Typophile

spartan

becker513

anyone know of a version of spartan that looks like this digitally? all the versions i have or can find are not this nice. Like futura without that disgusting question mark.

http://cgi.ebay.com/SPARTAN-MEDIUM-SUPER-60-pt-LETTERPRESS-Type_
W0QQitemZ290016086090QQihZ019QQcategoryZ109691QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Hi Dan

Well there is Linotype Spartan LT, which has what you might call a regular question mark, like the one in the sample on ebay.

You might also have a look at Neuzeit Grotesk Light.

There again it depends on what you mean by 'nice'; as it says in the full font name for Spartan this is a face designed for classified advertising at about 5pt. In other words its a bit like Bell Gothic in terms of its initial design function. Consequently all of the Spartan letterforms look really distorted when compared to the Futura model it was taken from.

You could look at R. H. Middleton's Ludlow Tempo or Gerald Giampa's revival of Lanston Monotype Twentieth Century.

IMHO, the idiosyncracy of the question mark in Futura is a small price to pay for the correct proportions of the rest of the face... especially in the capitals.

If you think the question mark is that bad you could always have a go at drawing your own.

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