My Typography Font - Gotham - Micaela Alcaino

(Sorry I didn't realise i had to post this after printing and handing it in) 

Gotham HTF is a clean and attractive font that has been used primarily for advertisements and signage. The boldness of the letters are great to attract the eye and catch the attention of the viewer. The font it brings a new, fresh and confident aesthetic and with its wide range of weights and italics the font is able to bring an array of 66 styles offering a diverse collection of voices into the Gotham HTF family. Just to name a few, Gotham HTF gives the user the ability to choose from condensed, thin, narrow, medium, book, bold, ultra black and italic options. Its elasticity and flexibility to changes in size and spacing makes Gotham HTF incredibly agreeable to use for large and small print.

Tobias Frere-Jones, a typeface designer based in New York Manhattan, created Gotham HTF in 2002. Mostly know for his earlier design of the Interstate typeface, Gotham HTF had been created and commissioned by the GQ Magazine for its logo, wanting the logo to look “masculine, new, and fresh" for the magazine’s readers. The Hoefler Type Foundary (HTF) then released it into the public and since then, Gotham HTF has been grabbed up by large companies such as Coca Cola, Starbucks, Tribeca Film Festival, Yahoo, and best known for its large role in the campaign material for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. In collaboration Frere-Jones and HTF have had a honorable history in working together to design typefaces for Grand Central Terminal, Lever House, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum, the Wall Street Journal, and Radio City Music Hall, among others.

Although it is quite a new font, and it has resemblance to past fonts such as Futura, which originated from the style of the 1920’s era of sans serif. Frere-Jones had stated that his inspiration of the font was from his love of his city, and the post war building signage in New York City. He intergrates two themes together in Gotham HTF, working class letterforms and the typographic heritage of the city. Being a native New Yorker he aimed to preserve its character and history winthin the font, “I suppose there’s a hidden personal agenda in the design, to preserve those pieces of New York that could be wiped out before they’re appreciated. Having grown up here, I was always fond of the ‘old’ (or just older) New York and its lettering. After watching one of the most distinctive features of the city being destroyed last fall, it seemed more urgent to protect the original ‘character’ of the city, both in the sense of letters and personality. After collecting material for Gotham HTF, I set myself the task of walking every last block of Manhattan with a camera, and recording anything extant and noteworthy.” (Frere-Jones, 2002)

On a personal level I hole Gotham HTF HTF dear to my heart. In being based primarily in doing graphics and posters for fesitvals, concerts and events, Gotham HTF has provided me with a collection of styles to work with, that are clean, easy to ready, yet filled with character and an alluringness to seek our attention. Gotham HTF is a font that will undoubtedly transcend time and will be used continuously in the years to come for many different projects and campaigns.