I released Poke on May 26, 1999. The design began with a squarish slab serif structure, which I combined with decorative striped forms reminiscent of hot-rod graphics. The result was a display typeface with unconventional contrasts between rigid letterforms and ornamental detailing. The name came from the word “cowpoke,” a reference to the slab serif base of the design.
For many years, Poke was distributed with a free commercial use desktop license. In August 2020, I placed it in the public domain.