Microgramma (typeface)
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- "Microgramma" redirects here. For the fern genus, see Microgramma (fern)
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| Typeface | Microgramma |
|---|---|
| Category | Sans-serif |
| Designer(s) | Aldo Novarese Alessandro Butti |
| Foundry | Nebiolo (source), Linotype, URW |
| Variations | Eurostile |
Microgramma (similar to Eurostile) is a sans serif font which was designed by Aldo Novarese and Alessandro Butti for Nebiolo in 1952. It became popular for use with technical illustrations in the 1960s. Early typesetters (like the AM Varityper) incorporated it.
The typeface is almost always used in its extended and bold extended forms (pictured). Initially, it only had capital letters. Later versions, by Linotype and URW/Nebiolo, contain lower case letters, accented Latin characters, mathematical symbols, and Latin ligatures. In the URW/Nebiolo version, there are also extended Latin, subscrips and superscripts, extended Latin ligatures.
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[edit] Microgramma OnlyShadow
It is a variant of the Microgramma Bold that contains only the shadow of Microgramma bold extended, designed by URW Studio and Aldo Novarese in 1994. Although Alessandro Butti died in 1959, URW credited Alessandro Butti as designer for the new font.
The Euro sign in the font has a different weight, styled from a different font family, and is not shadowed.
[edit] Microgramma in popular culture
Because of its bold, masculine strokes and sharp square angles, Microgramma was soon appropriated for use in science fiction and fantasy stories depicting advanced technology and space exploration.
[edit] Star Trek
The Microgramma Bold Extended typeface was used extensively in the Star Trek universe, such as Franz Joseph's The Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual,[1] although many in the typesetting community felt it looked dated by the 1970s. The font, in both its original and various altered forms, was incorporated into numerous displays and on ship exteriors in six of the Star Trek motion pictures, as well as the four later television series.
[edit] Other sources
Microgramma was also used extensively in the 1968 motion picture 2001: A Space Odyssey, the 1971 film version of The Andromeda Strain, and the Gerry Anderson TV series Captain Scarlet, Space: 1999 and UFO.
The typeface remains in common use today, in television (e.g. the CBS reality show The Amazing Race and the call letters in logos for MyNetworkTV affiliates) and films (e.g. Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles).
Many car manufacturers, notably Honda, use Microgramma on the interior gauges and switches of their vehicles.
Radiohead have used Microgramma in their breakthrough albums, The Bends and OK Computer.
According to MasGrafx Racing Graphics, Microgamma is the font of several NASCAR numbers; #8 (Mark Martin), #3 (Dale Earnhardt) and #29 (Kevin Harvick). Some of these are angled.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Joseph, Franz [1975] (1986). The Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-34074-4.
