What font should Ship Names use?
(could a mod please make this a poll?)
We might be a bit late on this one - with Beta upon us, but good design uses good fonts.
If you doubt this, you might like to browse a site entirely devoted to the use of Fonts in science fiction films.
https://typesetinthefuture.com/
My Sig uses a font called Eurostile Bold Extended, and it features in movies like Moon and 2001.
There's something about the wide square fonts that says: "you're in the future pal".
Other considerations are that we have only 22 characters and a limited amount of space.
The more characters you use, the smaller your Ship Name will appear.
The limited amount of space means that wide fonts like Eurostile will end up not having enough height to be impressive.
Anyway - here's a selection of Fonts and I'm keen to hear your font suggestions. (could a mod please make this a poll?)
1)
Arial.
http://i.imgur.com/qZnIAvU.jpg
Meh - this is the default modern font. If you want to look current and professional you use arial.
2)
Arial Rounded.
http://i.imgur.com/SimljXr.jpg
I'm pretty sure this is what we ended up with in the cockpit. Not sure why that happened, and it's been a big put-off for me personally. It's like Comic Sans - you might use it to take the edge off a passive aggressive note about dish washing in the staff kitchen, but I'd rather have my tongue hammered flat and nailed to the floor with a croquet hoop than use it on my ship.
3)
Browning
http://i.imgur.com/7CrBN4j.jpg
Not going to win any friends in the Empire with this one. This gutsy, utilitarian, militaristic, ALL-CAPS font says "We are here to work and kill". The particular version here is kerned a bit tight for my liking, but I use this one heaps. A nice tall font, this will still be legible when you are using all 22 characters.
4)
Copperplate Gothic Bold
http://i.imgur.com/ZMfrW4r.jpg
This is included with your MS OS and is an underrated ALL-CAPS serif font. The serifs add a nice little touch that should appeal to our Empire CMDRs. The solidity of it's width speaks of the future in the same way that Eurostile does. Another personal favorite, I whack this on letterheads to say "professional technology"
5)
Eras Bold ITC
http://i.imgur.com/AY3V6Qc.jpg
A humanist font from the seventies, this font is both rock solid and lightly italicised giving an impression of speed and power. Underrated, underused, but pretty cool. I'm not expecting a lot of votes here, but worth serious consideration.
6)
Eurostyle Bold
http://i.imgur.com/rtZG5tb.jpg
This is THE font of the future. Okay the licensing on the real Eurostile Bold Extended is a bit pricey for my personal wallet, so what you see is as close as I can get, but NOTHING says 'future' like Eurostile Bold. Used in Moon, 2001, my sig, anywhere you need a passing glance to read "It's the future, baby" use Eurostile. The main counter to it is that it's kinda wide. So it's going to end up smallish with all 22 characters. I've already had to bump it a point size down to fit.
7)
Impact
http://i.imgur.com/92ZQw7d.jpg
This works best at large font sizes and is often used for headlines. A very tall font you'll get good height at 22 characters. I stopped using it a few years ago - I think it's kerned too tight for my taste. I've bumped the point size up a couple here already.
7)
Interpalentary Cr@p
http://i.imgur.com/6FyXWQA.jpg
Love this font. The name is less than enticing, but it has the raw utilitarian stylings of Browning but with added lowercase and some built in wear and tear. The other one in this style is CRASS (after the band), but I can't count the number of times I've needed something to look quickly made and well used. It's tall so will give value for money at 22 chars.
8)
Keypunch
http://i.imgur.com/bu0ovt2.jpg
Nothing screams SEVENTIES more than this font. Space Disco, Six Million Dollar Man, silver platform boots, this horrible font would be perfect for a Clipper.
8)
OCR A Extended
http://i.imgur.com/sACgk5M.jpg
At one time in the olden days Optical Character Recognition was so hard that special fonts were developed for it. This still comes with Windows and I love it for it's "I'm at a compter terminal" vibe. Best in green.
9)
Octin Spraypaint Free
http://i.imgur.com/hq2N3hn.jpg
Vive La Revolution! Perfect for that stolen ship vibe, you could do a lot worse than have Rossinante stencilled down the side of your gunship in Octin Spraypaint Free. "Remember the Cant!"
10)
Space Dock Stencil
http://i.imgur.com/UuzK07e.jpg
Oh My God! How cool is this font? Asteroid base 27/b - Here we are. Wide square and futuristic like a Eurostile stencil, this all-caps font works best on short punchy words. MED BAY. RADIATION HAZARD. Again - so wide I've had to bump down a point size to fit.
11)
Stencil-A
http://i.imgur.com/c3x1uSO.jpg
You can tell I love stencil fonts for outer space can't you. This one is more an example of what can go wrong. Although it looks solid and clean compared to Interplanetary Cr@p there's something not right about this font and that is its HEIGHT. Too short for a headline, and not square enough to read "future" this one is actually pretty good for a slab of text.
12)
Other - Your Font Here.
There's plenty I've missed or left out deliberately.
Tattoo fonts and heavy metal fonts might be cool but a bit too niche to get rolled out. But please make a case if there's something you want to see.
![[VR] Goooost](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/111/111637.jpg?1589354934){kind=avatar}
