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Futura is a geometric sans-serif typeface
designed in 1927 by
Paul Renner
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Light Light Oblique Book Book Oblique Medium Medium Oblique Heavy Heavy Oblique Bold Bold Oblique Extra Bold Extra Bold Oblique
Inspired by
the Bauhaus
Following the Bauhaus design philosophy, German type designer Paul Renner first created Futura between 1924 and 1926. Although Renner was not a member of the Bauhaus, he shared many of its views, believing that a modern typeface should express modern models rather than be a rivial of a previous design. Futura was commercially released in 1927, commissioned by the Bauer type foundry.
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Futura has an appearance of efficiency and forwardness. The typeface is derived from simple geometric forms (near-perfect circles, triangles and squares) and is based on strokes of near-even weight, which are low in contrast. This is most visible in the almost perfectly round stroke of the o, which is nonetheless slightly ovoid.
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tall ascenders
Sans-serif Futura Book 97pt
GG Futura Book 100pt Trajan pro regular 100pt
In designing Futura, Renner avoided the decorative, eliminating non-essential elements. The lowercase has tall ascenders, which rise above the cap line. The uppercase characters present proportions similar to those of classical Roman capitals.
A A Futura Book 180pt
Trajan pro regular 180pt
Futura Light
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789 Futura Light Oblique
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789 Futura Light Condensed
Futura Light Condensed Oblique
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Futura Book
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789 Futura Book Oblique
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789
Futura Medium
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789 Futura Medium Oblique
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789 Futura Medium Condensed
Futura Medium Condensed Oblique
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
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Futura Heavy
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789
Futura Heavy Oblique
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789
Futura Bold
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789 Futura Bold Oblique
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789
Futura Bold Condensed
Futura Bold Condensed Oblique
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
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Futura Extra Bold
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789 Futura Extra Bold Oblique
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789
Futura Extra Bold Condensed
Futura Extra Bold Condensed Oblique
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
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Influence on Twentieth Century Twentieth Century Regular 48pt
Twentieth Century Futura Medium 45pt
Century Gothic Century Gothic Regular 45pt
Century Gothic Futura Light 53pt
The success of Futura coincided with the creation of many new geometric sans-serif faces by competing foundries including Kabel, Metro, Vogue, Erbar and Spartan, Twentieth Century, and Century Gothic among others. Some were near identical copies as in Spartan and Vogue, but others, were uniquely different including Nobel and Kabel.
other typefaces
Typeface designer Adrian Frutiger acknowledges Futura as one of his inspirations for his 1988 typeface Avenir. More recently Futura has been the basis of Ikea Sans and Opel Sans, fonts designed (for Ikea and Opel, respectively) by Robin Nicholas.
Popularity today Futura (and its variants) have become an extremely popular typeface for countless corporate logos, commercial products, films and advertisements for years. In fact, so popular that certain art directors had began boycotting its use in with Art Directors Against Futura Extra Bold Condensed, published in 1992’s TDC Typography 13. Regardless, Futura remains one of the most used (and loved) sans-serif fonts today with no signs of slowing down.
Futura was one of the most popular fonts in use in the 20th century, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, and is in use in the corporate design of Volkswagen until this day.
American conceptual artist Barbara Kruger uses Futura Bold Oblique on black and white photographs in much of her language based art work.
Futura Light
Futura Extra Bold Condensed
Futura Heavy
Futura Extra Bold Condensed
Futura Extra Bold Oblique
Futura Bold
Futura Extra Bold
Express
Strength
Elegance
Clarity