18 replies to this topic

[CM4S]

Does anyone know what font LEGO uses for themes such as Space Police and Alien Conquest? I've seen them in other places before, I just wanted to know.

Thanks.

-Sci

Edited by Fugazi, 02 October 2012 - 01:12 PM.
changed title

[LEGO Historian]

CM4S, on 25 September 2012 - 12:16 AM, said:

Does anyone know what font LEGO uses for themes such as Space Police and Alien Conquest? I've seen them in other places before, I just wanted to know.

Thanks.

-Sci

If you're talking major LEGO stud fonts (but something tells me you may be talking boxes)..... there are only 4 major fonts (from Chapter 49 - LEGO Bricks of my LEGO DVD/download).....

[davee123]

CM4S, on 25 September 2012 - 12:16 AM, said:

Does anyone know what font LEGO uses for themes such as Space Police and Alien Conquest? I've seen them in other places before, I just wanted to know.

Looks like it might be custom? I assume you're talking about the font used here:




And with some stylized bits here:




I tried plugging these into WhatTheFont?, but with no luck. Granted, the samples aren't really big enough to do a good job with-- if you can track down bigger images, maybe you'll have some success.

DaveE

[cimddwc]

davee123, on 25 September 2012 - 04:58 PM, said:

I tried plugging these into WhatTheFont?, but with no luck. Granted, the samples aren't really big enough to do a good job with-- if you can track down bigger images, maybe you'll have some success.

Maybe WhatTheFont doesn't like the color - I edited the "Alien Commander" image a bit, and then WTF found Knuckle Sandwich Italic.

Though I think many of the theme logos themselves may be edited versions of regular fonts, or indeed completely custom.

[Aanchir]

Not an expert on all LEGO fonts, but I know a few. Hero Factory mostly uses TradeMarker Light I believe. BIONICLE used a custom font called Voya Nui GF for many of its 2006-2010 promotional materials. The BIONICLE logo itself is a font called Goudy Trajan. Obviously not the ones you were looking for, but

Certain LEGO fonts are embedded in the sets' PDF building instructions, so you can find them that way. Not sure whether you can find the specific ones you want that way.

[Faefrost]

Is the OP looking for the fonts used in the packaging and marketing materials? Or is he looking for the fonts used in the set markings and stickers?

[CM4S]

I'm specifically looking for the Alien Conquest font and the font used for the STOP sign in the SPIII  Freeze Ray Frenzy set.

-Sci

[Bobskink]

Hello,

I want to make a custom set and to make it as realistic as possible I want to use the exact fonts Lego uses.
I'm not talking about the font in the logo, but the font used for the set number, number of pieces name etc...
(the white numbers)


Thanks

[Fugazi]

I don't have an answer, but I'm merging this with a similar thread as you may find some leads there.

[Front]

LEGO Historian, on 25 September 2012 - 04:15 AM, said:

The logo on the green stud is not what is used today. It is quite close, but the letters are too wide and with a slightly different shape, especially the "G".

[LEGO Historian]

Front, on 13 February 2013 - 10:31 PM, said:

The logo on the green stud is not what is used today. It is quite close, but the letters are too wide and with a slightly different shape, especially the "G".

Yes... there have actually been several variations of that font... but I was showing "generally" the modern italics font.  I can look at a 1960s to the present LEGO brick and usually tell which period it's from.... I spent way too much time looking at LEGO bricks!  

[westalbott]

I don't know the exact font for the info on the package but Helvetica is pretty darn close. that's what I used on mine. http://westalbott.de...unter-343533105

[legolijntje]

westalbott, on 15 February 2013 - 07:08 PM, said:

I don't know the exact font for the info on the package but Helvetica is pretty darn close. that's what I used on mine. http://westalbott.de...unter-343533105

Are you sure about Helvetica? When I try Helvetica, my numbers look different than the ones on Lego boxes, and even (especially the 1) different from the ones of your example picture

[Aanchir]

As far as fonts are concerned, this might come in handy. It's a LEGOLAND park style guide. It recommends the Chalet font family for most applications, which is consistent with a lot of LEGO publications including the instruction manuals. Some of the text in the instruction manuals uses "LEGOChalet 60" and "LEGOChalet7080", presumably personalized versions of this font.

