Futura: The Future Font That Escaped the World War II

Timeless is probably the correct word to describe a future font. A font that was designed decades ago but still able to stand the test of time. Multiple fonts fall under this category, with Futura being one of the most popular. Why so? What makes it remain popular to this day? Let’s find out the answer in the following discussions.

What is Futura?

In 1924, German typographer Paul Renner started his work on the Futura font as part of the New Frankfurt Project. It’s a low-cost housing development that has received support from some well-known architects at that time.

Futura is classified as a geometric sans serif because of its clean lines. While many might identify Futura with Bauhaus design, the creator himself was more closely affiliated with the predecessor of Bauhaus, namely the New Typography Movement.

What Makes It Remain Popular?

As the name implies, Futura is a future font that withstands the passage of time. Its usage is visible in many projects, from automobile manufacturers to entertainment industries. The anatomy of this attractive-looking font reveals why it remains appealing to the eye regardless of the era it’s utilized.

• Sans serif: Sans serifs typically feature a sleeker, more contemporary appearance. They are also widely used for titles, headlines, and logos rather than body text. Yet, for Futura, this is not always the case. The low height of the said font makes it ideal for usage in body text. 
• Highly Geometric: Futura’s elements are built on clean geometric shapes such as rectangles and triangles. Rather than imitating handwriting, the font features exact dimensions. In addition, Futura is also a font with a lot of symmetry. 
• Stroke Contrast: Low-level stroke contrast is employed in Futura. It means that the width of each stroke is practically consistent throughout each letter’s shape. This also becomes another reason why the font works well in body text.

Quick Facts About Futura

There is a lot to tell about Futura. To make it easier to digest, we have compiled several exciting facts about this future font which are listed below:

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• Paul Renner was the creator of Futura, but the font only began introduced in 1927 by the Bauer Type Foundry. It’s deemed one of the many modern fonts despited being designed at the end of World War I.
• Futura was ripped off just a year after its publication. Airport Gothic—the copy of Futura—was designed by the art director of Vanity Fair in 1929 after finding out that they could not use the original font due to the collapsing stock that occurred in Germany.
• Paul Renner was arrested and exiled in 1932 after publishing an anti-Nazi article that delayed Futura’s commercial usage. In 1936, Futura began to appear on textbooks popular during the Nazi regime.
• After a decade of release, many Futura copycats circled the US market in addition to Airport Gothic. These include Metro, Tempo, Twentieth Century, and many more. Even so, Renner’s font remained a bestseller.
• Futura survived World War II and began massively appearing in graphics, tables, maps, encyclopedias, and even political propaganda. 
• In 1969, the font was used on the famous plaque of the Apollo 11 mission on the Moon, marking the critical passage of Futura’s history.

As a future font, Futura indeed manifests its tagline “the font of our time,” meaning its use knows no bounds, be it time or application. Not only did it survive World War and travel to the Moon, but it also became a part of human cultural heritage. Eager to know more about fonts, much like Futura? Head to Pollux of Geminorum right away.