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Typeface	Futura
Category	Sans-serif
Classifications	Geometric Sans-Serif
Designer(s)	Paul Renner
Foundry	Bauer Type Foundry Neufville Digital
Date released	1927

Commemorative plaque left on Earth's moon in July, 1969 uses Futura.

Futura is a geometric sans serif typeface designed in 1927 by Paul Renner. Although Renner was not associated with the Bauhaus, he shared many of its idioms and believed that a modern typeface should express modern models, rather than be a revival of a previous design. Renner's initial design included several geometrically constructed alternative characters and ranging (old style) figures which can be found in the typeface Architype Renner. Futura was commissioned by the Bauer type foundry. The success of Futura coincided with the creation of many competing geometric sans serif faces including Kabel, Metro, Vogue, Erbar and Spartan, Twentieth Century, and Century Gothic among others.

Futura has an appearance of efficiency and forwardness. The typeface is derived from simple geometric forms (near-perfect circles, triangles and squares) and is based on strokes of near-even weight, which are low in contrast. (This is most visible in the almost perfectly round stroke of the o, but the shape is actually slightly ovoid.) In designing Futura, Renner avoided the decorative, eliminating non-essential elements. The lowercase has tall ascenders, which rise above the cap line. The uppercase characters present proportions similar to those of classical roman capitals.

Futura's success spawned a range of new geometric sans-serif typefaces from competing foundries, and remains one of the most used sans-serif types into the twenty-first century. It is used prominently in the graphic identity of Volkswagen and Union Pacific. The former Swiss airline Swissair also used Futura from the 1950s to the 1990s.Boeing commercial Airplanes almost exclusively use a variation of Futura (medium, LtBt, Demi)in their flightdeck labeling for both information decals and instrumentation. Futura remains an important typeface family and is used on a daily basis for print and digital purposes as both a headline and body font. Filmmaker Wes Anderson uses Futura extensively in his films, as did Stanley Kubrick. Futura was used on the commemorative plaque left on Earth's moon by Apollo 11 astronauts in July 1969 (see photo at right).

Futura is also the basis of Ikea Sans and Opel Sans, fonts designed for Ikea and Opel respectively by Robin Nicholas.[1]

The revival of the popular BBC series Doctor Who uses Futura extensively. BBC1 also used the font on one of the "Mirror Globe" idents.

• Jaspert, Berry and Johnson. Encyclopaedia of Type Faces. Cassell Paperback, London; 2001. ISBN 1-84188-139-2
• Lawson, Alexander S., Anatomy of a Typeface. Godine: 1990. ISBN 978-0879233334.
• Meggs, Philip. B and McKelvey, Roy. Revival of the Fittest: Digital Versions of Classic Typefaces. RC Publications; 2002. ISBN 1-883915-08-2
• Haley, Allen. Type: Hot Designers Make Cool Fonts. Rockport Publishers Inc, Gloucester; 1998. ISBN 1-56496-317-9

• Typowiki: Futura