I’ve been using the terms ultramodern and hypermodern to define typefaces, but I don’t believe there is agreement on how they should be used. I was hoping to get some feedback on these terms and the typefaces that fit under them. The term “techno” is frequently used as a catch-all, but I believe it’s too broad.
The adjective “modern” is ineffective when applied to typefaces in this way since it is not synonymous with "modern" in other types of design. Futura’s forms align with modern the way the term is used in architecture, but modern fonts are Bodoni/Didot. We usually categorize Futura as a geometric-sans, or geometric-grotesque. I'm not sure if that's a retronym for Futura because I never heard the term until the early 2000s. How was it classified before?
Ultramodern typefaces usually have less focus on pure circle forms and often use consumer electronics themes shapes to emphasize a more industrial structure. Industrial stovepipe typeface existed before Microgramma/Eurostile but there was always a traditional flavor, Bank Gothic being a notable example. I'll try to keep out of the weeds here because I discussed it in another post. Eurostile had superelliptical shapes resembling contemporary high-tech devices: the cathode ray tube. It appeared to be intended to minimize the impression of a pen stroke. Eurostile’s design avoided classical typeface forms to portray the sensation of high technology. In the 1970s there was E+F Digital Sans, Handel Gothic, and Earth which took the Eurostile idea and simplified it further while placing more emphasis on modularity. One particularly stark example is the old Namco logo. In these examples, the industrial shapes convey a sense of precision while appearing to be functional.
A hypermodern typeface takes the ultramodern style and loops it back into something that draws attention to its own high-tech nature. It’s post-modern maximalism; ultramodern shapes amplified in a computerized kaleidoscope to make them more exciting, more interesting to add maximum emphasis to technological aesthetic. Letterforms become distorted to further distance them from classical letterforms. Modularity is exaggerated to further dehumanize, suggesting some unknown electromechanical system or alien technical requirement. There may be notches, chopped corners and unusual stencil struts to create the impression of panels or unfamiliar technical constraints. They can be curvy like Cyberotica, but inorganic, communicating a sense of complete artificiality. The earliest hypermodern example I know is Westminster (Data ’70, Moore Computer) which was based on magnetic ink machine readable numerals developed in the 1950s. This concept was pushed to the limits of legibility in the 1990s by The Designers Republic. One of my favorite examples is the title for the original Wipeout game on PlayStation in 1995. They subverted the idea of LCD digits being comprised of an 8 with missing segments by using a Eurostile 8 and chopping it up to produce letters. Here's a recent hypermodern typeface I made.
Hypermodern typefaces usually fall under the terms “decorative” or “sans serif”. I think we can consider this style as established—it has been around for over half a century. I think one of the reasons these typeface designs are not taken seriously is that designers have relegated them to science fiction roles. I’ve seen layouts from the 1960s where Westminster was juxtaposed with mod fashion and Data ’70 paired with psychedelia and jazz. Now they’re mostly used for EDM or videogames involving robots and spaceships. What are your thoughts? Do you think these terms fit?
Comments
This post could be expanded into something longer and with more examples to start a larger dialogue. If you write something you could ask John Boardly to post it on I Love Typography.
Regarding the geometric-sans classification of Futura, in Meggs & Carter’s Type Specimens: The Great Typefaces (1993) they refer to Futura as “sans-serif.” Gray calls it “modern face” in A History of Lettering (1986). I didn’t see a classification in Kapr or Nesbitt (which I admittedly only skimmed). Christopher Burke wrote a biography of Paul Renner, so he might know. Paul Shaw would also be a good person to ask.
Here I'm thinking of "Geometric" specifically as a category name—it had been used as a descriptive adjective for Futura countless times earlier, of course.
To be honest your description of hypermodernist forms (looped back, self-conscious, remixed) sounds like postmodernism to me, but I know that term is even more fraught and confusing. There's a little bit of grunge aesthetic that also might name the difference between Namco and Wipeout.
How about "straight techno" and "alienated techno"?
Korrupt is fantastic BTW!
I believe ultramodern is already a name for a typeface category, but it may not be widely used. I've been using it for so long that I've forgotten where I first heard it. There is a link in my mind between hypermodern and hyperpop. Hyperpop (RIP SOPHIE) is maximalist, bombastic, and a self-referential reinterpretation of synthpop and similar genres. It takes something synthetic and pushes it the limit in order to make it more intriguing. I believe that some form of the term techno could match what I characterized as hypermodern, but not what I described as ultramodern. It places typefaces like Conthrax or Eurostile in the sci-fi category, in my opinion. They certainly fulfill those functions well, but they're more versatile than that. If you're concerned about variations of the term modern becoming dated, know that this can also happen with techno. The technopop music genre has been around for 45 years, and the aesthetics of technology alter with time—future technology may resemble art nouveau forms and what we call techno will seem antiquated. However, techno may be appropriate. I admit I’m biased toward the term hypermodern because of the hyperpop connection and the “hyper” suggests that these fonts are pushing the limits of legibility, which they are and I think it sounds cool.
Theo Ballmer’s lettering of 1928 would have been at home in the 1960s (in a Ken Garland poster) or a rave flyer from the 1990s.
Anything that mentions “modern” has a lot of redundancy.
How about involving the phenotypic term “orthogonal”? —meaning that there is a preponderance of vertical and horizontal strokes, eschewing the diagonal.
https://www.terminaldesign.com/fonts/slooterdam/
Would it Hyper, Ultra, or something else?