History Main / FontAnachronism

* Some works feature the usage of lowercase letterforms when they did not exist yet. [[note]] Charlemagne created Carolingian minuscules circa 771 AD. Lowercase letters came after around the 15th century. A period piece that takes place before these times and uses lowercase letters unwittingly triggers this trope. [[/note]]

* The ''VideoGame/BioShock'' games set in Rapture use Century Gothic extensively, including in the logos. True, it was based on the typeface [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twentieth_Century_%28typeface%29 Twentieth Century]], which was around by the 1940s, but there are modern implementations of that, so why not just use it? (Or Futura, which is a more accurate approximation and was also around by then.) [[WildMassGuessing Maybe some enterprising designer who moved to Rapture]] [[AllohistoricalAllusion happened to invent a font that looked just like it?]]

See also UsefulNotes/{{Fonts}}, and for fun, [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13130508860A84663800&page=1 Kinetic Type]].

* ''Film/TheGoodShepherd'' has a scene where, when Matt Damon steals a brief case and reads a memo listing the Nazi party members - the title of the memo is set in Arial which wasn't available as a font until 1982. Furthermore, the memo looks laser copied rather than typed. The fact that this is a closeup view makes this a rather obvious mistake.

* In the series ''[[Series/DavincisDemons DaVinci's Demons]]'' a glaring example is on a building. It is the trope image above. The well-known typeface Gotham (used in countless modern ventures) is seen on a Renaissance building. Gotham was invented in 2002. That's a difference of nearly 500 years!

* ''The Good Shepherd'' has a scene where, when Matt Damon steals a brief case and reads a memo listing the Nazi party members - the title of the memo is set in Arial which wasn't available as a font until 1982. Furthermore, the memo looks laser copied rather than typed. The fact that this is a closeup view makes this a rather obvious mistake.

* ''Film/{{Titanic}}'' features Helvetica on some of the gauges on the ship. Titanic takes place in 1912. Helvetica is invented 45 years later.

This leads to designers becoming highly annoyed, although others who aren't attuned to the differences in similar typefaces don't particularly notice. Or care. Even medieval, pre-print manuscripts with modern letters will probably go unnoticed by most, because we are so used to seeing neat, standardized lettering in books.

* Comics from TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks that are featured in works may use Comic Sans as text in word balloons although it wasn't invented until 1994. These books typically used hand-lettering.[[note]]And still typically do, because Comic Sans is hideous. There are "hand-lettering" fonts that are much better, though.[[/note]]

"If you make a period piece, you shouldn't use a font from the Futura! I mean, what the Helvetica were they thinking? Arial typographer would never allow this to happen! I ought to slug these movie makers for the Myriad of ways they have failed."

* Some works feature the usage of lowercase letterforms when they did not exist yet. [[note]] Charlemagne created Carolingian minuscules circa 771 AD. Lowercase letters came after around the 15th century. A period piece that takes place before these times and uses lowercase letters unwittingly triggers this trope. [[/note]]
* Comics from TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks that are featured in works may use Comic Sans as text in word balloons although it wasn't invented until 1994. These books typically used hand-lettering.[[note]]And still typically do, because Comic Sans is hideous. There are "hand-lettering" fonts that are much better, though.[[/note]]

* In the series ''[[Series/DavincisDemons DaVinci's Demons]]'' a glaring example is on a building. It is the trope image above. The well-known typeface, Gotham (used in countless modern ventures) is seen on a Renaissance building. Gotham was invented in 2002. That's a difference of nearly 500 years!

* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'', the typeface on the intel collectible does not appear to be written on a typewriter or a basic word processor; the font is much more advanced than its time. This is but one tick mark in a [[http://callofduty.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:CoD_addict/Anachronisms_in_Call_of_Duty:_Black_Ops long, long list of glaring anachronisms in the game.]]

Keep in mind, however, that some movie-makers purposefully use anachronistic type; a modern incarnation of an old-style typeface can evoke a particular time-period while still engaging the audience. Also, an evocative type treatment can avoid a movie looking dated rather than a tasteful period piece.

