Bank Gothic

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Bank Gothic
Typeface BankGothic Md BT
Category Sans-serif
Classifications Geometric
Designer(s) Morris Fuller Benton
Foundry American Type Founders

Bank Gothic is a rectilinear geometric sans-serif typeface designed by Morris Fuller Benton for the American Type Founders (ATF) in 1930. The typeface is an exploration of geometric forms, and is contemporary with the rectilinear slab serif typeface City by Georg Trump. The typeface also bears comparison with late nineteenth century engraving faces. Bank Gothic is distinct for having a small capital lowercase.

[edit] Popular use

Bank Gothic appears in all architectural information signs in Dulles Airport, designed by architect Eero Saarinen. It was also a commercial hit in the science fiction genre as demonstrated by its frequent use in the Matrix movie series and The Day After Tomorrow. The typeface is used in the closing credits for the "reimagined" Battlestar Galactica tv series. It is also used in the program 24 and in the video game Goldeneye 007. 30 Seconds to Mars uses the font in its logo. The font is also used on all the computers in the TV series Stargate SG-1 and on the video games Descent: Freespace and Freespace 2 and more recently Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

This typeface was used in the game Hitman: Contracts and was on the book's cover of WarCraft's first series. It was also used in the British television programme Robot Wars. The typeface was used extensively in packaging and advertising of Bungie's Marathon series, and entire manuals were laid out in Bank Gothic. It is also used for the titles of cult comedy programme Spaced.

[edit] References

  • Blackwell, Lewis. 20th Century Type. Yale University Press: 2004. ISBN 0-300-10073-6.
  • Fiedl, Frederich, Nicholas Ott and Bernard Stein. Typography: An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Through History. Black Dog & Leventhal: 1998. ISBN 1-57912-023-7.
  • Jaspert, W. Pincus, W. Turner Berry and A.F. Johnson. The Encyclopedia of Type Faces. Blandford Press Lts.: 1953, 1983. ISBN 0-7137-1347-X.