Futura Font Case Study
Introduction
In my first student project at RED Academy, I was challenged to design a desktop landing page that is optimised for conversion and showcased the Futura typeface, which was randomly selected. The business objective was to encourage purchase of the Futura typeface.
I did extensive research online and explored the history behind the designer, comparisons between Futura and other popular fonts and themes of the time as well as the characteristics that make Futura unique.
Research Findings
I learned that Futura is a geometric sans-serif typeface designed by German Paul Renner and released by the Bauer Type Foundry in 1927. Futura has an appearance of efficiency and forwardness and was marketed extensively internationally as ‘capturing the spirit of modernity’ and ‘the typeface of today and tomorrow’. It has remained popular since.
Futura’s modern design became a symbol of change and of German aesthetics, making it a critical motif for the Nazis. Fortunately, the Nazis favored the elaborate Fraktur typeface over the avant-garde Futura, exiling the font and its creator from Germany. By the time the Nazis were defeated, Futura had established itself as the international font of the future, appearing on the Apollo 11 spaceship and eventually taking over global advertisements and designs.
Paul Renner
Geometric sans-serif typefaces are based on geometric shapes, like near-perfect circles and squares. Some of the defining features include a nearly-exactly circular capital “O” and a “single-story” lowercase letter “a”.
Characteristics of the Futura Typeface
Mind mapping
Following the research stage, I jotted down all my thoughts into a mind map which highlighted potential design directions and challenges such as ensuring that the font is still seen as ‘modern’, 92 years after its release.
The Design Process
With the unique font characteristics in mind as well as the ideology of Futura being the font of yesterday, today and tomorrow, I compiled a design inception sheet which led me to the decision to use the shapes that the font is based on as my landing page theme.
Color Pallet
I chose colours I felt resonated with the Futura typeface best.
Red is a hot colour and is associated with fire, violence, and warfare which were prevalent in the 1920’s. It’s also associated with love and passion as well as importance (think of the red carpet at award shows).
Black is associated with power and authority, as well as sophistication, luxury, confidence, and strength.
White often represents innocence, purity, and new beginnings. Renner’s design rejected the approach of most previous sans-serif designs (now often called grotesques, which were based on the models of sign painting, condensed lettering and nineteenth-century serif typefaces, in favour of simple geometric forms.
Space / Movement
The Futura typeface family contains 22 styles ranging from light, medium, bold, heavy, condensed and display — with variations in-between. It is resourceful, adaptable and multi-faceted.
Brand Personality/ Voice
When looking for words that describe the Futura font I think of elegant, cutting edge, formal, modern, no nonsense, plain, polished, professional, reliable, secure, serious and trustworthy. This is because it is so legible, clear and perfectly shaped.
Mood
I am trying to create a mood that represents the Futura font — determined, ambitious, decisive, respectful, striking, influential, witty/sharp, pompous, serious and rigid.
The use
Futura is great for headlines and body copy and works well in print as well as in digital applications because it is so simple and uncluttered
The Why?
Futura is so versatile, modern, clean and classic — which is the reason it has been so popular and loved for over 90 years and will continue to do so into the future. Futura is truly is a font of the past, present and future.
Imagery
I searched for imagery that would illustrate sharp lines, geometric shapes of triangles, squares and circles and combine create a mood of elegance, cleanliness, history and modernity.
Mood Board
Yellow square architecture: Highlights how squares and triangles and can found all around us
Centre skyscraper: Illustrates sharp lines
Smart walking man: Elegance and history
Circle geometric shape: Combination of squares and circles to create
Red mosaic tiles: Square and colour symmetry
Shoes, book and briefcase: Classical elegance
Ferris wheel: Stripes of light, sharp lines, and circles creating interesting shape
Number 35: Showcasing Futura font in numbers
Hexagon rings: Sharp lines creating design
Red stripes: lines and color
Gradients of grey and black shapes: Shape in motion
Wireframes of landing page
I then started writing down the flow of the landing page and how I envisaged it being laid out. These are my initial wireframes showing the various sections I intended including on the landing page: History, showcasing the font, how it is used, the call to action (buy now!) and well known brands that have used Futura font.
Target market
Futura is so versatile that it can be used for many different applications where legibility is important. The target market would include individuals and companies including the motor and aviation industry, graphic designers, signage companies and media houses.
Famous Brands who have used Futura Typeface
I included an image of a few famous brands who have used Futura typeface to add creditability to the font and encourage recognition.
The final product: A landing page showcasing Futura
Conclusion
The highlight of this project was seeing a working layout done in photoshop — by me! The greatest challenge was figuring out the basics of using photoshop and if I were more confident and skilled at using the software I would have added a lot more detail and effect to my landing page.
I thoroughly enjoyed the creative process from the initial brief to final product and seeing how it all came together.
Written by Michelle Falgate