Well, here we are at the letter 'f' in this little series of 52 fonts. And after the extravagant flourish seen with the 'e' posting, this time it's back to the classics, both ancient and modern.
First is Foundry Sans, designed by David Quay in 1990. Apparently, the idea behind the typeface came from a conversation which David Quay had with Hans Meier, the designer of the Syntax family, while in Paris at ATypI in 1989. Meyer revealed that Sabon, designed by Jan Tschichold, was the inspiration behind Syntax. The inspiration for Foundry Sans comes from Stempel Garamond.
Of course, talk of Jan Tschichold may make you come over all misty eyed about modernism. But if it's modernism you crave for, then what you really need is Futura.
Futura was 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 ideals. 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.) The lowercase has tall ascenders, which rise above the cap line, and the uppercase characters present proportions similar to those of classical roman capitals.
Well, whichever you choose, I think that either would make for a fantastic, fontographic Friday.
*with apologies to Richard.
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