i forgot to add that the documentary is national geographic type...

I’ve been a designer for twenty years, for what that’s worth. As I read your description, I pictured a Medium to Bold sans serif (my opinion is that serifs are too friendly, for the most part) with a black to white (or light gray) gradient north to south. All caps. Something simple that communicates.

You can experiment with condensed fonts, like Compacta or Futura Ex Bold Condensed, or lean more contemporary like Scala Sans or Meta Black.

Hope this gets you thinking and maybe you can come up with your own idea.

If this is the logo for a documentary why do you say that it can’t be a display type? Seems like that would be a good place for a display type.

I’m sitting here next to a poster of ITC/Fontek typefaces, which may not be the freshest designs, but they are old enough to start being new to some people, perhaps. My first candidates I would test out are ITC Atmosphere, ITC Arid, ITC Riptide, Lino Cut, ITC Schizoid and ITC Kendo. To me all of these might fit the notion of something drying up, and almost vanishing in some cases. Some are coarser and more literal than others, and I think there are other potential fonts in just the ITC/Fontek collection.

- Mike Yanega

rickruss and mike, thanks a lot for your help!!
i’m coming up with good ideas!

thanks a lot!!!!