There’s a clue in the name of “ Playfair Display” – any typeface with the word display in its title is usually designed for larger uses, such as headlines. The font combination makes for a clean and quirky pairing that’s instantly pleasing. The slightly innocent smile of Souvenir plays into the strident personality of Futura in a way that lightens the mood of both. So here we have two very different typefaces, from two different time periods, created for almost different purposes, that somehow bring out the best in each other. In contrast, Futura is bold, optimistic, and serious, concerned with modernism and forwardness.įollowing Bauhaus principles of futurism, Paul Renner created Futura in 1927, emphasising geometric forms hence we find within each letter near-perfect circles, triangles and squares. It was created in 1914, envisaged as a kind of a throwback to earlier Art Nouveau models. Mixing two such strong typographic personalities is a risk that rarely pays off, as they end up fighting it out.Īllan Haley described Souvenir as being “like Times Roman dipped in chocolate” – it is playful, goofy and light.