Flight Center Gothic
HEX · David Jonathan Ross
Designed for Pentagram's restoration of Eero Saarinen's TWA Flight Center at JFK, this typeface revives the building's original 1892 Fette Kursiv-Grotesk signage lettering.
About
Commissioned for Michael Bierut's Pentagram team as part of the TWA Flight Center restoration, the design reinterprets lettering from Johannes John's 'Fette Kursiv-Grotesk', released by J. John Söhne in 1892. The result captures the mid-century modernist spirit of Saarinen's 1962 terminal while remaining rooted in a nineteenth-century italic grotesque tradition. David Jonathan Ross assisted with the final font production.
Classification
A revival of Johannes John's 1892 'Fette Kursiv-Grotesk', an italic-only grotesque with bold, expressive character suited to display use. Its architectural and signage origins, combined with the inherently inclined letterforms, place it firmly in display rather than text typography.