How a typeface helped launch Apollo
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0:01 - 0:03In 1969 in July,
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0:03 - 0:06three Americans launched into space.
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0:06 - 0:09Now, they went to the surface of the moon,
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0:09 - 0:12they famously made
the great leap for mankind. -
0:12 - 0:15Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong,
they walked on the surface, -
0:15 - 0:17they planted this flag.
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0:17 - 0:22It's rightly celebrated as a moment
that in America we say is a triumph. -
0:22 - 0:25We think it was this
amazing accomplishment. -
0:25 - 0:27They didn't just leave behind
this flag, though. -
0:27 - 0:29They also left behind a plaque.
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0:29 - 0:31This plaque is a beautiful object,
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0:31 - 0:33and one that I want to talk to you
a little bit about. -
0:33 - 0:35First, you might notice
that there's two globes, -
0:35 - 0:37representing all of earth.
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0:37 - 0:39And then there's this beautiful statement:
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0:39 - 0:40"We came in peace for all mankind."
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0:40 - 0:44Now, at first, this is just
nice poetic language, -
0:44 - 0:47but it's also set in a typeface
that's perfect for this moment. -
0:47 - 0:51It seems industrial, it seems engineered.
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0:51 - 0:52It also is the best possible name
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0:52 - 0:56you could come up with
for something on the moon: Futura. -
0:56 - 0:58Now, I want to talk to you about fonts,
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0:58 - 1:00and why this typeface is perfect
for this moment. -
1:00 - 1:02But it's actually more
than just ceremonial. -
1:03 - 1:06Now, when all of you arrived here today,
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1:06 - 1:09you actually had to think about fonts.
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1:09 - 1:10You might not realize it,
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1:10 - 1:13but you're all unconscious
experts on typography. -
1:13 - 1:17Typography is the study
of how fonts inhabit our world, -
1:17 - 1:21they're the visual language
of the words we use. -
1:22 - 1:24Here's the thing
that's funny about this, though. -
1:24 - 1:27I know you're probably not like me,
you're not a font nerd, -
1:27 - 1:30maybe some of you are,
but if you're not, that's alright, -
1:30 - 1:32because I might spend hours every day
-
1:32 - 1:35trying to pick the perfect typeface
for the perfect project, -
1:35 - 1:37or I might spend thousands
of dollars every year, -
1:37 - 1:39trying to get ones
with the right features. -
1:39 - 1:42But all of you actually spend hours
every day, evaluating fonts. -
1:42 - 1:45If you don't believe me,
think about how you got here. -
1:45 - 1:47Each of you had to judge by the signs
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1:47 - 1:48and maybe even on your phone,
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1:48 - 1:52which signals to trust
and which to ignore. -
1:52 - 1:53You were evaluating fonts.
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1:53 - 1:55Or maybe when you're just
buying a new product, -
1:55 - 1:58you have to think about
whether something is expensive -
1:58 - 2:01or cheap or hard to get or easy to find.
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2:01 - 2:03And the funny thing about it is,
-
2:03 - 2:05this may not seem extraordinary to you,
-
2:05 - 2:07but the moment you see
something out of place, -
2:07 - 2:09you recognize it right away.
-
2:09 - 2:11(Laughter)
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2:11 - 2:13The thing I love about typography,
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2:13 - 2:15and why I love fonts
and why I love Futura, -
2:15 - 2:19is that, for me,
what I study is everywhere. -
2:19 - 2:22Every street that I walk down,
every book that I pick up, -
2:22 - 2:27every thing that I read
is filled with the thing I love. -
2:27 - 2:31Now, once you understand the history
and what happens with typography, -
2:31 - 2:35you actually have a history
of everything before you. -
2:35 - 2:37And this is the typeface Futura.
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2:37 - 2:40As previously we've discussed,
this is modernism in miniature. -
2:40 - 2:43This is a way in which modernism
infiltrated this country -
2:43 - 2:46and became perhaps the most popular,
or promiscuous typeface, -
2:46 - 2:48of the twentieth century.
-
2:48 - 2:52"Less is more," right, these are
the aphorisms of modernism. -
2:52 - 2:54And in the visual arts,
the same thing happened. -
2:54 - 2:57Let's focus on the essentials,
focus on the basic shapes, -
2:57 - 2:58focus on geometry.
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2:58 - 3:01So Futura actually holds this to its core.
