The typesetting of 2001: a Space Odyssey

[3Dsf]

OK. Not sure if this is the best location, but it doesn't really fit any of them. And this information is important to anyone making a prop replica from this film.

Basically I've spent some time researching the majority of the different fonts used in the film 2001: a Space Odyssey. And here's my writeup:

The Age of Plastic - The typography of 2001

The typefaces used in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: a Space Odyssey have garnered a lot of interest over the years. The visual look of the film has been highly influential in its portrayal of what the future would look like, and the fonts were an integral part of that look.

sites.google.com

 

[ZeroSum]

Love a good font deep dive.

 

[SSR]

Great in depth look at 2001's graphics.
I noticed in a writeup on the site specific to the HAL 9000 face plate that Airfix likely made the decals that were used on the face plate !

 

[3Dsf]

I noticed in a writeup on the site specific to the HAL 9000 face plate that Airfix likely made the decals that were used on the face plate

That's been presented by another researcher; yes. It seems quite reasonable, though I haven't found any evidence confirming it.

 

[TDahl]

This is an amazingly deep dive! Very interesting to read, thank you for creating and publishing it.

 

[alensatemybuick]

Fascinating read; thanks for sharing your research.

 

[joberg]

Great research once again Neil; a must for anyone trying to reproduce models/props and others from the movie

 

[alensatemybuick]

On that topic, 3Dsf, did you ever offer replicas of the “brain room” sign? I thought
I may have recalled so. I saw some offered on Etsy, first thought they were yours before realizing the HAL9000 font was off (not meaning to criticize anyone’s work, it’s just something that stood out to my eye).

Great research once again Neil; a must for anyone trying to reproduce models/props and others from the movie

 

[3Dsf]

Great research once again Neil; a must for anyone trying to reproduce models/props and others from the movie

Now you can redo your 2001 meal tray with the correct typefaces.

 

[3Dsf]

On that topic, 3Dsf, did you ever offer replicas of the “brain room” sign? I thought
I may have recalled so. I saw some offered on Etsy, first thought they were yours before realizing the HAL9000 font was off (not meaning to criticize anyone’s work, it’s just something that stood out to my eye).

I produced a replica brain room sign for the Kubrick Exhibition, and went through several test iterations before I got one that was mostly correct. I sold most of those test signs here on the RPF, and some of them had a wrong HAL 9000 logo because they were created before I tracked down the right font. I have a couple left, actually, and both have the wrong logo.

I bet the ones being sold elsewhere just copied the HAL logo designed by Amadeus Prokopiak and posted here. He did some stellar research, though he hadn't figured out the HAL typeface and created a slightly incorrect logo.

The usual problem is that the numerals are oval in shape, rather than ovoids (stretched squircles, if you will).

 

[joberg]

Now you can redo your 2001 meal tray with the correct typefaces.

Which meal tray? The blue one, or the Discovery one?

 

[3Dsf]

Which meal tray? The blue one, or the Discovery one?

Didn’t you do an Aries one? The liquipaks, not the goopy stuff seen on the Discovery.

 

[joberg]

Didn’t you do an Aries one? The liquipaks, not the goopy stuff seen on the Discovery.

I did both:

 

[3Dsf]

Perfect! So there you go!

 

[3Dsf]

Minor update to the page - added typeface examples and some other material.

 

[3Dsf]

I had my eyes tested last week. This required me to stick my head into this box and stare at the red light.

I guess designers of optometrists' equipment aren't entirely free of a sense of humour.

 

[joberg]

I had my eyes tested last week. This required me to stick my head into this box and stare at the red light.

I guess designers of optometrists' equipment aren't entirely free of a sense of humour.

View attachment 1934177

Oh yeah; peripheral vision test (I do one every two years)...You're right about the logo