It's a kind of retrofuturism. An image that calls up what they once thought the future would be like.
When I was a kid anything science fictional or future-oriented was likely to be packaged with some kind of font that evoked a rounded-off square: no sharp points, but no actual circles either. The one on the right, now called Data 70, was especially popular. I think it got its futuristic image sometime in the sixties.
These were products of their time, and it seems especially of the daisy wheel printers used back then. The advent of the personal computer made it seem kind of old fashioned, although the prompts on the screens of early PCs and Macs weren't all that far off.
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There's a certain charm about the elements of retrofuturism largely because it reflects the optimism and technological advancements of the post-war period (even though it was envisioned much earlier by Jules Verne).
It's a fascinating blend of past visions of the future that encompasses styles and themes of different eras. Much like Art Deco and Art Nouveau, that featured sleek lines and aerodynamic shapes, retrofuturistic designs aren't practical now the future the artists and designers dreamed has arrived in a stripped down state.
I wonder if the 'no sharp points' may be a sign of a slower approach being preferable. In a time that looks increasingly virtual, retrofuturism offers something you can touch, something to remind people of the power of idealism and familarity in the midst of too much change too fast.
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