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3:01 - 3:03You might notice that the shapes
inherent in Futura -
3:03 - 3:05have circles, squares, triangles.
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3:05 - 3:07Some of the shapes
are all based on circles, -
3:07 - 3:08like the O, D and C,
-
3:08 - 3:12or others have this pointed
apex of the triangle. -
3:12 - 3:14Others just look like
they might have been made -
3:14 - 3:15with a ruler or a compass.
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3:15 - 3:18They feel geometric,
they feel mathematic, precise. -
3:18 - 3:21In fact, this whole system
carries through with the way -
3:21 - 3:22that the typeface was designed.
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3:22 - 3:26To not look like it was made
like other typefaces, to be something new. -
3:26 - 3:30Here it is in the lightweight,
the medium weight and the bold weight. -
3:30 - 3:33The whole family has
different things to commend to it. -
3:33 - 3:35This was a conscious break from the past,
-
3:35 - 3:38something that looked like it was made
by a machine, and not by hand. -
3:38 - 3:40When I say not made by hand,
this is what I mean. -
3:40 - 3:42This is what we think about maybe,
-
3:42 - 3:46when you might create something
with a calligraphic brush or a pen. -
3:46 - 3:47That there's thicks and thins.
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3:47 - 3:51And even more traditional typefaces,
say like a Garamond, -
3:51 - 3:52holds vestiges of this old system
-
3:52 - 3:56in which you can see the A
where it get little bit thinner at the top -
3:56 - 3:57and thicker down below,
-
3:57 - 4:00because it's trying to look like
someone had made it by hand. -
4:00 - 4:01But Futura, in contrast,
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4:01 - 4:04is designed to look like
no one had touched it at all, -
4:04 - 4:05that this was made by a machine,
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4:05 - 4:07for a machine age, for an industrial age.
-
4:07 - 4:10There's actually a sleight of hand here
-
4:10 - 4:13that Paul Renner, the designer
who made this in 1927, employed. -
4:13 - 4:15If you look at the way in which
-
4:15 - 4:18the circular shape
joins with the vertical shaft, -
4:18 - 4:21you'll notice that it tapers
just every so slightly. -
4:21 - 4:23And this is one of hundreds of ways
-
4:23 - 4:26in which this typeface was designed
to look geometrically perfect, -
4:26 - 4:28even though it's mathematically not.
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4:28 - 4:30And this is what typeface
designers do all the time -
4:30 - 4:33to make typefaces work, every day.
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4:33 - 4:37Now, there were other designers doing this
at the same time in Europe and America. -
4:37 - 4:39These are a few other
excellent examples from Europe, -
4:39 - 4:43trying to create something new
for the new age, a new moment in time. -
4:43 - 4:44These are some other ones in Germany
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4:44 - 4:47that in some ways
look very similar to Futura, -
4:47 - 4:50maybe with higher waist or lower waist
or different proportions. -
4:50 - 4:52Then why did Futura take over the world?
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4:52 - 4:54In this case, if you can read
the titles there, -
4:54 - 4:57some of these names
don't quite roll off the tongue: -
4:57 - 5:02Erbar, Kabel Light,
Berthold-Grotesk, Elegant-Grotesk. -
5:02 - 5:05These aren't exactly
household names, are they? -
5:05 - 5:07And so when you compare that to Futura,
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5:07 - 5:11you realize that this was a really
good choice by the marketing team. -
5:11 - 5:12What's amazing about this name --
-
5:12 - 5:15you know, what's in this name
is that this is a name -
5:15 - 5:19that actually invokes hope
and an idea about the future. -
5:19 - 5:21And this isn't actually the word
for future in German, -
5:21 - 5:23it wasn't a German name,
-
5:23 - 5:24they actually picked something
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5:24 - 5:27that would speak to a wider,
larger audience, a universal audience. -
5:27 - 5:30And when you compare it
to what was being done in America -- -
5:30 - 5:32these are the typefaces
from the same period -
5:32 - 5:34in the United States in the 1920s,
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5:34 - 5:35bold, brash, braggadocios.
