The future is here. Like it or not, the sands of time are perpetually shifting, and design patterns are in continual flux. Paradoxically, there is always a need to signal how the future, which is unknown, looks now. Therefore, a typeface for the future must symbolize it in contemporary time and space and allow the reader to simultaneously imagine what is next.
This is the same paradox that science fiction writers and filmmakers grapple with: how to conceive what’s future or futuristic with vernacular from the past and present. So, to satisfy this need, I suggest playing with the variegated weights and “fills” of Arne Freytag’s Cubo family – modular, modern, and mono. It is today’s type that anticipates tomorrow.
Cubo is noteworthy for its simple character design and typographical complexity. It is “a constructed sans serif based on a square basic form,” notes Freytag. And it is a face for anyone who favors tightly gridded design, imposed limitations, and has Rubrick’s instinct for playing with squares. At the same time, instinct and invention are welcome.
Cubo’s linear “fills” allow the designer/typographer surprisingly versatile options for creating many customized letters. Mixing and matching is key to Cubo’s charm. Bold and light versions beg to be balanced and juxtaposed with ease, resulting in abstract shapes that are unambiguously readable. While some of the individual letters, like the W, H, M, and C, have typically modular simplicity, others, including R, N, K, and W, are more rectilinearly jagged and exude an expressive character-personality.
Freytag suggests that Cubo is best suited for logos and seeing its ingenious quality in situ bears this out. But there are many other media, including books, records, and posters, that will benefit. Whether with or without the “fills,” this geometric typeface promises dynamic experimental outcomes. However, for me, the font’s greatest asset is the premise that Cubo is the future – here and now – no doubt about it.
| Font of the Month: Cubo | |
|---|---|
| Designer: Arne Freytag |
Foundry: Fontador |
Steven Heller is nothing short of a legend in the design community. Award-winning graphic designer, author and editor of hundreds of books (yes, 100s!) and one of the world’s foremost authorities on graphic design history; and arguably its best design commentator. Follow Steven on the must-read The Daily Heller and read his latest book, Growing Up Underground: A Memoir of Counterculture New York.
