Adventures in Font Matching: Joss Whedon’s Firefly

UPDATE: There have been a lot of great comments and requests made on this blog and in the comments of the post at WHEDONesque from which many people have learned about this piece. I recommend reading them as they bring up some other great fonts to track down and maybe someone out there can help us identify them.

I have always enjoyed looking through font books. I get a special joy out of the fact that the fonts that make my favorite movies and TV shows and such are available for purchase and download (some just download as they are offered for free). I remember flipping through the old Letraset catalog back when type was still rubbed down and the feeling of “I know I’ve seen this before…but where?” that I’d get when I spied a font that had long been associated with a corporate logo or pop culture icon. I dig this stuff. I’m by no means an expert at it, but I really dig it, you know?

Anyway, a few weeks ago I was approached by the organizer of the local Serenity/Firefly Meetup Group and asked if I would assemble a website for them…or, well, us…as I am one of them. I agreed and the site is currently being readied; close to finished but not get announced or launched. In the process of getting together the Serenity/Firefly imagery, I also paid some attention to the fonts used ont the TV show and in the movie. (Update 12/12/06: unfortunately, things didn’t go well with the website. We couldn’t see eye to eye about how it should work and when I asked to be reimbursed for my expenses so that I could step down and allow someone else to take over, they decided it would be cheaper just to register another domain and leave me uncompensated…nice, huh?…anyway, on to the fonts.)

There have been several posts made to various Firefly fan sites asking what the font is that is used in the Firefly logo. Most times the answer comes up as Nuptial… which is close… but not so much. Truth is, it’s a logo and that’s it. I may have started its life as letters from Nuptial or even its more talented cousin Elegeion, but it has since moved on and become something quite other. It also bears some resemblance to Florens and Poetica Chancery but those too are not it. Nothing is or will be until some fontographer or budding amateur takes it upon themselves to fashion the 6 lowercase letters and that lone capital into a full fledged font.

The angle of attack I attempted in vain to find the logo font actually involved using another reference as evidence. The opening credits of the show depict scenes focusing on each of the programs principal actors. Their names are briefly displayed in script that bursts out in shafts of light before fading into a serif typeface that more clearly shows the actor’s name. It was that blurry, animated script that I set out to identify in the hopes that maybe the logo font would be in some way related to it. Well, no such luck. I did manage to identify it though; it is called Voluta Script.

Defeated by the logo font but encouraged at having found Voluta Script, I decided to continue. The serif face that I mentioned before–the one that the Voluta Script credits faded into–that font is Joanna. And, interesting to Firefly fans and type geeks such as myself, if you study the credits, some names are in Joanna Regular (Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, and Summer Glau) while others are in Joanna Bold (Gina Torres, Adam Baldwin, and Ron Glass)… not sure why… but if it holds no secret meaning about the actors or characters, it means someone on the graphics team screwed up. Also, my homegirl Jewel Staite got short changed on name time on screen–the second you can fully read her name they cut to the engine spinning.

While I was at it, I identified the font used in the DVD menus. I had always thought it was Emigre’s Democratica, but it turns out it was in fact Alembic.

On to Serenity: It is widely held that the font used for the Serenity title treatment for the Firefly motion picture is Papyrus, again, like the Firefly logo font, it is very close to Papyrus…but not. Although in this case, I gotta concede, it’s close enough for the girls I go out with. It’s been tweaked a bit, but not enough to sweat over–heck, there isn’t even a consensus between the typeface used in the film and the typeface used on the marketing! I ended up using Papyrus for the website for all the headlines since it is a pretty common system font.

And one final bit of insight into my font loving dementia; while watching Serenity a certain font kept showing up here and there…on the sides of spaceships…on walls…on a new design of the Blue Sun logo…and I knew I had seen it somewhere before, but I just couldn’t place it. It was driving me nuts…”Fruity Oaty Bar” nuts in fact…and then I found it: Bionic Kid

Speaking of Fruity Oaty Bars, that and the font from the Operative’s computer screen are still under investigation.
Published in: on July 13, 2006 at 10:58 pm

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48 Comments Leave a comment.

  1. On July 15, 2006 at 10:43 am willbueche Said:

    Ooh ooh, do this one, do this one! You’re brilliant!

    http://www.propstore.com/images/products/877/serenity-2.jpg

  2. On July 15, 2006 at 10:55 am Jeanette Said:

    You have WAY TOO MUCH TIME ON YOUR HANDS!!! But in reality, an excellent read. As a on-again off-again graphic artist I am well aware of the frustration of hunting for the elusive font. Your determination to find and indentify them parallels the greats of all time, like Audobon, Darwin, Leakey, Fossey, Goodall, and all those brilliant single-minded individuals who turned away from the jeering of their Cheetoh-chomping, beer-swilling pals and struggled through the dark jungles of fontdom to track and record those individual’s identifying serifs. For the betterment of the world. Congratulations. Have a cold one!

