Origin uncertain. May have originated as a custom typeface for
ABC
(American Broadcasting Company) who used it on air in 1977.
Shown under the names ABC Gothic (all caps, w/
an Outline variant a.k.a. ABC Special)
and ABC Sans (w/ lc) [post-1981 FotoStar
catalog], S & M Bold [late-1970s TSI catalog], and
ABC Special (like ABC Gothic
Outline)[1986 Castcraft specimen] [via
Fontastique Faces]. Yasaburo Kuwayama and Ikuo Masubuchi made a
custom version for auto parts manufacturer Nihon Denso in 1981
[Kuwayama 1990]. Compugraphic had it as
Zarana [1989 specimen] [1985
mention].
Copied by many early digital labels: OPTIZara
(Castcraft, 1990; used for sample), Eremitage (Brendel
Informatik, 1994), Zapotec (NovelFonts, 1994),
Watford (SoftMaker, 1995).
More…
Origin uncertain. May have originated as a custom typeface for ABC (American Broadcasting Company) who used it on air in 1977. Shown under the names ABC Gothic (all caps, w/ an Outline variant a.k.a. ABC Special) and ABC Sans (w/ lc) [post-1981 FotoStar catalog], S & M Bold [late-1970s TSI catalog], and ABC Special (like ABC Gothic Outline) [1986 Castcraft specimen] [via Fontastique Faces]. Yasaburo Kuwayama and Ikuo Masubuchi made a custom version for auto parts manufacturer Nihon Denso in 1981 [Kuwayama 1990]. Compugraphic had it as Zarana [1989 specimen] [1985 mention].
Copied by many early digital labels: OPTIZara (Castcraft, 1990; used for sample), Eremitage (Brendel Informatik, 1994), Zapotec (NovelFonts, 1994), Watford (SoftMaker, 1995).
Spaceage could be a follower.
