Movie Poster Credits Font Debunked
For something that’s so iconic, the elusive ‘Movie Poster Credits Font’ has been a pain in the backside for a lot of graphic designers — it’s just not easy to find. I managed to get to the bottom of it when I had a look at 1950s Horror Film posters and I present you with the answer today.
It’s Univers Light Ultra-Condensed!
That’s right! Find that font if you want to create authentic bottom screen credits. You can pick the family individually at Linotype. Collect em’ all!
Michael Bay shows he has an eye for type but that's about it
Univers was developed in 1957 by Adrian Frutiger at Deberny & Peignot. The Light Ultra-Condensed is just a small part of a considerable Univers family that has over 44 faces.
Fruitger’s numbering system
Interestingly, Univers, like other famous typefaces Helvetica Neue and Frutiger, among others, adopted Frutigers own numbering system. Though the movie credit font in question might occasionally be called Light Ultra-Condensed, it’s actually Universe 59, with the 5 standing for light and 9 for ultra-condensed.
All the elements in the Univers
Unfortunately the bright idea from Frutiger eventually wrote its own death warrant by just not working as everyone had hoped. As you can’t have a Univers 79, or Black Condensed, the whole thing just got confusing.
If you’re interested in the history of type families, head over to this article at Typotheque.
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