Button made in collaboration with Ann Friedman for Busy Beaver Button

I have since successfully used ITC Serif Gothic, and atoned for abusing that server copy by purchasing it for myself. A good sign of ITC Serif Gothic’s longevity is how often it sparkles in new uses, especially considering it was born just around the time disco was getting off the ground.

ITC Serif Gothic was designed by Herb Lubalin and Tony DeSpigna in 1972, based largely on another Lubalin hit, ITC Avant Garde, but utilizing elements of roman and serif faces based only on the geometric architecture of ITC Avant Garde. Both were published through International Typeface Corporation, another Lubalin-owned company, and would become part of the aesthetic DNA of the 1970s, especially in pop culture (like this Eraserhead poster, and the cover for The Thorn Birds, for example). But where ITC Avant Garde is often misused and ultimately invisible due to its ubiquity, ITC Serif Gothic stands out, often set in its heavier weights, holding down the party across over four decades.

Original cover to ITC Serif Gothic's type specimen, courtesy of Monotype Recorder.

It’s also unavoidable for us to discuss this, because now we here at The Verge have greatly reduced our six degrees of separation from Star Wars. Not for nothing, but if y’all Star Wars folks are reading this, I think Chris Plante would make an adorable Ewok. Just saying.

For more great examples of ITC Serif Gothic, check out Fonts in Use.

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