Typefaces from Hollywood’s heyday, for the most part, are stylized and
decorative. They include condensed sans-serif and serif forms with a
great deal of stroke contrast and abrupt junctures, as well as a host of
script faces that are elegant and highly refined—the kind of typefaces
commonly used for film posters and advertising. Many of these faces
are holdovers from Deco and Moderne, with a streamlined quality that
carries some aspects of the Machine Age forward and evolves them into
less austere forms with greater character and panache. Geometric sans
serifs give way to more humanistic versions that incorporate serif details
in the lowercase, as in Franklin Gothic. Gothic/serif hybrids, such as
Copperplate—uniform-weight, all-capital sans serifs with truncated,
almost vestigial, serifs—are also common, especially in the context of
industry and municipal design work.
The glamour and style of the film industry’s golden era—embodied
in the films of Fairbanks, Garbo, and Astaire—are complemented and
countered by the harsh realities of the Great Depression and World
Wars. In type and color, a range of elegant and drab aspects comes
together to encapsulate this contradictory time.
Print Collateral
top, and detail, bottom
Studio Flux (Now ODO)
John Moes, Holly Robbins
Minneapolis USA
Hollywood
Heyday
Time
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Context
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(Provision) Type Style Finder
CL905.042 / 4237
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