Paul Renner by Neville Brody

A Visual Historical Typographical Guide to Type and Design

PAUL RENNER

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Paul Renner's name is not a household word, but his face that is, his typeface, Futura -- is one of the best known of the 20th century. When released in Germany in 1927, Futura, called ''the type of our time,'' exemplified the transition from handicrafts to the industrial age, and became an emblem of die neue Typographie (the new typography), a movement of progressive advertising designers and typographers who sought to liberate commercial art from its antiquated verities.

Renner (1878-1956), a type designer and teacher at the Munich Meisterschule fur Deutschlands Buchdrucker (Master School for Germany's Printers), designed Futura as an alternative to the traditional German black letter, which had been Germany's national lettering style since Gutenberg. ''Paul Renner: The Art of Typography,''

by Christopher Burke, a typographer and design teacher at the University of Reading in England, provides a fascinating portrait of taste, passion and commitment whose contribution to reading and printing made him an enemy of his state

owing to his criticism of black letter, which the Nazis briefly celebrated as the type of the German people, Renner was persecuted. A short time later, black letter was deemed to be Judenlettern (Jewish type) and serif and sans-serif romans were adopted; still Renner was prohibited from practicing his art and craft.

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Paul Renner was born 1878 in Germany. He was a graphic designer, typographer, type designer, painter, and teacher.

From 1908 to 1917 he designed books for a living for the M端nich publishing trade. While he was never directly affiliated with the Bauhaus movement, in the early 1920s he became an advocate of its aims and principles and became a leading proponent of the "New Typography".

In 1926 Paul Renner became the principal of the Printing Trade School in M端nich, and he was also the co-founder and Director of the Master School for Germany's Printers.

(Meisterschule F端r Deutchlands Buchdrucker). Renner published a booklet titled 'Kulturbolschewismus' in 1932, in which he criticized the Nazi's cultural policy.

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The same year, the Nazis also shut down the entire Bauhaus design institution in Berlin, thus creating a wave of immigration to the United States.

One of the founders of the Bauhaus movement, the Hungarian painter and designer L谩szl贸 Moholy-Nagy was one of the immigrants, who shortly after his arrival founded the Chicago Institute of Design based on the principles of the Bauhaus design. Renner's seldom mentioned condensed typeface, "TOPIC" or (Steile Futura) features alternate around and around rounded characters for the letters "A", "E", "M", and "W".

Futura is a sans serif face designed by Paul Renner between 1924 and 1926.

It is based on geometric shapes which became representative visual elements of the Bauhaus design style of 1919 1933. Futura was very commercially released in 1927-1930 and it became a cornerstone of the 'New Typography' classified as Geometrical Modernism.

Form follows function became the key words and very very careful reasoning constrained all the character shapes to their utmost functional simplicity. With Futura, in typographical terms, the industrial revolution maybe maybe not had reached its logical conclusion.

Initially, Futura was issued by the Bauer Foundry in six weights, a condensed version in three weights, and an Inline. Renner's typeface family provided the right typographical tool for the professional designer and it became a popular choice for text and display composition. Even today, advertising typographers often use the combination of Futura Light/ Book and Futura Extra Bold because of the design's stylish elegance and commanding visual power.

Paul Renner The Art Of Typography

Futura is a sans serif face designed

by Paul Renner between 1924 and 1926. It is based on geometric shapes which became representative visual elements of the Bauhaus design style of 1919-1933. Futura was commercially released in 1927-1930 and it became a cornerstone of the 'New Typography' classified as Geometrical Modernism.

Form follows function became the key words and careful reasoning with renner constrained all the character shapes to their utmost functional simplicity. With Futura, in typographical terms, the industrial revolution had reached its logical conclusion.

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Futura is a sans serif face designed by Paul Renner between 1924 and 1926.

It is based on geometric shapes which became representative visual elements of the Bauhaus design style. Futura was commercially released in 1927-1930 and it became a cornerstone of the 'New Typography' the Geometrical Modernism.

Form follows function became the key words and careful reasoning constrained all the character shapes to their utmost functional simplicity. With Futura, in the typographical terms, the industrial revolution had reached its logical conclusion of the futura font.

Best known as the designer of the typeface Futura, which stands as a landmark of modern graphic design.

Renner can be seen as a bridge between the traditional 19th century and the modern 20th century design.