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5:35 - 5:39You almost think of this as exactly
like what the stock market looked like -
5:39 - 5:41when they were all
going nuts in the 1920s. -
5:41 - 5:44And you realize that Futura
is doing something revolutionary. -
5:44 - 5:48I want to step back and talk
about an example of the typeface in use. -
5:48 - 5:51So this is a magazine that we all
probably know today, "Vanity Fair." -
5:51 - 5:55This is what it looked like
in 1929, in the summer. -
5:55 - 5:58And in many ways, there's
nothing wrong with this design. -
5:58 - 6:01This is absolutely typical of the 1920s.
-
6:01 - 6:03There's a photograph
of an important person, -
6:03 - 6:06in this case Franklin Roosevelt,
then-governor of New York. -
6:06 - 6:08Everything seems centered,
everything seems symmetrical. -
6:08 - 6:10There's still a little bit
of ornamentation, -
6:10 - 6:13so this is still maybe having
some vestiges of the painted lady -
6:13 - 6:15and not fully modernistic.
-
6:15 - 6:16But everything seems kid of solid.
-
6:16 - 6:19There's even drop caps
to help you get into the text. -
6:19 - 6:22But this all changed very quickly
and in October of 1929, -
6:22 - 6:25a Berlin-based designer came
and redesigned "Vanity Fair." -
6:25 - 6:28And this is what
it looks like with Futura. -
6:28 - 6:30Instead of the governor
-
6:30 - 6:33now we have a photograph
of an abstract, beautiful setting, -
6:33 - 6:34in this case, the ocean.
-
6:34 - 6:36Instead of drop caps,
there's nothing at all. -
6:36 - 6:41And replaced with a centered
layout is now asymmetry. -
6:41 - 6:44And it gets even more radical
the further you enter the magazine. -
6:44 - 6:46In this case,
even more dramatic asymmetry. -
6:46 - 6:49In this case, illustrations
by Pablo Picasso, moving across the page -
6:49 - 6:53and breaking the gutter of the two pages.
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6:53 - 6:55And there's something even more radical.
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6:55 - 6:58If you look closely at the Futura,
you might notice something. -
6:58 - 6:59You might not pick it up at first,
-
7:00 - 7:03but there are no capital letters
in the title or the captions on this page. -
7:03 - 7:05You might not think that's very radical,
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7:05 - 7:08but pick up any magazine,
any book or go to any website, -
7:08 - 7:10and I guarantee, you are not
going to find it very easily. -
7:10 - 7:13This is still a radical idea.
-
7:13 - 7:14And why is that radical?
-
7:14 - 7:17When we think about
what capital letters denote, -
7:17 - 7:19they denote something important,
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7:19 - 7:21whether it's our names, or our titles.
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7:21 - 7:24Or maybe even just
the name of our corporations, -
7:24 - 7:26or maybe our trademarks.
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7:26 - 7:29Actually, in some ways,
America's the home of capitalization. -
7:29 - 7:31We love putting capitals in everything.
-
7:31 - 7:33(Laughter)
-
7:33 - 7:35But think about how radical this would be
-
7:35 - 7:39to introduce a magazine where you're
taking away all the capital letters. -
7:39 - 7:41This has maybe had
the same political force -
7:41 - 7:45that we now argue over things
like pronouns in our society today. -
7:45 - 7:47In the 1920s,
-
7:47 - 7:51this is just shortly after Soviet Russia
had a communist revolution. -
7:52 - 7:57And for them, this actually represented
a socialist infiltration into America. -
7:57 - 8:01All lowercase letters meant
that this was an egalitarian, -
8:01 - 8:05complete lowering of everything
into one equal playing field. -
8:05 - 8:07Now this is still kind of a radical idea.
-
8:07 - 8:09Think about how often
you do capitalize something -
8:09 - 8:11to have more power or prestige to it.
-
8:11 - 8:15So for them to do this was a way
in which Futura was using this idea. -
8:15 - 8:18Now, other designers
were doing other things with Futura. -
8:18 - 8:21Others brought other ideas
of modernism with it, -
8:21 - 8:23whether it was interesting
new illustration styles, -
8:23 - 8:26or interesting new collage
types of illustration. -
8:26 - 8:28Or even just new book covers,
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8:28 - 8:30whether they were from Europe.
-
8:30 - 8:32But here's the funny thing.
-
8:32 - 8:34In the 1920s, if you wanted
to use a new typeface, -
8:34 - 8:37you couldn't just go download it
onto your computer. -
8:37 - 8:39You actually had to have pieces of lead.