  3. On July 15, 2006 at 10:57 am Stas Said:

    Wow! Thanks for the in-depth ande edifying exploration of the FF and Serenity fonts. Very interesting. I’m a bit of a fontophile myself, though don’t know nearly enough about them to have tracked down all this info. Thanks again.

  4. On July 15, 2006 at 11:11 am RickMacMerc Said:

    Jeanette,

    I almost never approve the “way too much time on your hands” comments, but yours saved itself with the admission of the same guilt. I thank you for your kind words.

    I don’t think I’m brilliant by any means nor do I tend to compare myself to anyone brilliant… except Einstein, but only because we both share the same fashion rut of wearing the same basic outfit every day.

    That being said, I have always wondered how many great and brilliant people have been told that their work was evidence of someone with way too much time on their hands. And I further wonder if that kind of discouragement might have been enough, in the vacuum of not knowing if their work was really valuable at all, to prevent it from ever being realized for its beauty in hindsight. I think it was really good that Leonardo Di Vinci, wasn’t a blogger…people never understood him in his day.

    willbueche,

    I’ll add it to the list… I’m getting that “I know I’ve seen this before…but where?” feeling already.

    Stas,

    Thanks also for your kind words. I get the impression that you understand my font obsession a little.

  5. On July 15, 2006 at 1:24 pm John Said:

    Oh, thank you!! I’ve been looking for the Dremocratica font ages ago!! It’s also on some Buffy the Vampire Slayer merchandise stuff. Thank you so much. I bought it, and now I am happy using it to design stuff :D You are uber fantastic!

  6. On July 15, 2006 at 2:15 pm CA Bridges Said:

    I always figured the Firefly logo was a something like the ones you mentioned and Freebooter Script.

    The easiest way to match the Serenity logo is to type it in Papyrus, then scale it wider to stretch it slightly and adjust the leding until it looks right.

    According to the graphic designer from the movie, “Batman Forever Alternate” was used for a lot of the Alliance graphics and various designs.

  7. On July 15, 2006 at 2:30 pm RickMacMerc Said:

    Freebooter Script is nice. Pretty close also.

    Yup. Scaled the Dickens out of Papyrus for that graphic…and tracked it and skewed it a bit too.

    Batman Forever Alternate huh? I would have bet on plain old Bank Gothic.

  8. On July 15, 2006 at 2:38 pm QuoterGal Said:

    You are a Type God, Rick. Your Firefly/Serenity type adventures (and success) were posted today on whedonesque.com, and you will, no doubt, be listed on the Roll Call of Glory.

    Thank you — you have made a lot of fan and font-freaks happy. I count myself as both.

    ————

    “MAL: Dear Buddha, please bring me a pony and a little plastic rocket…”

  9. On July 15, 2006 at 2:49 pm RickMacMerc Said:

    Wow. Feeling the love on the blog. I guess I’m gonna have to document these things more often. Thanks QuoterGal.

  10. On July 15, 2006 at 5:10 pm XanFan Said:

    This is awesome. I knew about the Papyrus font, but not any of the others.

    Woo and hoo. Thanks for all the hard work. Tracking down fonts can be tedious. “No, the serif on the ‘a’ is all wrong” tedious.

    Now, to make fangirl-y items with the proper (or at least proper-ish) fonts!

  11. On July 15, 2006 at 6:00 pm Priscellie Said:

    This is too awesome for words. I consider myself quite the font geek, but I am humbled by your contribution to the fandom. :D

  12. On July 16, 2006 at 1:36 pm RickMacMerc Said:

    I’ve got to respond to a few of the comments on Whedonesque.com since, well, they won;t let me register to respond there… I hope the people who commented there will look here…anyway…here goes:

    To Alex2459 and everyone else who monitors any sort of fan site and still feels they can comment that someone else has “way too much time on their hands”, I say, great use of irony. I’m sure you didn’t mean much by the comment but we all have way to much time on our hands.

    To Caroline, I agree, that font is missing and I wish I knew what it was. The nearest I can come is SF Quartzite, but it isn’t quite right so I didn’t post it. I also would like to know the font used for the opening credits. Once I track down a few more of these guys I’ll make a new post…a sequel…we all like sequels.

    And, you know what, malcolm? I was thinking that very same question as I was writing this piece. I’ve never quite straitened out the difference between a font and a typeface in my own brain, and I work with type every day. I assumed as you did, though, that no one reading this would care.

    Look again, billz. Those 3 really are bold. All of the names start off glowing and simmer down to their actual type weight, at that point those 3 are bold. Thanks for the mad props though!!

