Chop suey fonts are a subcategory of so-called "ethnic" display fonts, and are a unique American invention with roots in the 170 year history of Chinese migrants in United States.
0:00 This lettering will look familiar... unless you're from China.
1:06 What is a Chop Suey font?
1:35 Typographic Stereotypes from repeat usage
2:02 Typographic Stereotypes with design intent
3:04 How Chinese writing works, compared with Chop Suey fonts
4:44 Where it started, how it began
5:22 Some historical context
6:41 Chinatown's theatrical reinvention
7:21 How exclusion propelled Chinese restaurant expansion
9:16 Repetition trumps authenticity
10:05 Why Chinese restaurants perpetuated this trope
10:57 Can a font be racist?
11:17 The type equivalent of a fake foreign accent
12:16 Or... don't be a hack?
13:14 Where are things headed?
13:50 Chinese food is more than takeout food
15:11 Corporate high-end dining
15:42 Embassy restaurants
16:06 New-school Chinese American restaurants
16:45 An expression of Chinese identities
17:54 TienMin Liao's multi-script typography
19:02 How to support Chinatown's survival