futura
Q
Geometric Sans Futura, this German sans serif typeface has kept its popularity from its American debut in 1969 to today. This innovative typeface was created by German artist Paul Renner between the years of 1924 and 1926; right as World War I came to an end. Renner was inspired by the philosophic ideas of the Bauhaus; a design oriented school created 1919 which exemplified the idea of platonic design, and modern expression through design. Although Renner was not a member of the Bauhaus School he expressed similar ideas. Reflecting these ideas through platonic shape and geometric design, Renner created a typeface that combined the traditional ideas of the 19th century and the Modern concept of the 20th — thus Futura was born. Shortly after Futura was commissioned by the Bauer Type Foundry in 1927.
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Paul Renner Te a c h e r
Pa i n t e r
Paul Renner, best known for his type design, was also a teacher, painter, graphic artist, author and architect. Renner was born on August 9th, 1878 and passed away on April 25th, 1956. Renner was a well educated artist who was always wanting to show progression or evolution in art. For example, Renner tried various sorts of activities in type and design like attempting to blend various sorts of gothic and roman typefaces. Since Renner admired and followed the platonic ideas of the Bauhaus School he became somewhat opposed about art that conveyed a more expressive form. Art like: jazz, abstract art and dance; this highly affected his art. In addition, Renner was an avid reader of german philosophy and literature. He applied the aesthetically ideas from philosophers like Kant and strived to make work that was simplistic and idealistic but could be enjoyed universally. He wanted to show the world that design could have an impactful change. “We should direct our view outwards, away from ourselves, into the world, not into the distance, but onto those things that are neat, within a hand’s reach.” – Paul Renner
Designer
1878
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Bauer Type larger cap heights
cross stroke
slanted terminal
v
Baseline
descender
I think Futura is a beautiful typeface, I admire it’s geometric qualities along with its crisp and clean strokes. Moreover, Futura is a typeface that is unique and easily identifiable due to its sharp apexes and vertexes. It has other easily identifiable letters like the lowercase letter “j” Which easily be mistaken for the letter “i“ with a long descender. Futuras popularity over the decades has exemplified the unique points of the typeface itself, but also have taken away from it. Since this typeface has become so popular it is often overused or used “incorrectly” in many instances. I think this can make Futura look ugly at some points especially when it is used with awkward leading or spacing. Also, from my observation Futura seems like a typeface that has been used in almost every type of typographic context I could think of; which may have been something Paul Renner would have wanted since he studied the aesthetics of Kant. However, I do think understanding typographic language and context is an important concept because it can blur the lines of a companies meaning or message if used incorrectly. All and all, I am a fan of Futura. I think its best use in refined measures and has a wonderful unique way of refined expressionism.
Jj
ascender
e Foundry completes a recrangle
a perfect cirlce
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Due to Futura’s geometric flexibility it comes in many weights and forms. One major icon of the typeface are the sharp apexes and vertexes. However when this typeface is either bold or condensed it loses those prominent features.
Futura Bold
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh iI jJ Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Futura Condensed
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh iI jJ Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Futura Medium
{
123 123 456 456 789 789
{
Futura Condensed
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LIGHT BOOK MEDIUM B O L D ! & $ + fi
we should
direct our view
outwards away from
ourselves and into the
world. —Paul Renner
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Fu t u r a By Myles Thompson Typography 1 Fall 2013