I released So Run Down on August 22, 1997. The typeface was created with a broken Speedball pen nib on newsprint, producing rough, rune-like forms. It included details such as devil horns and an inverted pentagram in the letter O, which drew complaints from some users.

Soon after its release, the typeface appeared in unexpected contexts, including a Halloween television special warning about the dangers of the holiday, broadcast after an episode of 7th Heaven. The program’s producers used So Run Down as part of the graphics, despite the earlier criticism that it carried satanic imagery.

The name came from a song by The Psychedelic Furs. So Run Down was first distributed with a free commercial desktop license. In November 2022, I placed it into the public domain.