Dr. Jones! What's that Typeface?
Sunday June 22, 2008
I was happy to see the new Indiana Jones movie brought back the classic "plane flying over a map" sequence seen in previous Indy flicks. Mark Simonson took font research to a whole new level when he studied the typefaces on the maps from each film, and discovered that not one of the 4 movies actually used fonts on the map that existed when the films take place. Some use fonts with characteristics of the era, others are way off. Fun to read and impressive findings, but even as a graphic designer this can't take away my love for the "Jones" series.
Comments
Interesting article. I wonder what the author would deem an appropriate font for the maps?
I liked MS’s post on the map faces, and I tend to agree, Helvetica and Avant Garde (Century Gothic) weren’t the best choices. I would have liked to see something more Oldstyle (serif). I wasn’t keen on the Eurostile face they used in the opening credits, either:
Indiana Jones 4 Opening Credits
Just seemed like an odd choice.