Futura and Wes Anderson
Every year around this time, my thoughts turn to Wes Anderson and Futura. As noted elsewhere, Mr. Anderson is consistent in his use of Futura (bold) in his films. The supporting materials for The Life Aquatic (which opens here in NYC on Dec 10) continue the Futura trend, with the font appearing in the trailers and on posters. (A little Helvetica — or worse, Arial — has somehow crept onto this new poster, probably slapped on there by some intern when Someone Important noticed that Bill Murray’s name wasn’t on there.) What I’ve never been able to find an answer to, Wes, is why the Futura? This Typophile thread (kind of) suggests that David Wasco, Anderson’s production designer on Tenenbaums, may have had something to do with it. Or is it a shout-out to Stanley Kubrick, who was partial to Futura Extra Bold? Does anyone know?
Reader comments
GolightlyNov 23, 2004 at 11:18PM
almost on topic.
edemayNov 23, 2004 at 11:30PM
The origin I don't know, but Bill MURRAY is in Helvetica Neue, not Arial. I So I guess it's not THAT bad.
danNov 23, 2004 at 11:58PM
I don't think it's connected to Wes Anderson, but the TV show "Lost" also uses Futura to good effect for its opening title and credits (I'm pretty sure). However, at the end of every episode they flash the title LOST on the screen, in what looks like Verdana. Damn those interns!
Brian P.Nov 24, 2004 at 12:00AM
Hey correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this website currently being viewed in Arial? Come on now, it's not gorgeous but it's not Chicago either.
JessicaNov 24, 2004 at 12:09AM
it's because of old italian films. the credits were in futura and in different cases. so it would be like Firstname LASTNAME.
Anderson talks about it in the Rushmore commentary track.
gilocoNov 24, 2004 at 12:10AM
he tells you why he loves futura on the rushmore dvd commentary... I can't remember exactly, but i think it's because of some german/film noir?? films that he really loved in his youth. I think he uses it as a tribute to them.
Chris VincentNov 24, 2004 at 12:45AM
I'm not sure what Mr. Anderson's deal is, but I can relate. Futura is beautiful.
By the way, Brian P., it looks to me like this site is in Lucida Grande.
Ed KnittelNov 24, 2004 at 12:51AM
Any updated links? Typophile thread is "Under Construction" and the poster has ceased to exist.
MichaelNov 24, 2004 at 1:47AM
Interesting to note, Stanley Kubrick's favorite typeface was Futura Extra Bold. One of the many nice facts from the great article, Citizen Kane.
NarcisseNov 24, 2004 at 3:02AM
I can appreciate a sans-serif..always smooth, always dry...never lets you down...
AngusNov 24, 2004 at 7:02AM
The Adobe Futura page manages to work a Mr Quick Brown Fox into Futura, so Wes may be able to do likewise with Fantastic Mr Fox?
BPNov 24, 2004 at 7:45AM
Didn't Woody Allen use it?
ryan.Nov 24, 2004 at 9:45AM
Futura is a classic typeface, used consistently/repeatedly by designers worldwide for years. Wes Anderson also using it consistently/repeatedly in his films doesn't strike me as bizarre or even noteworthy. I like Wes Anderson plenty, but I doubt that his use of Futura signals some hidden conceptual agenda.
And throwing Helvetica in with Arial... !? That hurts.
SamNov 24, 2004 at 10:19AM
Woody Allen used Windsor. I haven't read the Typohile threads, but I'd gues that the inline type used for "The Life Aquatic" is Nobel, or Venus--the "C" isn't Futura. Sometimes a font is just a font.
FrankNov 24, 2004 at 10:52AM
It's just branding. You know how Pepsi bottles look so they can tell you what's inside?
Jessica/giloco -- you're right. You can see Futura credits throughout mid-century European cinema. Anderson's strongest nod was in his short version of Bottle Rocket that played at Sundance and got him the deal to do the feature. It's very French.
klaus vonblowholeNov 24, 2004 at 11:55AM
no no no... woody alen uses a serifed font. All the fonts in discussion are sans-serif. ...but you're thinking along the right lines. Every Woody Allen film has the same credits: white Windsor type on a black bg.
Roger WongNov 24, 2004 at 12:16PM
Not to get too off-topic here, but does anyone else think that in the opening "Lost" titles the word "LOST" is poorly rendered? It starts off blurry (intentional) and becomes more in focus as it gets closer to the camera. But in the last second before it cuts to black (and then commercial) you can see the individual polygons forming the curves of the O and S.
Eh, maybe I'm just picky.
But that's why I'm a graphic designer... commenting on a blog post about a typeface in a movies. :)
Jeff HarrellNov 24, 2004 at 6:41PM
I'd love to hear some comments on the typography featured in the new FOX show "House." I don't have a particularly strong opinion about the show one way or the other, but I found the typography in the titles and on set to be really surprisingly distinctive.
EssiveNov 24, 2004 at 8:27PM
The type used in Dogma is also very interesting. It has the alchemy style which delivers a mystical feeling.
MaartnNov 24, 2004 at 8:40PM
Thoroughly enjoyed that Kubrick article, Mr Kottke. Another fine link.
MattNov 25, 2004 at 1:21AM
I've been pointing out the Anderson/Kubrick typeface obsessions for some time now. Just not online.
[In other words, I have no proof.]
Matt FlorenceNov 25, 2004 at 1:34PM
I was trained a bit in design by a graphic design friend. He turned me on to Futura Extra Bold and Palatino (or Garamond). It's an absolutely beautiful combination. I've used it consistently for years. I didn't know others had such an obsession with it, too. Thanks for lettimg me know. This durn Web thang, you just don't know what you'll find out from it, do you?
MarkNov 26, 2004 at 8:59AM
It's funny - I've been around and around and AROUND with experimental fonts for various blogs and photography portals in recent years, and always seem to come slinking back to Verdana (which incidentally, Brian P, is what this blog is currently displayed in, not arial - although as with most sites utilising the former, the latter is likely to be listed in the css as a 'backup' option).
Whilst it's a tad boring continually returning to Verdana, I think it serves blogs very well, because most blogs try to be at least slightly amusing - and for my money, Verdana has a certain buffoonery to it, a kind of slightly tongue-in-cheek campness that makes a written paragraph look as if the author was grinning wryly at the time.
I once made a beautiful-looking website on a Mac, using OSX, on which the main body font was either Georgia or Geneva (I can't quite remember now) - it looked absolutely stunning at 10px on the Mac running a Safari browser. Howeverm it looked bloody rubbish in IE - all jerky and scratchy, as if it wasn't anti-aliased - and so I scrapped it and reverted to...well, you all know the rest. Bloody IE! ARGH! ;-)
This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.