This leads to designers becoming highly annoyed, although others who aren't attuned to the differences in similar typefaces don't particularly notice. Or care.

* Comics from TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks that are featured in works may use Comic Sans as text in word balloons although it wasn't invented in until 1994. These books typically used hand-lettering.

* ''Film/{{Titanic}}'' features Helvetica on some of the gauges on the ship. Titanic takes play in 1912. Helvetica is invented 45 years later.

* ''EightMM'' when Joe and Charlie are watching coverage of the story on local TV. The typeface on the screen is the now-ubiquitous Microsoft computer font Arial, most recognizable by its distinctive 'R'. However Arial was not invented until 1982 and not in broad use until after 1990. The movie is set in 1979.

* In ''Series/MadMen'', the sign on the Sterling Cooper building is Gill Sans, which was not in popular use in the United States until the 1970s. There are other future fonts, mainly in shots of print ads: Fenice (1980), Balmoral (1978), Amazone (1958), ITC Kabel (1975), Bookman Old Style (1989), Zapfino (1998), and Gotham (2002).

* Critically-aclaimed film ''Film/TheArtist'' features an array of anachronistic and stylistically-questionable type treatments. Some of these are deliberate to evoke the silent-film era rather than copy it. In the end, it is a mixed bag of beautifully evocative typography and irking anachronistic type.

[[quoteright:350:[[Series/DavincisDemons http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ramandolo_9268.png]]]]

* In the film ''[[Series/DavincisDemons DaVinci's Demons]]'' a glaring example is on a building. It is the trope image above. The well-known typeface, Gotham (used in countless modern ventures) is seen on a Renaissance building. Gotham was invented in 2002. That's a difference of nearly 500 years!

* In ''Film/ForrestGump'' the letter from Apple Computer is dated 21 September 1975. The font used on the logo, Apple Garamond, wasn't used by Apple until the launch of the Macintosh in 1984. The font was only designed in 1977.

* In TheShawshankRedemption the stamp used by the parole hearings people in 1947 prints in the Helvetica font, which was not invented until 1957.
* ''PearlHarbor'' where the ticker-tape coded messages Capt. Thurman reads is printed out in Helvetica, a font not introduced until 1957.
* In ''Film/{{Valkyrie}}'' on the banner with the inscription "Fuhrer befiehl, wir folgen dir", the font used is a Gothic type. This is extremely improbable, given that Hitler had banned all Gothic types in 1941 while openly stating that they were of Jewish origin.
* ''The Good Shepherd'' has a scene where When Matt Damon steals a brief case and reads a memo listing the Nazi party members - the title of the memo is set in Arial which wasn't available as a font until 1982. Furthermore, the memo looks laser copied rather than typed. The fact that this is a closeup view makes this a rather obvious mistake.
* In ''Film/BramStokersDracula'' we see a ticker tape typing out the message sent to Van Helsing from Dr. Seward, the type appears to be OCR (optical character reader) font which was not created until 1968.

* In ''PublicEnemies'' as John Dillinger and his associates leave the red train car, the car number seen on the outside of the car is in the Helvetica font, which was not created until 1957.

* In ''Series/MadMen'' the sign on the Sterling Cooper building is Gil Sans, which was not in popular use in the U.S. until the seventies. There are other future fonts, mainly in shots of print ads: Fenice (1980), Balmoral (1978), Amazone (1958), ITC Kabel (1975), Bookman Old Style (1989), Zapfino (1998), and Gotham (2002).

* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' the typeface on the intel collectible does not appear to be written on a typewriter or a basic word processor; the font is much more advanced than its time. This is but one tick mark in a [[http://callofduty.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:CoD_addict/Anachronisms_in_Call_of_Duty:_Black_Ops long long list of glaring anachronisms in the game.]]

[[quoteleft:350:[[Series/DavincisDemons http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ramandolo_9268.png]]]]
[[caption-width-left:350:What's the big deal? It's only a couple hundred years off.]]