Typophile - Origin of blackletter use in gang tattoos - Comments

As James Puckett mentions,

Wes Wong — Tue, 4 Mar 2008 23:30:48 -0800

As James Puckett mentions, there were printing presses in Mexico who stocked up on Blackletter. In short, it was said that this influenced the signpainters in Mexico to create signage in blackletter styles, eventually becoming a standard in headline fonts/hand lettering. It made its way up to the US as people migrated north.

Early Hip-Hop (early 70’s) actually did have gangs, most notable are the ’black spades’ which became the Zulu Nation. The activities included DJ’ing, Bboy’ing, MC’ing, & Writing/graffiti – all hobbies which predate “hip-hop”. Style Wars itself is actually not a documentary on ’early’ graffiti, as it was filmed when NYC graffiti was about 12 years old. Illegal graffiti actually has its origins decades before, which is where blackletter comes back into the picture.

Besides hobo graffiti (possibly dating back to WW1), Cholo graffiti is known as one of the first forms of illegal writing and was done in blackletter inspired forms. It is said that shoe shine boys started it all, marking their places with daubers, eventually transcending into gangs marking territory. Chaz Bojorquez, an original cholo style graffiti artist, mentions...

“This squarish, prestigious typeface was meant to present to the public a formal document, encouraging gang strength, and creating an aura of exclusivity.”

Chaz would probably be a great resource for you if you are into learning more about the cholo blackletter evolution. And here is the article I quoted him from.

An interesting thing to note is that current (non-gang) graffiti has seen a small trend of artists painting their versions of blackletter. Here are a few:

“Seventh Letter” by Eklips

“MINDS SEEK KNOWLEDGE, REVOKSABERRETNA” Detail of a wall. Lettering by Retna

It is said that shoe shine

jupiterboy — Tue, 4 Mar 2008 16:06:11 -0800

It is said that shoe shine boys started it all, marking their places with daubers

fantastic

hm, what about ornamental &

tina — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 08:20:51 -0800

hm, what about ornamental & playful, but edgy instead of smooth?

Or, the other way round: are there other typefaces that would match with these specifiations?

Following up on

akma — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 04:54:22 -0800

Following up on russellim’s perspective, I had inferred that blackletter appeals not because of associations directly with authority or religion, but with the semi-chivalric ethos that many gangs cultivate. If that’s correct, “authority” and “religion” come along as ingredients to a worldview wherein the gang member is a knight; a bike is his horse; he is associated with a lady; loyalty to turf, group, and leader is the fundamental law; and one protects all these by violence as necessary.

No other design connotes that chivalric ethos, so far as I can recall early on a Saturday morning, as well as blackletter does — and blackletter subsequently signals “strength” and “danger” from its association (justified or not) with German authoritarianism, religious deviance, and other anti-bourgeois American phenomena.

Don’t ask how I came by this conclusion.

http://atypi.org/30_past_conf

tina — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 02:33:01 -0800

http://atypi.org/30_past_conferences/06_Lisbon/30_program/40_speakers/vi...
http://www.atypi.org/30_past_conferences/06_Lisbon/30_program/20_main_pr...
Chastanet’s book: http://www.francoischastanet.com/index.php?id=works&w=b&item=1
this article: http://glaze0101.com/index.php?s=ttsss&sbutt=Go
article in eye magazine: http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature.php?id=123&fid=540

Do you have a like to that?

Eben Sorkin — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:35:31 -0800

Do you have a like to that?

“Jethroplex”! Wow.

jupiterboy — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:24:21 -0800

“Jethroplex”! Wow. That’s a tasty one. Is that your or is it in common currency in TX?

Can’t take credit.

hiroshige, i’m trying to

Ch — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:04:59 -0800

hiroshige, i’m trying to understand : everything you attribute to the power of the blackletters is meaningful in three possible contexts : animal (pleasure), intellectual (aesthetix) and cultural (community). i doubt the 1st one, (depending on who actually made the cave paintings), i appreciate the 2nd but believe it to be incomplete in this case, and i have reliable experience with the 3rd.

>>You should really get more.

not sure what you meant there, but i generally agree. i’m adding to my left sleeve next month. i hang out with plenty of ink & inkers, i’m well inked, and i’ve not heard much tat talk, even among the art-schooled, about the formal aspects of the letterforms, let alone the word blackletter. but i’ve heard plenty about heritage, background, symbolism, deeply associational threads, the meaning of the personal choices.

academics aside, the power of the letters may be in the crazy fun of them, but very much also in all the associations they bring to play.

smiling emoticon

I know what you mean, but

eliason — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:08:57 -0800

I know what you mean, but those Ws…

Maybe so. Since Godwin’s already been invoked, I can say: they look closer to SS insignia than to blackletter.

plus I’m thinking about what František Štorm says about Teuton, which could be an interesting addition to this thread.

Thanks for that link - good stuff.

“Jethroplex”! Wow.

Eben Sorkin — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:35:49 -0800

“Jethroplex”! Wow. That’s a tasty one. Is that your or is it in common currency in TX?

and like black magic and

jupiterboy — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:27:56 -0800

and like black magic and Satanism, it’s not really a departure from religion, it’s just a perversion, or at least, different take on it

Yes. The “Satanists” tend to appear in direct proportion to the fundamentalist born-agains. Here in the Jethroplex we have more churches, more strip clubs and more pyramid schemes than anywhere else in the states. Maybe I’ll escape…

Going back to the Elvis

russellm — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:12:19 -0800

Going back to the Elvis cover above, I think that There has for a long time been a biblical association with blackletter - by the same people who call it Gothic and Old English and used it with great solemnity. I think that by extension, since many “bad-boy” heavy metal bands, use black magic and evil-uber-bad devil-worship themes, blackletter is the perfect choice beause of the irreverence, and like black magic and Satanism, it’s not really a departure from religion, it’s just a perversion, or at least, different take on it. You can’t reject something if you don’t first acknowledge it. Gangs - Biker gangs in particular, tend to use death’s heads, a devils and tombstones to represent their chosen place as outsiders, (... outlaws, 1%ers, etc.) The religious reference of blackletter lettering suggests what it is you are outside of. Biker gangs and street gangs aren’t the same thing, but there could easily be some cross pollination.

And, for all the rough and tough-guy swaggering of gang types, there is quite a bit of flat-out sappy sentimentally to tattoo art. Could be that the choice of lettering for - oh, I don’t know... “R.I.P. Mom” could influence the lettering chosen for gang related tattoos.

-=®=-

I’ve been looking at the

eliason — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:49:52 -0800

I’ve been looking at the early gangsta rap for a first instance and I’m not coming up with much.

Me neither. But here’s 1992:

They’ll be on my type

David Sudweeks — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:05:38 -0800

They’ll be on my type b’logue before too long. You can see sketches of my lowercase and figures there now.

Origin of blackletter use in gang tattoos

Bald Condensed — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:40:19 -0800

Hi everyone,

I’m preparing a talk on typeface selection which includes a section about cultural significance of type. There is a missing link though. I know that the use of blackletter on rap album covers stems from the gang tattoos, but how/why did blackletter become the preferred type style for those tattoos?

Typophile - Origin of blackletter use in gang tattoos - Comments

As James Puckett mentions,

It is said that shoe shine

hm, what about ornamental &

Following up on

http://atypi.org/30_past_conf

Do you have a like to that?

See also Lisbon ATypI:

“Jethroplex”! Wow.

hiroshige, i’m trying to

I know what you mean, but

“Jethroplex”! Wow.

and like black magic and

Going back to the Elvis

I’ve been looking at the

They’ll be on my type

Origin of blackletter use in gang tattoos