APPLICATION
OCR-B
IT’S USE TODAY
Signature
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION
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OCR-B: IDENTIFICATION
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OCR-B: BANKING AND POSTAL
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OCR-B: GRAPHIC DESIGN
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TERMINATOR SALVATION
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RADIOHEAD’S OK COMPUTER
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<<USE<OF<OCRB<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< U<AFRUTIGER<<ADRIAN<JOHANN<<<<<
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INTRODUCTION Since the 1960s machine-readable typefaces have been used for data recognition and processing. They can be found on cheques, bank statements, postal forms and credit cards. They are, however, increasingly being replaced by typefaces for typewriters and newsprint since those are now equally readable, and because data are no longer transferred via printed type, but stored on magnetic strips or chips. Adrian Frutiger’s OCR-B can be found on paying-in forms in some countries, for instance in France and Switzerland, but in the latter case it has, for some years now, only been used in the encoding line. There are also three encoding lines printed on the back of Swiss ID cards. Furthermore, the barcode numbers on the price tags of consumer goods are often set in OCR-B. A totally different application for Frutiger’s typeface could be found – up until the 1980s – in text processing. For example the IBM golfball typewriter could read texts typed in OCR-B – socalled typoscripts – so they did not have to be phototypeset a second time at the printer’s. But this application disappeared with the arrival of data exchange via floppy disks. OCR-A and OCR-B eventually found their fashionable expression in the graphic design of the 1990s where they were seen as techno, cool and trendy.
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OCR-B: Identification OCR is used for several purposes where automated systems need a standard character shape defined to properly decode and identify text without the use of barcodes.
OCR-B is also widely used in barcoding, and in particular on consumer goods packaging. For example, in the form of batch codes and expiration dates.
The most famous of applications is that of passports. Lines of text set in OCR-B appear in every passport across the globe. It is also frequently utilized in national identification cards, such as the current Swiss Identification Cards.
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OCR-B: Banking & Postal Frequently, the OCR-B font is used in the field of banking and postal to print rows of data called a codeline. This frequently appears on bank cheques and credit card imprints, as well as serial tracking labels.
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OCR-B: Graphic Design
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Technically oriented faces, such as DIN, Courier, Pica, or OCR-A and OCR-B have never been so much in demand as today. Poster designers, magazine publishers and art directors love their cold, martial forms.
OCR-B has experienced a resurgence of sorts lately, particularly within the graphic design industry. It makes a good face for advertising that needs a ‘typewriter’, or obvious ‘computer’ look to it, but it has also appeared in numerous poster designs and branding projects of the last few years.
RAYMAY DIARY CALENDAR This ultra-compact calendar is the size of a credit card, making it easy to slide unobtrusively into a pocket or even a wallet! The numbers of the calendar’s date range are embossed on its metalliccolored cover, adding to its credit card-like appearance.
DADADUM Dadadum is a Swiss contemporary furniture brand created out of respect for and in homage to the functionality, technical expertise and minimalism associated with Swiss design, and that strives to bring out the beauty of each raw material.
Developed by design studio and co-founder Demian Conrad Design, Dadadum’s new brand identity uses Swiss sans-serif typography and a grid based approach that plays with letter space to convey the core values of modularity, playfulness and origin. Based around OCR-B, chosen for its ‘interesting and strong “D” shape’, fixed stroke width, Swiss provenance and what the studio describe as a ‘human touch in a technological world’, the logotype draws distinction and communicative value from its mechanical machine read origins.
BILDMUSEET Bildmuseet is a centre for visual culture and a museum dedicated to the exhibition of modern international art, architecture, design and photography, as well as retrospectives, and is described as a place for experiences, reflection and discussion.
Developed by Swedish graphic design studio Stockholm Design Lab, Bildmuseet’s visual identity was designed to reflect its position as an inspiring collaborative art institution where science and art meet. SDL’s approach embraces a monospaced typographical grid based uniformity using OCR-B.
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Terminator Salvation Terminator Salvation is the fourth installment of the Terminator film series., released in 2009. Directed by McG, it stars Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. It is a post-apocalyptic film set in the year 2018 and focuses on the war between Skynet machines and humanity.
Karin Fong and her creative team at Imaginary Forces worked on the title sequence for Terminator Salvation. They were asked to develop not only the main titles, but also the language of “machine vision”, the point of view of the machines.
“ So,
everytime you see something through a machine’s eyes, it’s treated in that way. Back in the original Terminator these [images] would be tinted red and have a grid and have maybe some DOS language. We had to update that using technical references of today’s machines and technology. “ - Karin Fong
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Radiohead’s OK Computer OK Computer is the third studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released in 1997. It includes the singles ‘Paranoid Android’, ‘Karma Police’, ‘No Surprises’ and ‘Airbag’. OK Computer reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and received unanimous critical acclaim. It has been cited by critics and musicians as one of the greatest rock albums of the 1990s.
The album’s artwork is a computer-generated collage of images and text created by Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke. All the lyrics within the CD booklet are set in Adrian Frutiger’s OCR-B typeface.
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OCR-B