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8:39 - 8:41So for Americans who wanted to adopt this
-
8:41 - 8:43and make it part of their own system,
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8:43 - 8:46something they could use
in everyday typography, -
8:46 - 8:48whether in ads or anything else,
-
8:48 - 8:50they actually had to have metal type.
-
8:50 - 8:52So being good American
capitalists, what did we do? -
8:52 - 8:54We made all sorts of copies.
-
8:54 - 8:56Ones that had nothing to do
with the name Futura, -
8:56 - 8:58but looked identical to it,
-
8:58 - 9:00whether it was Spartan or Tempo.
-
9:00 - 9:02And in fact, by the time
that World War II started, -
9:02 - 9:06American corporations were actually trying
to boycott Nazi goods. -
9:06 - 9:08But they said,
"Go ahead and use our copies. -
9:08 - 9:11Use 20th Century, use Spartan,
use Vogue, use Tempo. -
9:11 - 9:13These are identical to Futura."
-
9:13 - 9:17And in fact, for most people,
they didn't even learn the new names, -
9:17 - 9:18they just still called it all Futura.
-
9:18 - 9:21So America took this typeface in,
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9:21 - 9:23conquered it and made it its own.
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9:23 - 9:26So by the time World War II finishes,
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9:26 - 9:28Americans are using this on everything,
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9:28 - 9:30whether it be catalogs, or atlases,
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9:30 - 9:33or encyclopedias or charts and graphs,
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9:33 - 9:37or calendars, or even political material.
-
9:37 - 9:40And even the logo for a new
expansion football team. -
9:41 - 9:44And in fact, it was used even on some
of the most important advertising -
9:44 - 9:46of the 20th century.
-
9:46 - 9:47So it's in this context
-
9:47 - 9:49that when the US government
was picking a typeface -
9:50 - 9:52to use after World War II
for new maps and new projects, -
9:52 - 9:53they picked Futura.
-
9:53 - 9:56It wasn't an astounding choice,
it wasn't a radical choice, -
9:56 - 9:58it didn't have anything
to do with communism. -
9:58 - 10:02But in this case, it was used
on some of the most important maps, -
10:02 - 10:03so this one, an air force map in 1962,
-
10:03 - 10:06or used for the maps in Vietnam in '66.
-
10:07 - 10:08And so it wasn't a surprise
-
10:08 - 10:11that when astronauts
first started the Mercury program, -
10:11 - 10:13such as John Glenn orbiting the earth,
-
10:13 - 10:16that charts and maps
that he was using were in Futura. -
10:16 - 10:20And in fact, by the time
Mercury morphed into Apollo, -
10:20 - 10:22it started getting used
more and more for more things. -
10:22 - 10:25So in this case for a safety plan,
-
10:25 - 10:28or even starting to get used
on instrument panels, -
10:28 - 10:29or navigational aids.
-
10:29 - 10:33Or even on diagrams
to show how the whole system worked. -
10:33 - 10:34But here's the amazing thing,
-
10:34 - 10:37it didn't just get used for papers
that they handed out to people. -
10:37 - 10:39It started to get used for an interface,
-
10:39 - 10:41for an entire system
that helped the astronauts -
10:41 - 10:43know how to use the machine.
-
10:43 - 10:47NASA wasn't just one big corporation
making everything. -
10:47 - 10:49There was hundreds of contractors --
-
10:49 - 10:51Boeing, IBM, McDonnell Douglas --
-
10:51 - 10:52all making different machines.
-
10:52 - 10:56Now imagine if astronauts had to use
different typefaces and different systems -
10:56 - 11:00for each component they had
in the space shuttles. -
11:00 - 11:02This would have been
impossible to navigate -
11:02 - 11:04and there would have been
a cognitive overload -
11:04 - 11:06every time they had
to open up a new system. -
11:06 - 11:09So in this case, Futura
being used on the interface -
11:09 - 11:12helped them navigate complexity
and make it more clear. -
11:12 - 11:15And it wasn't just used on buttons,
it was used on labels, -
11:15 - 11:17and it was used on their food rations,
-
11:17 - 11:19and it was used on their tool kits.
