In our first class we were given the task to create a type specimen for screen. We have to use one of the following fonts, Futura, Gill Sans, Helvetica, Palatino, Times New Roman, Baskerville
From past experiences in graphic design I have always had a connection to the font style Futura as its soft and minimalistic. I have previously studied bauhaus and find it extremely interesting which also influenced my choice.
Futura was designed by Paul Renner born in Germany. it was released in 1927 in the booming period of bauhaus design. It was fundamentally the iconic font style used in this time period. It is a geometric sans serif type face.
Futura was used in the Apollo 11 mission were they designed a plaque which is currently on the moon till this day. In history the Futura font was shunned by the Nazi Party for being too modern and progressive especially with its ties to the bauhaus art era. It has been used for some of the most popular brand designs and film titles which include Nike, Volkswagen, A Space Oddessy, Dominos pizza, Absolut Vodka and much more.
It is a extremely versatile font style with many different fonts and weights and is known to be one of the most popular typefaces in the world. He used shapes to create the base of the font.
Here are a few Futura designs I found on Pinterest and google:
Its a retro futuristic font and is still as popular as it was 90 year ago which is a huge statement. Its still being used for brands and will go down in history. It is timeless and straight to the point.
Here are the six sketches I created of my Type Specimen Screen I decided to use Procreate as of recent years I enjoy digitally sketching.
I was influenced by shapes and elongated lettering, This was a common trend in Bauhaus and I wanted to show that in my designs. As Futura is a geometric typography I wanted to combine it within the shapes such as the circles and triangles.
After having a detailed look at each sketch I have now chosen three designs that I feel are the most striking and impactful.
My first sketch was heavily influenced by bauhaus, I wanted the rectangles to merge into the typeface creating a visually appealing artistic look. I also added in a few key point words such as bold, geometric and modern to give the viewer a clear understanding of what Futura represents.
The second sketch I wanted it to look strong. I made the ‘A’ emphasised so it almost looks like a mountain. I also wanted a rectangular background to give the sketch structure and alignment. Using only uppercase lettering makes it feel stern.