Reviews

Never Use Futura by Douglas Thomas

anscha3000's review

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funny informative lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

4.0

elnatnal's review

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5.0

Very nice, quick dive into the history of Futura. Inspiring to read about, and getting excited about typography again. This book really highlights how much influence and presence that a set of specific alphabetic shapes can pervade everyday life.

missamandamae's review against another edition

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5.0

I’ve been anxiously awaiting the publication of this book for the past year. I’m not an educated graphic designer - but I gained some interest in fonts and design from working on my high school literary magazine. And Doug’s book help bring that nostalgia into my life again by detailing the history of a font with historical topics I’ve already found fascinating — such as Nazi Germany and the early NASA program (now I know that my love of the Apollo program also has some association with NASA’s use of Futura in their publications and labels). There’s bound to be a connection to Futura that will get you hooked on the topic.

It’s a quick read, clear and entertaining, and very satisfying to flip through as well. This history buff got a kick out of it.

elizabethaknee's review

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adventurous informative lighthearted fast-paced

4.75

annoyedhumanoid's review

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informative reflective fast-paced

2.5

as someone with an amateur passion for typography, the technical details went over my head while the universal takeaways for each chapter were pretty dull—basically nine variations on “Futura is timeless”. this is so insulting to the author and i’m sorry but i think it would have worked better as a coffee table book with just the images collecting the diverse uses of Futura and its cousins

mariawie's review against another edition

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5.0

Ciekawa lektura nie tylko dla „typograficznych snobów” - opowieść o kroju pisma prowadzi nas bowiem przez świat kultury masowej, wraz z jego językiem, schematami itd. Choćby rozdział o zastosowaniu krojów pisma w kampaniach politycznych wciąga nie tylko ze względu na opisane niuanse liternicze, ale też powiązania znaczeniowe. Historia futury jest pasjonująca - jak się okazuje, krój pisma również potrafi mieć bogate i fascynujące życie!

Książka jest oczywiście znakomicie wydana - czego naturalnie można się spodziewać po wydawnictwie Karakter, ale tym razem przeszli samych siebie. Spójny klucz kolorystyczny, znakomite łamanie - to jedna z tych publikacji, które po prostu się chłonie - ułożenie podpisów, zdjęć, tekstu - miodzio! Można się zakochać w zastosowanej czerwieni i turkusie. Wszystko tworzy spójną całość, która cieszy oczy.
Książka z tych, które nie tylko warto przeczytać, ale również trzymać na półce i do niej wracać.

kaypat23's review

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2.0

Suitable for people who love fonts. Kind of information heavy for a beginner like me so I simply skimmed through. There is a lot of in-depth, insider knowledge that a typography nerd might enjoy better. Regardless, I liked learning about how ubiquitous futura font has gotten throughout our past, present and future.

tucked_snuggly's review

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informative fast-paced

4.0

karenliu's review against another edition

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5.0

For the uninitiated typography dilettante, this book is mind blowing! Thanks to Thomas, the connections from past to present for all typefaces related to Futura are clear to me now. Several times I found myself exclaiming out loud, "no way, THAT'S Futura TOO?!" The accompanying graphics in color really help pull the whole story together too. Loved it.

sorrycalamari's review

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informative medium-paced