  13. On July 16, 2006 at 11:09 pm MacManX.com | Blogroll Dive: 7/17/06 Said:

    […] Rick analyzed the fonts used in Firefly and Serenity. […]

  14. On July 17, 2006 at 4:14 pm Another FontGeek Said:

    We really old-time typographers also know another truth…the same font, published by different foundries, will have a name variation and subtly different hinting. So you shouldn’t give up if you’ve found something close. If it’s not one foundry’s, it could be another’s. Also, programs like Fontographer allow you to take fonts and alter them to your liking. I wish I had the “time on my hands” to play with it myself, but my font addiction has suffered these past few years.

    You can also use Illustrator to change the font. Create outlines and distort away. The disadvantage of this as compared to Fontographer is that you can’t use the altered typeface as a regular font. With Fontographer, you actually create a new typeface that you can type in from your keyboard instead of working with it like art.

    Since you’ve done this much research, it’s not likely you don’t know about this site, but I’ll mention it anyway: fontpool.com. This site allows you to preview exactly the phrase you want in the typestyle that interests you, and they include fonts from many, many foundries.

    That’s my two cents’ worth.

  15. On July 19, 2006 at 1:02 pm furiousBlog Said:

    Firefly: the fonts

    If, like me, you’re a Firefly/Serenity fan and also somewhat a font nerd, you’ll enjoy this article:

    Adventures in Font Matching: Joss Whedons Firefly

    If not, you probably won’t.

  16. On July 25, 2006 at 10:29 am Jen Said:

    Wow! Here’s my story - I recently purchased an old beat up Harley and am in the process of fixing her up. Being a huge Firefly fan, I kept thinking, “my bike is just like Serenity - everyone makes fun of me for having such an old beater, even though I love her!” So I’ve decided to name my bike Firefly (it’s more fitting than Serenity for a bike with really loud pipes) and am going to do “Firefly” on one of my tanks. Couldn’t find the font for anything…until I found you! Thanks!!!

  17. On July 31, 2006 at 12:57 am Jessi Clark-White Said:

    Wow, what a fantastic reference! Does anybody know of a free or cheap source for the fonts referenced?

  18. On August 29, 2006 at 6:06 pm Taristin Said:

    This is an awesome reference, but I was curious to know if you know which font is used for the opening credits of Serenity? The elongated bit on the R’s draws my eye to them every time, and I really want to get that font.

  19. On August 29, 2006 at 6:33 pm RickMacMerc Said:

    Damn! I was hoping no one would ask me that before I had tracked it down. But thank you so much, Taristin, for catching me with my fonts down.

    Thank you also for your kind comment… I’ve calmed down now.

    No, I don’t know what it is… but I know I know it… if you know what I mean.

  20. On August 31, 2006 at 10:44 am Taristin Said:

    Heh, sorry ’bout that. I was on my own little quest for it, but I havent the slightest clue where to start, with there being so many different sites with so many different fonts. If i should happen to find it before you do, however unlikely, I’ll let you know.

  21. On August 31, 2006 at 11:04 am RickMacMerc Said:

    Taristin, that would be great. If you find it and let me know what it is, I’ll post it here and give you credit for that find.

  22. On September 10, 2006 at 5:47 pm RickMacMerc Said:

    Taristin! I found it!! Update post on it and a few other fonts is in the works. If anyone has others they want tracked down, now is the time to ask about them.

  23. On September 24, 2006 at 5:13 pm Taristin Said:

    Hey, awesome. Looking forward to using the font! :}

  24. On September 30, 2006 at 6:59 am Josh Said:

    OK, put us out of our misery.

    What is the font with the elongated R ??

  25. On September 30, 2006 at 7:03 am RickMacMerc Said:

    Sorry, I know I’m lagging here… I’ll step up production on that post and get you the information that you seek.

  26. On October 5, 2006 at 4:22 pm Taristin Said:

    Heh, Take your time! We realize that you actually have a real life outside of this little project. ;}

  27. On October 10, 2006 at 8:00 pm RickMacMerc Said:

    Hey Taristin!! Part 2 has been posted. And I think once you realize that in one instance I have done more that just identify the font, you’ll understand why it took me so long.

  28. On October 11, 2006 at 5:05 pm SerenityStuff » Blog Archive » Serenity fonts Said:

    […] Following up his first run of identified movie fonts, he’s offered up some more detective work, with links. Get fonts for the opening credits, the Fruity Oaty Bar logo, Cortex computer graphics, and more. Nicely done, and thank you, Rick! […]

  29. On October 22, 2006 at 4:14 am Shadow Said:

    This is awesome! I’ve been looking for something like this for ages! Nicely done!

  30. On October 30, 2006 at 8:20 am Meryddian Said:

    Thanks for the research! I just finished putting together a calendar for my CafePress site, and your work helped me get exactly what font I wanted - the Voluta script. Thanks!! :)

  31. On November 11, 2006 at 10:15 am Meg Said:

    Does anyone know how or where or if I can even get the “serenity” song played at the beginning credits? I know many people have probably asked, but I’m a little computer … challenged, if you will.
    Thanks

  32. On November 11, 2006 at 11:35 am RickMacMerc Said:

    There is a mighty fine Soundtrack CD available.

