Douglas Thomas (2) (1981–)

In this visually pleasing book, Douglas Thomas guides the reader through the history of Futura, a typeface that signified modernity and progress and the avant-garde, before almost becoming charmingly retro. It’s astonishing just how prevalent Futura and its descendants are; the photo-essay of Futura “in the wild” illustrates just how different the basic typeface can look depending on its weight or spacing. “No! That’s not Futura!” I would exclaim, astonished, at each photo.

Interesting stories abound in this book, from the U.S. boycott of Futura during the Second World War (because it was a German typeface) to the Guerrilla Girls’ use of Nike’s Futura variant to great effect in their advertising campaigns. There’s discussion of how this particular typeface was developed and the challenges faced by designers when devising variants (the example given being the custom font for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign). The book is abundantly illustrated and makes good use of marginal notes and colour to tie everything together. It’s a very good book and recommended for those who like books about typefaces but aren’t necessarily professionals; this is more for the casual reader.… (mer)