Today, April 27, is World Design Day, formerly known as World Graphics Day. It celebrates graphic design, the art of making text and images look cool. The world would be pretty boring if every piece of text was in Times New Roman, and luckily automotive fonts have not disappointed. The typefaces used in badges, decals, and brochures are among the most evocative ever created. The very best can generate emotion just by looking at the word.
Which Japanese car had the best font?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “If you could be a car designer, which company would you work for and what would you do?“.
There were two companies that were selected above all others. We’re not sure if that means readers love them most, or believe they need the most help.
It was close, but the company with the most competition for its top position was Nissan. However, those who picked Nissan also had very different visions. Daniel picked it for the challenge. Franxou wanted to remake the Nissan Cube. Mazluce wanted to revive the Pulsar GTi-R as a means to return to WRC and added a new Silvia as a bonus. Negishi no Keibajo picked Isuzu for new VehiCross but also to possibly use it as a collab with Nissan. And Yuri chose Nissan or Toyota because they seem like enthusiast-driven companies. Keith chose either Nissan or Honda, which brings us to…
Honda, also picked for a multitude of reasons. Henrique hopes to create a rolling work of art that’s based in heritage and not generic. dankan wanted to choose Honda but pivoted to Mazda for a chance to design the last mass-produced ICE sports car.
And the winner this week is Alan, who has a soft spot for the fourth-gen Civic.
I’d work for Honda and reference their late 80’s early 90’s design language.
The shapes defined by the fourth-gen Civic line in particular are what I have in mind; rational, functional, practical, cohesive, aerodynamically efficient, modern, unadorned but characterful and instantly recognizable as Honda. Friendly, optimistic, honest, thoughtful design – Dieter Rams with a sense of humor and lightness.
Would there be a market for these cars? Probably, nostalgia for the era is very much part of the 2020s zeitgeist, and we’re already seeing a rebellion from the kind of neo-techy-baroque excesses of the 20-teens as exemplified by the 10th-gen Civic, especially with EVs, albeit in a more self-consciously futuristic way than what I have in mind.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
The font used on early Infiniti cars was very classy. The “Q” in the “Q45 looks extremely calm, with that tail extending farther out then your typical “Q.” The speedometer and odometer continue the font theme, and really ups the sophistication the longer you stare at it. I personally think that detail is timeless and still carries an aura of elegance.
MR2 font. I just think it was so cool and i harken back to during the dawn the internet and during my college years writing term papers, I remember looking for it on Microsoft Windows and it was found eventually. Nowadays it’s called Avenir 95 Black.
It’s the font used in the MKI on the rear trunk lid and the frunk (repeating MR2) decal as well.
It’s so 80s! So cool!
Personally, I love the Supra logo, whatever font that is. Same with the Kawasaki Ninja font.
I love the cursive script of the first gen celica badge. Situated under the dragon badge, it exemplified the flow and beauty of the car. Unfortunately, it didnt last long enough and was replaced by the block letter font which I feel is the complete opposite of what the car was supposed to be.
I always loved the font Mazda used for Autozam, it’s so spectacularly of its time
It’s rad. Always looked 1930s Art Deco/Streamline Moderne inspired to me, which is super late 80’s in its own way.
Joe Isuzu, aka David Leisure. “He’s Lying”
https://alchetron.com/cdn/joe-isuzu-8dc8bf61-8062-4123-a682-70e8b979104-resize-750.jpeg
I had to think about this a lot being that we are limiting to just the best front. I think it really comes down to the category of car. So much about the look has to connect with the vehicle’s purpose. I tried to limit to a few globally popular categories:
Sports Car: Nissan C10 Skyline
Off-Road: Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser
Luxury Car: Toyota G50 Century
Minivan: Toyota XR10/XR20
Truck: Dream Factory Blow’s High Rider Pickup
Honorable mention goes to the 5th gen Subaru Sambar truck for being so iconic.
Overall, I was surprised by how many times Toyota came to my mind first given how often they are looked at as being boring.
Ugh, my eyes. As soon as I clicked, I realized the topic was FONTS not front. Haha. Well, hopefully my ineptitude entertains someone!