This simplification of type is characterized by Frere-Jones as "not the kind of letter a type designer would make.
The lettering that inspired this typeface originated from the style of 1920s era sans-serifs like Futura, where "Type, like architecture, like the organization of society itself, was to be reduced to its bare, efficient essentials, rid of undesirable, local or ethnic elements." This theme was found frequently in Depression-era type in both North America and Europe, particularly Germany. Having grown up here, I was always fond of the 'old' New York and its lettering." "I suppose there's a hidden personal agenda in the design," Frere-Jones said, "to preserve those old pieces of New York that could be wiped out before they're appreciated. įrere-Jones' inspiration for the typeface came from time spent walking block-by-block through Manhattan with a camera to find source material, and he based the font on the lettering seen in older buildings, especially the sign on the Eighth Avenue façade of the Port Authority Bus Terminal. GQ agreed that they needed something "that was going to be very fresh and very established to have a sort of credible voice to it," according to Hoefler. The Gotham typeface was initially commissioned by GQ magazine, whose editors wanted to display a sans-serif with a "geometric structure" that would look "masculine, new, and fresh" for their magazine.
and ViacomCBS, currently Paramount Global. Companies that notably use the font are Taco Bell, Golf Galaxy, ABS-CBN Corporation and its divisions and subsidiaries (including the television network of the same name), Cartoon Network, Cartoon Network Productions, and Cartoon Network Studios, and formerly in the logos for Discovery, Inc. It is published by Hoefler & Co., the company of Frere-Jones' former business partner Jonathan Hoefler.
#USE OF GOTHAM TYPEFACE FONT PROFESSIONAL#
It is also the current font used in MPAA title cards for film trailers in the U.S.ĭeveloped for professional use, Gotham is an extremely large family, featuring four widths, eight weights, and separate designs for screen display and a rounded version. The font has also been used on the cornerstone of the One World Trade Center in New York. This has included Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, Michigan State University branding, and the 2016 federal election campaign of the Australian Labor Party. Since creation, Gotham has been highly visible due to its appearance in many notable places. Gotham has a relatively broad design with a reasonably high x-height and wide apertures. Gotham's letterforms were inspired by examples of architectural signs of the mid-twentieth century. Gotham is a geometric sans-serif typeface family designed by American type designer Tobias Frere-Jones with Jesse Ragan and released through the Hoefler & Frere-Jones foundry from 2000. His sad story of falling out with his longtime business partner only underscores the contemporary resonance of Gotham: These are grotesque times.Gotham Rounded, Gotham Condensed, Gotham Narrow, Gotham X-Narrow, Gotham Bold Gotham’s creator, Tobias Frere-Jones, is an avatar of the creative type who blindly follows his muse he will forever be tied to this accomplishment. (A typeset sans is not the domain of the calligraphic, for god’s sake.)Ĭertainly Gotham is overused and now inescapable but that only speaks to the rarity and strength of its character. It manages the Futurists’ love of assertiveness and yet, too, the humanity of faces like Gill Sans without the bogus compromise of Humanism. (See Paul Rand’s “dogshit” comment about Helvetica care of Kyle Cooper.) It has a powerful presence yet it is approachable and even friendly, sharing similar roots to Futura. Notably, it has narrower widths that allow for better legibility when set as text, taking it out of the realm of headline-only typefaces.
With its variety of weights and families Gotham is practically peerless.
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