Tomi Haaparanta got the idea for the ITC Tyke™ typeface family after using the Cooper Black™ face for a design project. He liked Cooper’s chubby design, but longed for a wider range of weights. “I wanted a typeface that was cuddly and friendly,” recalls Haaparanta, “but also one that was readable at text sizes.” He started tinkering with the idea, and ITC Tyke slowly began to emerge.
Even though Haaparanta knew his boldest weight would equal the heft of Cooper Black, he began drawing the ITC Tyke family with the medium. His goal was to refine the characteristics of the design at this moderate weight, and then build on it to create the light and bold extremes.
At five weights plus corresponding italics, ITC Tyke easily fulfills Haaparanta’s goal of creating a wide range of distinctive, completely usable designs. The light through bold weights perform well at both large and small sizes, while the black is an outstanding alternative to Cooper for display copy.