  33. On December 26, 2006 at 3:42 am aspera Said:

    woh, thanks heaps! im trying to make a wallpaper and i want to font. ive found heaps of different fonts that are close but not close enough, and this is definately the closest anyones got. excellent job!

  34. On January 1, 2007 at 11:45 pm Scott F Said:

    Good job IDing those fonts. You mentioned hometown girl Jewel. Did you ever meet her? I did, long before I’d never heard of Firefly (grucking feat show!). How? Her mom was the production manager at H&A.

  35. On January 1, 2007 at 11:55 pm RickMacMerc Said:

    Thanks.

    No, I’ve never met Jewel but I too have met her mom during my freelance days in production in Vancouver.

    Funny thing: I went to a Browncoat event to see Jewel sing (she didn’t show due to illness) and met her mom there but couldn’t place where I knew her from…when worlds collide, huh?

  36. On January 16, 2007 at 9:09 pm muse » The many fonts of Firefly Said:

    […] I post this partially for you, gentle reader, and much more for myself. I am fascinated by typography and I know a fair number of fonts on sight, but I’m abysmal at tracking down someone else’s perfect font for the perfect application. I’m in the process of researching some motifs and fonts for a Serenity-oriented website, and late last summer I stumbled across these fabulous articles by RickMacMerk. Adventures in Font Matching: Joss Whedon’s Firefly Adventures in Font Matching: More of Joss Whedon’s Firefly Really entertaining and informative reading, if you’re willing to at least lighly embrace your inner font geek. Exactly what I needed for this project, and I was delighted to discover part two. Thanks, Rick! January 16th, 2007 at 11:09 pm […]

  37. On January 27, 2007 at 7:13 pm woody Said:

    Umm sorry guys, but John posted

    “Oh, thank you!! I’ve been looking for the Dremocratica font ages ago!! It’s also on some Buffy the Vampire Slayer merchandise stuff. Thank you so much. I bought it, and now I am happy using it to design stuff :D You are uber fantastic!”

    I think that’s the font I was looking for too, but I can’t find it anywhere now I know the name of it. Where did you get yours? and where can I find one?

    Please help

  38. On January 27, 2007 at 7:22 pm RickMacMerc Said:

    The font is Democratica, actually. John misspelled it and that might have lead you in the wrong direction.

  39. On June 15, 2007 at 10:03 pm Cailey Beth Said:

    That there are others out there as concerned about finding the firefly fonts as I am fills me with a great sense of pride and belonging. Joss is indeed Boss.

  40. On June 22, 2007 at 12:17 am Mike Said:

    Hi I was doing some font research and I stumbled onto your insightful blog. I was wondering if you knew where I might be able to find the font used for the movie: Clue

    I need it for a project and I’ve searched my database of font sites but I can’t find out what the font is for the life of me. Night you be able to point me in the right direction?

  41. On June 23, 2007 at 7:29 pm RickMacMerc Said:

    Hi Mike,

    The font used for the movie Clue looks to be a customized version of ITC Kabel Ultra.

  42. On July 6, 2007 at 1:31 pm Jenna Root Said:

    I really appreciate the effort you put into this. I was always interested by the fact that you could look up the type face in the back of most quality printed books, but I never devoted much time to tracking fonts down by eye. I know that branding may deter companies from releasing the information, but it would be cool if they listed fonts in movie credits too.

  43. On August 8, 2007 at 11:18 am Dan Said:

    Hi, this page is really cool, if you wouldn’t mind telling me where you got the Joanna font if you got it for free?

  44. On August 8, 2007 at 11:37 am RickMacMerc Said:

    Click the link. And, no, it’s not free. Worthwhile things rarely are.

  45. On January 12, 2008 at 4:09 am NewFallionAddict Said:

    I love firefly. I also love fonts. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

  46. On January 12, 2008 at 8:22 am Jordan Said:

    I was wondering if you could help me ID this font..http://www.stickygrass.com/Reviews/images/Comatose.jpg

  47. On January 13, 2008 at 5:09 pm RickMacMerc Said:

    That’s not a font really—it’s a type treatment. It looks to be based on this.

  48. On September 2, 2008 at 1:41 pm Maxwell Said:

    You guys should really just use myfonts.com/whatthefont. It’s a font-identifying thingy.

    For the record, Papyrus is ugly, and you should never EVER distort a type designer’s design in ANY way by skewing or screwing around with the dimensions–it’s totally rude.

    Does anyone know what the script font used in the Serenity Blueprint References Pack is? You know, the font that looks like George Washington hand-wrote it?

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