Futura is a san-serif typeface composed of simple geometric forms (almost circles, triangles and squares) .It is praised for its minimalistic nature and functionality as a legible font as small sizes.
Designed in 1924 and commercially released in1927 by the German typographer Paul Renner, Futura embodied the beliefs and ideas presented by the Bauhaus movement. Although Renner wasn’t directly associated with the Bauhaus Movement, parallel fundamentals and a clear influence are represented in his clean finish and abolishment of decorative ornaments. The key phrase out of this era being “form follows function” is proof of the typeface’s ability to transcend time. Renner states that functional design should be “useable, efficient, but should also look good” 1.
Futura reflects this popular period of design, one that is forever prevalent in today’s society of modern design as well as highlighting the move from traditional handcrafted embellishment towards a contemporary industrialized period in design.
Futura’s cleanliness and sharp simple feel renders it very as a very useful headline type, however its effectiveness as a legible font at small sizes makes it also very popular for body text. Until recently the IKEA catalogue (the 3rd biggest publication in the world) incorporated Futura throughout the design, before being replaced by Verdana in 2010. Loyal Futura enthusiasts were outraged and even mustered up a 5000-word petition to have the font reinstated. IKEA announced that Verdana was a more universal font and could be applied to wider foreign alphabets.
Futura’s success is also clear as it was the “first font to be present on the moon with this commemorative plaque” 2
Renner faced harsh opposition from Hitler’s Nazi party. He was even arrested after it was made apparent that Renner had a planned presentation at a type convention to publicly announce his views on the gothic script Fraktur, which was adopted by the Nazi Party. He did not conceal his views of this script which was an over embellished, heavily adorned serif typeface. He was removed from his profession and declared an enemy of the state for “national unworthiness”. In an ironic twist of fate the Nazi’s eliminated Futura from their regime denouncing it as a Jewish script.
In an ironic twist of fate the Nazi’s eliminated Futura from their regime denouncing it as a Jewish script and symbolizing the hatred of the Jewish race, however their motifs were fare from Renner’s rejection of the font 3
1 Paul Renner: The Art of Typography p.69 (1998) by Christopher Burke
2 Wikinevis: http://www.wikinevis.com/105043 Futura vs. Verdana : The IKEA dilemma
3 Technical Communication (2000) by Charles Crawley!
It's a nice touch to set your post in Futura. Sets the tone perfectly and demonstrates the desing's value in a screen context.
ReplyDeleteI was fascinated with the information regarding Renner's experience at the hands of the Nazis. IT's a telling account really of the power of typography even at a political and ideological level. Thanks for those insights.