Category | Sans-serif |
---|---|
Classification | Geometric |
Designer(s) | Morris Fuller Benton |
Foundry | American Type Founders |
Date created | 1930–1933[1] |
Re-issuing foundries |
Bank Gothic is a rectilinear geometric sans-serif typeface designed by Morris Fuller Benton for American Type Founders and released in 1930.[1] The design has become popular from the late twentieth century to suggest a science-fiction, military, corporate, or sports aesthetic.[2][3][4][5]
Bank Gothic is an exploration of geometric forms, and is contemporary with the rectilinear slab serif typeface City by Georg Trump (Gothic in this context means "sans-serif", at the time a common usage, rather than blackletter).[6] The typeface also bears comparison with late-nineteenth-century engraving faces such as Copperplate Gothic, which were popular for business card and corporate stationery printing. The design was initially issued in small print sizes to allow this use.[2]
Who knows when this first started showing up on film and television? The earliest back I can remember is the poster for the 1997 sci-fi/horror flick Event Horizon