Let’s hope nothing disastrous happens to them, one by one. This title card from Alien is an example – possibly the Ur Example – of a popular sci-fi trope, the Foreshadowing Inventory. (For those of you with your eyes closed to avoid spoilers: you can open them again now.)Īfter all that Futura-ish beauty, it’s a little disappointing to see a follow-up card introduce commercial towing vehicle The Nostromo with some slightly fuzzy Helvetica: In fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to discover that this entire credits sequence is going to end up spelling the word ALIEN: That’s totally going to become a capital A, isn’t it? God, that’s ruined everything. Look really closely and you’ll see what I mean: I hate to say it, but a little bit of the bar on this capital A ( for it is he) has been allowed to bleed out into the unfolding titles. Still, that new line is almost certainly completing the middle part of a W, yes? (It certainly looks like two strokes and a crotch, at least from where I’m standing.) I might have an idea where this is going. So, if you don’t want to know the extra-terrestrial nature of the central antagonist in Alien, close your eyes now.)Īnd beautifully mirrored, at least along the y-axis. (Before I show you how it looks, I should provide a sizable caveat: I got a lot of grief following my Moon article for spoiling that movie’s central twist. However, after a detailed comparison with Helvetica Black, I tend to agree with Susan. I’d based my original claim on Art Of The Title’s interview with the creators, despite a mismatch when I checked it against Futura myself.
UPDATE: Susan Bradley (and others) have pointed out that this is much more like Helvetica Black than Futura. The opening credits for Alien are nothing short of a typographic masterpiece. You can watch them in their entirety on the Art Of The Title web site, but here’s the general gist: a slow, progressive disclosure of a disjointed, customized Futura reveals the movie’s central theme over 90 seconds of beautifully-spaced angular lettering. Welcome to Typeset In The Future: The Alien Edition. I’m delighted to say that it is now ready to burst forth from my allegorical chest, and to spatter allegorical typographic blood all over your allegorical faces. Indeed, it’s been slowly taking shape – you might say it’s been forming itself inside of me – for really quite some time. My third post about typography in sci-fi has been gestating for a while now.
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