Typeset in the Future: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’

Dave Addey has started a new site, Typeset in the Future, dedicated to the typography in science fiction films. His first subject, no surprise, is 2001: A Space Odyssey.

(Re: those curious Gill Sans-like M’s in the otherwise Futura titles — I asked Jonathan Hoefler about that, years ago, and he replied, “A number of 20th century faces — Futura and Gill Sans among them — were outfitted with all kinds of ‘alternate sorts’ that could basically turn them into better approximations of their competitors. (Nothing ever changes.)” So it’s not that Kubrick or his title designer swapped in the M from Gill Sans, but rather that they chose a version of Futura that came with Gill Sans-like M’s. It’s a good look. But it’s never quite sat right with me that some of the titles are set in Gill Sans, and the rest in Futura.)

★ Friday, 31 January 2014