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Futura: The Typeface is a stunning showcase of one of the most popular typefaces

Celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, the life and times of Futura is a fascinating one. Charting its Bauhaus origins to its use as the first font on the moon in 1969, Futura: The Typeface is a new book that tells the story of how the typeface went from representing radicalism in design to dependability.

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Open book showing left blank page and right page with bold black typography featuring Futura typeface and overlapping text, with green cloth binding visible at spine

It celebrates and rediscovers this timeless font through archive illustrations and informative essays, revealing fascinating facts like... did you know Futura was Stanley Kubrick's favourite typeface? And that it was used on the film poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey? Or even that Vanity Fair used Futura as an experiment for five issues in 1929, defining their progressive design style, and pin-pointing Futura as "a face representing the New Typography of the European avant-garde"?

Expect insight and observations from renowned design writers such as Steven Heller, Erik Spiekermann and Christopher Burke. Edited by Petra Eisele, Professor of Design History and Design Theory at the University of Mainz; Dr Annette Ludwig, Director of the Gutenberg Museum and Isabel Naegele, Professor of Typography at the University of Mainz.

Futura: The Typeface is a stunning examination of one of the most popular typefaces ever created. And it's available from 30 October via publisher Laurence King.

All images courtesy of Laurence King

Soft green hardback book cover with Futura repeated in pale blue text across the cover, and white spine detailing
Open book spread showing a passage about Roman capitals alongside a black and white portrait photograph of a man in a suit
Open pages of Futura: The Typeface book showing character studies and typographic details of the Futura font family in black and white
Open pages of Futura: The Typeface book showing historical alphabet and numeral specimens in black and white on pages 40-41
Open book spread showing a quote about sans serif typeface design on the left page and body text with a section heading on the right page, from Futura: The Typeface
Two pages from Futura: The Typeface book showing vintage German posters for Neuhof and Mack featuring circular clocks and Futura typeface
Open spread from Futura: The Typeface book showing the word "futura" in blue typography with a black and white photograph and German text on the right page
Open book spread showing a text article on the left page and a vintage Futura poster reading "Für Foto Montage Futura" on the right page featuring a dramatic black and white photomontage composition with a large hand and urban architecture
Open book spread showing a Gebrauchsgraphik magazine cover featuring abstract geometric shapes in red and black, with text about Futura and Form um 1920 on the facing page
Open book showing a two-page spread with design history on the left and a bold black and white photograph of a hand holding a camera with blue and orange Futura typography overlaid on the right
Open book spread showing an article about Otto Neurath with colourful examples of Isotype pictorial statistics and infographics on the right page
Open book showing Futura Black typeface design with geometric pink and grey pattern, alongside pages displaying various typographic applications and design examples
Open book spread showing a colourful geometric graphic design with Futura and American Advertising chapter heading and body text on the right page
Open book spread showing a quote about a moon landing plaque proposal on the left page and an astronaut on the lunar module on the right
Open book spread from Futura: The Typeface with dense text on the left page and experimental typography layouts on the right, bound with a green spine and orange bookmark
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