Gotham (typeface)
Gotham is a geometric sans-serif typeface family designed in 2000 by Tobias Frere-Jones with Jesse Ragan and released in 2002. It was commissioned by GQ magazine to display a sans-serif with a 'geometric structure' that would look 'masculine, new, and fresh'. Its letterforms were inspired by examples of architectural signs of the mid-twentieth century, especially the sign on the Eighth Avenue façade of the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Frere-Jones based the font on lettering seen in older Manhattan buildings, and characterised the simplification as 'not the kind of letter a type designer would make. It's the kind of letter an engineer would make.' The letterforms Gotham was based on were geometric yet did not look like Futura; their widths were more uniform and less classical, bowls were larger. Reviews of Gotham focus on its identity as something both American and specific to New York City.
