Art Directors Against Futura Extra Bold Condensed
April 19th, 2009“It’s time for Art Directors the world over to boycott the use of Futura Extra Bold Condensed – the most over-used typeface in advertising history. Destroy the Great Satan of clichés and the Little Satan of convenience, and rally to the cause of a better type selection.
Please fill out the enclosed petition and mail it to our headquarters. It will be used to sway the opinion-makers of our industry toward our just and worthy cause.
Together, we can whip this mother.”
Really??? That was a common opinion in 1992?
These 2 pages were designed by Jerry Ketel are were published in the 1992’s TDC Typography 13.
found in Wei Huang his Flickr account
April 20th, 2009 at 3:18 am
Hum… looks like an ABSOLUT VODKA ad ! maybe was it behind all of it ? the use of futura by Absolut started in 1985 I think… with Andy Wharol around it…
April 20th, 2009 at 3:25 am
by the way… trends are also about typefaces… I expect a big come back of Comic Sans soon (…) : S
April 20th, 2009 at 10:37 am
yay.. but long time before that nearly every freakin ad was in futura ebc… of course with images, too! haha..
so obviously there’s some old marketing guys from the 60s and 70s behind it. or just someone else. i dont care anyway. i like it.
April 20th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
abzolute vodka indeed. i´m so fed up with this font…..*sigh
April 21st, 2009 at 12:34 am
FUTURA EXTRA BOLD CONDENSED WASTED YOUTH.
April 24th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Well, one typeface I’m getting mighty sick of in 2009 is Helvetica Neue Ultralight. It’s everywhere!
May 3rd, 2009 at 2:55 am
If they want to curb the use of FEBC, than they should suggest a better alternative..
May 4th, 2009 at 3:50 am
That’s the trouble. Suggesting an alternative, puts another good typeface on the “Overused Typeface List”.
Overused Typeface List
Helvetica
Arial (Narrow) – not a good typeface, but it makes the list.
Gill San
Futura Extra Bold Condensed
May 11th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
[...] source [...]
August 6th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
[...] heard of people being sick of Helvetica. But hear this: there’s even a group called “Art Director Against Futura Bold Condensed“. Futura bold condensed, for the uninitiated, is often seen during drinking [...]
August 19th, 2009 at 1:11 am
I certainly remember the era, and it was popular to have large, bold type with the full stop (period to our American friends) at the end. Absolut certainly used this style, but there were plenty of other places that went with Futura Extra Bold Condensed. BMW was definitely one company, before it went to Helvetica and then its own BMW Type; and given a bit of time I can probably think of a few more high-profile names.
September 2nd, 2009 at 3:53 am
[...] popularity has spread among art directors that there is now a movement called, “Art Directors Against Futura Extra Bold Condensed”. Even with those boycotting, Futura remains one of the most used/loved san serif typefaces today, [...]
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:38 am
[...] for years. In fact, so popular that certain art directors had began boycotting its use in with Art Directors Against Futura Extra Bold Condensed, published in 1992’s TDC Typography [...]
November 30th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Man, as soon as I get promoted to art director I’m going to start imposing my typographical preferences and judgments on other designers! If that’s not enough, I’ll find a group of like-minded art directors to start a group with; together we’ll start picking off, in our opinion, overused or unworthy typefaces and shun those who disagree! The most ironic part of all is somewhere around 100% of us will have an example of said typeface(s) in use in our current portfolio! Man, all this irony is giving me some really good idea for a group: Art Directors Against anyone who says “font” when they mean “typeface”.
Seriously, we don’t need a collective of people giving us the thumbs-up and thumbs-down in reference to the contents of our Suitcase. If FEBC is appropriate, I will use it. Fin.
February 9th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
[...] http://www.todayandtomorrow.net/2009/04/19/art-directors-against-futura-extra-bold-condensed/ [...]