Discourse 1- article 2

Futura
from "Texts on Type"
by Alexander Nesbitt

• Futura's designer, Paul Renner may be one the most underrated designers
• Renner- author of 4 books (none which were in english...which is probably why he is not as well known as other)
• The National Socialist Regime removed him because he spoke and wrote sharply against the turn of events.
• The invention of the first useable sans-serif is still argued today-some people say it was William Caslon, others say Vincent Figgins and William Thorowgood's "Grotesque".
• When it comes to classifying a sans-serif, Futura is the best example because it has classic proportions in the capitals and the lower case is in traditional miniscule patterns
• After WWI, there was a lot of experimentation on typography...the most interesting innovations happened in Germany...Bauhaus
• There is still arguement over who came to use Futura first- some consider Edward Johnston's London Underground to be the first noteable useage of this type. Othes say it was Rudolf von Larisch
• Renner began his sketches in 1924
• Then the Bauer Foundry became interested in it and it was not until 2 years later that Futura was launched into the market
• The reason why it was so successful was because all the "kinks" in the type were resolved before it hit the market....so there was no need to go back and fix anything...it was just ready to be used by anyone who wished to do so.
• Influences on Renner-expressionism, constructivism, dadaism and non-objectivity
• Futura had great influence in American advertising because it was a functional kind of typography
• Renner wanted to construct something that was not trying to be something else (He said that people tended to still try to be Jenson or Bodoni but those types, although beautiul, were outdated)
• Renner agreed with Corbusier who said that the best way to move foreward and create something that was both beautiful and functional for the time was to "start again from zero in order to create clear decks"
• There are only 3 components to the printed job (in Renner's opinion): the purpose, the raw materials, and the techniques
• We should just be ourselves with a clear and simple typography
• Futura as a display type is great because it is a well designed face without bad optical illusions

I really love futura as a typeface because it is so sophisticated (and after having read that article I know why...since it was constructed so well). But the images below show futura being used in different situations. The first image is from another article about futura. I liked the way it was designed because it shows how each person liked to use futura including Stanley Kubrick, Barbara Kruger, Wes Anderson and Volkswagen and the way in which they used the type.

The second image shows futura being used as a display face. This image is an installation piece by Barbara Kruger (one of my favorite artists who used futura in a lot of her work because it is such a powerful font and perfect for display pieces. The last image is the alphabet that that Bauer company launched into the market and soon was being used all over the world.