Type and Token

A Note on Typefaces

Words By Scott Stowell
Other Open

New typefaces are created for aesthetic, commercial, or simply practical reasons. And sometimes—when one gets appropriated by a brand or movement—they can take on a life of their own.

For the print version of GOOD 006 we picked the following notable fonts.



Futura Black Stencil (by Paul Renner, 1929), a product of the Bauhaus movement, is best known today as Au Bon Pain's logo type.


Arnold Bröcklin (by Otto Weisert, 1904) is an Art Nouveau typeface that was later appropriated by the hippie movement.


Handel Gothic (by Ronald Trogram, 1980) was used on New Order's Republic and in the opening credits for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.


Matrix (by Zuzana Licko, 1986) was specifically designed to reproduce well on early laser printers.


Sauna (by Underware, 2002) is named after the warm and comfortable feeling it suggests.


Frankfurter (by Alan Meeks, 1970) was named after America's favorite sausage.

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