formal mark the sensibility of this piece is unmistakably that of the new Cooper & Beatty.

This broadside also addresses the growing demand for speed in the typesetting trade. While fast service had always been a selling point, by the early 1960s, the pressure to deliver was intensifying. Phototypesetting and early computerization promised greater speed, but true real-time typesetting was still years away. To meet increasing volume and tighter deadlines, large firms like C&B operated around the clock in three shifts. A project begun on one shift would be handed off to the next until completed. It was not uncommon for more than two dozen jobs to be in production simultaneously – a reminder of the scale, ambition, and demands of the Canadian type trade in this pivotal decade. – Rod McDonald

Artifact Text

Cooper & Beatty, Limited
Fast/1st
A1 A2Z ABC C+B Better Best 1st First Fast Faster Fastest 1st class C+B Best Fastest Test TEST!
FASTYPOGRAPHY
Cooper & Beatty, Limited / Fast Typographic Service / 3 Shifts / 24 Hours a Day / fastest / Best