Monotype about redesigning Futura for the digital age
We take an exclusive look at Futura Now, Monotype's ode to Paul Renner's original 1927 design that focuses on “Digital First”
Futura is a sans serif typeface designed by Paul Renner and published by Bauer Type Foundry in 1927. The simple and functional design was created at the height of the Bauhaus movement and has been one of the most popular fonts in the world ever since.
During its 93 years of existence, it has been used by every industry from publishing to fashion, auto brands and housewares. The writing was also famously used on a plaque left on the moon by NASA astronauts in 1969.
Based on geometric shapes, especially circles, the design of Futura has become a classic. However, newer versions of the font are only able to adapt to digital spaces to a limited extent. Originally it was cast in metal in certain individual sizes and adapted to different needs over the years. However, these changes have not always been implemented well. The weight range available for Futura is small, and the italics, for example, are mathematically sloped and skewed rather than carefully drawn for this purpose. The result? Inconsistent spacing and a loss of the elegance that Futura initially had.
To meet this modern typographic need, Massachusetts-based studio and type library Monotype created Futura Now, a family of fonts carefully designed to meet the changing needs of the 21st century. Futura Now is the most accurate representation of Renner's original idea, but with a “digital first” edge.