![60s fonts mid century modern 60s fonts mid century modern](https://littlegoldpixel.com/wp-content/uploads/littlegoldpixel_mcmfonts_thriftage.jpg)
I think of Ultra Bodoni, Craw Modern, Carousel, and Pistilli Roman - curvaceous sirens whose extreme stroke contrast (the difference between thick and thin strokes) and big ball terminals attracted viewers to advertising, logos, record covers, and magazines. I think of the rich sparkle generated by serif text type like Caledonia and Century Expanded.
![60s fonts mid century modern 60s fonts mid century modern](https://cdn.dribbble.com/users/1677309/screenshots/3957004/media/6bf87c591f9bb873855026e7e5eb3064.png)
When I think of the sculptural teak of a Juhl or Wegner armchair, or the fluidity of Saarinen’s Tulip chair, or the organic curves of the Eames’ bent ply, I think of warmer stuff. Mid century typeface: Century Expanded and the sculptural serif To me, they represent the colder, clinical, machine-made side of modernism. But Futura, Helvetica, Univers, and Eurostile were by no means the only typefaces favoured by mid-century designers. Geometric and uniform sans serifs are indeed typographic symbols of modernism.
![60s fonts mid century modern 60s fonts mid century modern](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/35/d2/8c/35d28cc4681b8635762bfde3ceb8052f.jpg)
What made the ad so striking (besides the spare photography and Julian Koenig’s clever copy) were the short paragraphs punctuated by single-word lines, all set in a typeface rarely used for text: Futura. Designer Helmut Krone used a traditional ad layout: two-thirds image, one-third copy, with a headline between them. The credit for sparking this shift could go to Doyle Dane Bernbach, whose “Think Small” ad for Volkswagen turned heads in 1959. Mid century typeface: Futura and the clinical side of modernism The short, bold, sans-serif statement was a stark reaction to the hand-rendered script lettering and long-winded copy that cluttered print advertising of previous decades. McKann Erickson’s campaign exemplifies a 1960s revolution of clean, modernist typography. In the documentary film, Helvetica, graphic designer Michael Bierut sums up the mid-century modernisation of graphic design by describing a single Coke ad from 1969. Desk calendar using Futura Black, photograph courtesy of H is for Homeį Mid century typeface: Helvetica and the cold sans serif