Futura type specimen by mabel ocw

Type Specimen

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FUTURA typographer

Paul Renner

Paul Renner – born on 9.8.1878 in Wernigerode, Germany, died on 25.4.1956 in HÜdingen, Germany. He is a graphic artist, painter, type designer, author and teacher. Studied architecture and painting in Berlin, Munich and Karlsruhe.

In 1927, he designed the Futura typeface, which became one of the most successful and most-used types of the 20th century. He created a new set of guidelines or good book design and invented the popular Futura, a geometric sans-serif font used by many typographers throughout the 20th century and today.

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HISTORY

1927

Background German typeface designer, Paul Renner designed Futura in the mid-1920s. Its geometric shapes were inspired by the Bauhaus, the German arts & crafts school/ movement. Commissioned by the Bauer Type Foundry.

The first drawings for Futura were done in 1924. The typeface was finally released in 1927 in light (Mager), regular (Halbfett), and bold (Fett) weights. The family was expanded in 1930 to include a semi-bold weight, a bold condensed weight, as well as oblique versions for the light and regular (medium) weights. A book weight was added in 1932. Subsequently, the family was expanded by designers to over twenty faces of varying weights and widths. Its distinct look and good readability make Futura a good headline font, but it is often also used for body text.

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TYPEFACE ANALYSIS - ANATOMY apex

cap height

crossbar

aperture

geometric shapes : nearly perfect circle, rectangle & triangle

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stroke

axis

cap line

base line

curved forms extend below base line and above cap line

counter

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A A Q Q Theuppercase uppercase“A” “A”ofofFutura Futurahas has The sharpapex apexthat thatexceed exceedthe the a asharp capline.While Whilethe theuppercase uppercase capline.

“A”ofofFrutiger Frutigerhas hasa aflat flatapex. apex.

“A”

Theuppercase uppercase“Q” “Q”ofofFutura Futurahas hasa amore moreround round The andcircular circularcounter counterthan thanFrutiger’s Frutiger’suppercase uppercase“Q” “Q” and

TheFutura Futurauppercase uppercase The “Qhas hasa atail tailwhich which “Q separatefrom fromitsitsbody. body. separate Unlikelythe theFrutiger Frutiger Unlikely uppercase“Q” “Q”has hasa atail tail uppercase continuationofofitsitsbody. body. continuation

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j k

FUTURA & FRUTIGER The lowercase “j” of Futura has a circular title. Unlikely the lowercase “j” of Frutiger has a square in shape.

The lowercase “j” of Futura has cut off terminal. Unlikely the lowercase “j” of Frutiger has a tail.

The lowercase “k” of Futura has a leg that connected to its arm, and the arm attached to its stem.

Unlikely The lowercase “k” of Frutiger has a arm and leg that

j k

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FAMILY Futura LT Medium Regular Futura LT Medium Italic Futura LT Medium Bold Futura LT Medium Bold Italic Futura LT Light Regular Futura LT Light Italic Futura LT Book Regular Futura LT Book Italic Futura LT Book Bold Futura LT Book Bold Italic Futura LT Condensed Regular Futura LT Condensed Italic Futura LT Condensed Bold Futura LT Condensed Bold Italic Futura LT Condensed ExtraBold Regular Futura LT Condensed ExtraBold Italic Futura LT Condensed Light Regular Futura LT Condensed Light Italic Futura LT Extra Bold Regular Futura LT Extra Bold Italic

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APPLICATION Futura had the honor of being the first typeface on the moon, chosen for a commemorative plaque left on the moon by the astronauts of Apollo 11 in 1969.

Futura has become an extremely popular typeface for countless corporate logos, commercial products and advertisements for years.

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