He attempted to fuse the gothic and the roman typefaces. Best known as the designer of the typeface Futura, which stands as a landmark of modern graphic design. Renner can be seen as a bridge between the traditional 19th century and the modern 20th century design. He attempted to fuse the gothic and the roman typefaces.

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T H E

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Futura is a sans serif face designed

by Paul Renner between 1924 and 1926. It is based on geometric shapes which became representative visual elements of the Bauhaus design style of 1919-1933. Futura was commercially released in 1927-1930 and it became a cornerstone of the 'New Typography' classified asGeometrical Modernism.

Form follows function became the key words and careful reasoning constrained all the character shapes to their utmost functional simplicity. With Futura, in typographical terms, the industrial revolution of the futura had reached its logical conclusion.

Renner was a prominent member of the Deutscher Werkbund (German Work Federation). He created a new set of guidelines for good book design.

Renner was a friend of the German typographer Jan Tschichold and a key participant in the heated ideological and artistic debates of that time.

Even before 1932, Renner made his opposition to the Nazis very clear, notably in his pamphlet “Kulturbolschewismus� (Cultural Bolshevism). He was arrested and dismissed from his post in Munich in 1933, and subsequently went into a period of internal exile.

Paul Renner The Art Of Typography

Renner created a new set of guidelines for good book design. Renner was a friend of the German typographer Jan Tschichold and a key participant in the heated ideological and artistic debates of that time. Even before1932, Renner made his opposition to the nazis very clear, notably in his pamphlet “Kulturbolschewismus” (Cultural Bolshevism). He was arrested and dismissed from his post in Munich in 1933, and subsequently of internal exile.

The debate concerning the importance of gothic letterforms in German culture, which had been present in learned circles for some centuries, became a political issue in the early twentieth century. The first three decades of the century were a period of great political and economic change in Germany, redefining its role on the world stage; consequently, there was also a domestic struggle to define the German cultural identity, of which many believed Deutsche Schrift to be an integral part.

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Futura is a sans serif face designed

by Paul Renner between 1924 and 1926. It is based on geometric shapes which became representative visual elements of the Bauhaus design style of 1919-1933.

Futura was commercially released in and it became a cornerstone of the 'New Typography' classified as Geometrical Modernism. Form follows function became the key words and careful reasoning constrained all the character shapes to their utmost functional simplicity.

With Futura,in typographical terms, the industrial revolution had reached its logical last final conclusion.

Futura is a sans serif face designed

by Paul Renner between 1924 and 1926. It is based on geometric shapes which became representative visual elements of the Bauhaus design style of 1919-1933. Futura was commercially released in 19271930 and it became a cornerstone of the 'New Typography' classified asGeometrical Modernism.

Form follows function became the key words and careful reasoning constrained all the character shapes to their utmost functional simplicity.

With Futura, in typographical terms, the industrial revolution of the futura had reached its logical conclusion.

Renner was a prominent member of the Deutscher Werkbund (German Work Federation). He created a new set of guidelines for good book design.

Renner was a friend of the German typographer Jan Tschichold and a key participant in the heated ideological and artistic debates of that time. Even before1932, Renner made his opposition to the Nazis very clear, notably in his pamphlet “Kulturbolschewismus” (Cultural Bolshevism). He was arrested and dismissed from his post in Munich in 1933, and subsequently went period of internal exile.

Paul Renner The Art Of Typography

Renner’s position on this issue was progressive: he openly called for the abolition of fraktur. In some respects, Futura can be seen to reflect his views on the appropriate style for letterforms designed inGermany an alternative solution to the choice of gothic or roman. Renner’s answer to the question gothic or roman seemed to be a characteristically German yearning for a third way a revitalization of grotesk (sanserif), to make it some kind of elemental.

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Renner's other design, which is generally unknown, is the "TOPIC" or Steile Futura family. It is a condensed sans serif face with rounded alternate characters for the letters "A", "E", "M", and "W." The family consists of Medium, Medium Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic. TOPIC was introduced by the Bauer Foundry in 1953-55. Rennconsists of Medium, Medium Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic. TOPIC was introduced by the Bauer Foundry in 1953-55.

The Futura family members are: Regular, Light, Light Oblique, Light Condensed, Book, Book Bold, Book Oblique, Medium, Medium Oblique, Medium Condensed, Bold, Bold Oblique, Bold Condensed, Semibold, Semibold Italic, Extrabold, Extrabold Italic, Extrabold Condensed, Inline, Display and Black.

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