Futura PT Font has emerged as the definitive 20th century Geometric Sans serif style. Dating back 25 centuries, when Cretans wrote Greek capitals onto Gortyn Code stone tablets during Pythagoras period and Roman Imperialists wrote on them for Scipio’s tomb; later classical revivalist architects in 18th century London used Geometric sanserif as a model and it later served as the initial sanserif typeface used by Caslon typeface in 1817; some aspects were even preserved after Gothics became popular due to Vincent Figgins efforts of maintaining specific elements from Geometric sanserif style.
Paul Renner was inspired by Bauhaus explorations of geometric design as well as Ludwig & Mayer typeface Erbar in 1927 when he sketched a set of Bauhaus designs that were later employed by Bauer design office to produce Sanserifs made up of equal weight circles and isosceles triangular shapes, like Erbar and Universal Alphabet and Erbar typographic designs – Futura being one of them – making a major impression during mid-20th Century fashion trends.
Futura serves as an amusing reminder that, despite its widespread usage, it remains one of the few typefaces to have been legally registered as copyrighted as art. Due to Bauer Letter Design Office’s crucial function, ownership resides solely with Renner and his successors.
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