Tuesday Type is a fortnightly feature showcasing a chosen font. Today’s type is Futura PT by Paratype.
Futura is a classic geometric sans serif that exudes modernity and simplicity. Widely used in logos, headings, web and print, the font is renowned for its clean lines, perfect circles, and minimalistic aesthetic. Originally designed by Paul Renner for The Bauer Type Foundry in 1927, Futura’s letterforms are constructed with geometric precision, featuring uniform strokes and proportions, giving it a sleek and timeless appearance.
Futura PT is the most complete Cyrillic version of Futura. It’s a type system of 25 styles: 16 regular and 9 narrow, from Thin to Extrabold. Futura PT has linear and old-style figures, subscripts and fractions. The typeface supports more than 100 languages: Western and Central European Latin and the Cyrillic-based languages of the peoples of Russia and the CIS.
Vladimir Yefimov of Paratype designed the Cyrillic version of Futura in 1991–1995. He partially redesigned the typeface in 2007, making it a wholesome consistent system, while fellow designer Isabella Chaeva added new styles.
Futura font typically supports several languages, including most Western European languages such as English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. Additionally, it often includes support for Central European languages like Polish, Czech, and Hungarian, as well as Scandinavian languages like Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian.
Paratype has been designing, developing and distributing digital fonts since the 1980s. Our ever-growing library of hundreds of typefaces includes some of the most widely used fonts, such as PT Sans/Serif, Futura PT, DIN 2014, and Circe. Paratype also creates custom fonts and provides font mastering services.
Paul Renner (full name Paul Friedrich August Renner) was a pioneering German graphic designer, typographer, and type designer. Born in Wernigerode on the 9th of August 1878, Renner began his career as a painter before switching to typography and design. Although he was not directly affiliated with the Bauhaus movement which emerged in the 1920s, he strongly supported its principles and aims. In addition to creating Futura, Renner set a new standard for sophisticated book designs with his most notable publications, “Typografie als Kunst (Typography as Art)” and “Die Kunst der Typographie (The Art of Typography)”.
The Bauer Type Foundry was founded in 1837 by Johann Christian Bauer in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The company became renowned for its contribution to typography and printing and gained prominence for producing high-quality typefaces. Under the leadership of Heinrich Hoffmeister, who took over in the late 19th century, the foundry expanded its operations and developed a reputation for innovation and craftsmanship. The Bauer Type Foundry played a significant role in developing and distributing modernist typography during the early 20th century, leaving a lasting legacy in the graphic design and printing industries.
Futura PT is available from the Paratype website (https://www.paratype.com/) and also part of the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.