-
11:19 - 11:23It was used on knobs and levers
to tell them what to do. -
11:23 - 11:25In fact, maybe even some of the places
-
11:25 - 11:29where they needed to have things
that were complex be more simple to them, -
11:29 - 11:31instructions were printed
entirely in Futura, -
11:31 - 11:34so that they could know
what to do with that one moment. -
11:34 - 11:37They didn't have to remember
everything in their head, -
11:37 - 11:40they could have it out there
in the world to see and refer to. -
11:40 - 11:42In this case, Futura helped
make that system, -
11:42 - 11:45which was already
a very difficult and complex system, -
11:45 - 11:46a little less complex.
-
11:47 - 11:50In fact, the very first or last thing
an astronaut might have seen -
11:50 - 11:53when they were entering
or exiting the spacecraft -
11:53 - 11:54would have been in Futura.
-
11:54 - 11:57One of my favorite examples
of how Futura worked in this way -
11:57 - 11:58is actually this camera.
-
11:58 - 12:03This is a Hasselblad
that was made by the Swedish company. -
12:03 - 12:06It's a perfectly good camera,
some of you might have used one, -
12:06 - 12:09it's prized by photographers
as a really great camera. -
12:09 - 12:12And you might notice,
if you know anything about cameras, -
12:12 - 12:14that there's some
modifications made to it. -
12:14 - 12:17In this case, there are stickers
placed all over the film canisters, -
12:18 - 12:20or other parts of the camera here.
-
12:20 - 12:22What this enabled NASA to do,
-
12:22 - 12:26was make something really great
out of the astronauts. -
12:26 - 12:29They're not photographers,
they're not experts in art. -
12:29 - 12:32But they could ensure that they
would know how to use this camera -
12:32 - 12:34because of the labels
placed there in Futura. -
12:34 - 12:35So in this case,
-
12:35 - 12:39Futura acquired and made sure
that they had legitimacy -
12:39 - 12:41with the things they were using.
-
12:41 - 12:44In this case to not take off the film
before it would expose. -
12:44 - 12:46Which, in this case,
we would have never had -
12:46 - 12:48some of the amazing photos we had
without this label. -
12:48 - 12:54When we see something as decorative
as this, a ceremonial patch, -
12:54 - 12:56or something like this plaque on the moon,
-
12:56 - 12:59we realize that Futura was more
than just something ceremonial, -
12:59 - 13:04something more than something
that had just been picked for its design. -
13:04 - 13:07In fact, Futura had authority,
-
13:07 - 13:09had legitimacy and had power
because of this choice. -
13:09 - 13:13There's one other thing
I want to talk about in closing. -
13:13 - 13:16And that is that Futura tells a story.
-
13:16 - 13:20And this is what I love about typefaces,
is that all of them tell stories. -
13:20 - 13:23And in this case, this typeface
tells a very powerful story -
13:23 - 13:26about assimilation, about something
being taken into America -
13:26 - 13:29and being made part of its culture.
-
13:29 - 13:32And that's one of the best
and worst things America does, -
13:32 - 13:35is we take things into our culture
and we spit them out back again -
13:35 - 13:36and claim them our own.
-
13:36 - 13:40And in this case, Futura mirrors
exactly what happened with the technology -
13:40 - 13:41undergirding the whole system.
-
13:41 - 13:46Futura was a German typeface,
taken in, made into an American commodity. -
13:46 - 13:47And so were the technologies:
-
13:47 - 13:50the rockets, the scientists
all came from Germany as well. -
13:50 - 13:53So in some ways, this German typeface
on an American plaque -
13:53 - 13:56perfectly mirrors what happened
with the technology. -
13:56 - 13:57And in this case,
-
13:57 - 14:03when you think about this story,
you realize that typography on the moon -
14:03 - 14:05represents legitimacy,
represents authority, -
14:06 - 14:09and this gave them, the astronauts,
the power to get to the moon. -
14:09 - 14:10Thank you.
-
14:10 - 14:13(Applause)
- Title:
- How a typeface helped launch Apollo
- Speaker:
- Douglas Thomas
- Description:
-
When humanity first landed on the moon in 1969, the typeface Futura was right there with them. In this fascinating history of typography, designer Douglas Thomas shares Futura's role in launching the Apollo 11 spacecraft -- and how it became one of the most used fonts in the world.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 14:26
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How a typeface helped launch Apollo | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How a typeface helped launch Apollo | ||
Oliver Friedman approved English subtitles for How a typeface helped launch Apollo | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for How a typeface helped launch Apollo | ||
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Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for How a typeface helped launch Apollo | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for How a typeface helped launch Apollo | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for How a typeface helped launch Apollo |