Overall, you can learn a lot about LEGO fonts by just opening a PDF instruction manual and viewing its properties, but I guarantee most of the fonts used are not available for free, and as such it may be more effective to find free approximations than to use the real deal.

[Crownie]

legolijntje, on 15 February 2013 - 10:35 PM, said:

Are you sure about Helvetica? When I try Helvetica, my numbers look different than the ones on Lego boxes, and even (especially the 1) different from the ones of your example picture

I'm not sure where you're having the problem - when I pull up Photoshop and block out some text, it looks like a perfect match to Wes' (and also pretty close to the LEGO box art). Are you using a different form of the font? A word-processing program instead of a graphics one? (Though that shouldn't make much of any difference...)

Oh, and thanks Aanchir - that PDF is a great resource. My inner design geek is off and running now...

Edited by Crownie, 16 February 2013 - 10:39 PM.

[CM4S]

Here's the Alien Conquest font!

-Sci

[Aanchir]

Crownie, on 16 February 2013 - 10:38 PM, said:

I'm not sure where you're having the problem - when I pull up Photoshop and block out some text, it looks like a perfect match to Wes' (and also pretty close to the LEGO box art). Are you using a different form of the font? A word-processing program instead of a graphics one? (Though that shouldn't make much of any difference...)

Oh, and thanks Aanchir - that PDF is a great resource. My inner design geek is off and running now...

You think that's great? There was at one time a whole LEGO brand manual online full of design specifications for LEGO publications and licensed products. I have it saved to my old computer back home, but really ought to transfer it over to this one since it's unfortunately no longer online (and not cached by archive.org).

It had many interesting tidbits-- for example, something I found quite unusual was that the LEGO logo is always to be larger than any theme's logo, and is always to appear next to the theme's logo towards the top of any product's packaging. The biggest exception was BIONICLE-- for BIONICLE sets, the theme branding was to be front and center, with the LEGO logo smaller and usually at the bottom of a box. Likewise, when being written as text, every theme was to have the LEGO brand preceding it (LEGO Pharaoh's Quest, LEGO Atlantis, etc.)-- the exception, again, was BIONICLE, which could just be written as BIONICLE.

All in all, this makes a lot of sense since one of the aims of BIONICLE was seemingly to capture an audience of kids that thought of LEGO as a "kids' toy". By distancing it from the LEGO brand, not only did it manage to appeal to kids who might otherwise be entering their dark ages, but it also made the theme's mythology and storytelling value feel a little more genuine to people who might otherwise have been reluctant to immerse themselves in what basically amounted to advertising for the toys. More recent themes don't seem to need this as badly, of course, since the LEGO brand has become more respectable across a wide range of audiences, and with the strong financial performance TLG has encountered in recent years, they recognize they have more to gain by tying all their products explicitly to the LEGO brand than they have to lose.

Sorry for the tangent; just sharing one tidbit I found interesting. Others include that if bricks are shown cascading down a surface, they should be in proportion with real bricks and with each other, and likewise minifigures should be in proportion with bricks whenever possible. At my nana's house we have a late-90s-era picture frame from LEGOLAND California that clearly isn't in line with these standards and suffers as a result. Also, the LEGO logo should not be shrunk beyond a certain size, and if it has to be then it should be replaced with the "word mark", the word LEGO in all caps. Interestingly, the spines of some of the early Ninjago graphic novels violate this, but it's been addressed in more recent ones. It's really good to see how much thought goes into this sort of thing today!

Edited by Aanchir, 17 February 2013 - 01:09 AM.

[Crownie]

That's fascinating, and while I don't find any of it particularly surprising, it's always interesting to read the 'nitty gritty' design specifications that companies have for every little thing - whether they produce it themselves or it's made by a third party to promote the brand.

The Bionicle example makes perfect sense given their target market, and you're right - it doesn't seem to be as much of an 'issue' in more recent years; the LEGO brand has gained quite a respected following (Which will hopefully continue, despite the gnashing of teeth and doomsday predictions by those opposed to the latest UCS release. Or should I say 're-release', ).

If you ever do get your hands on that file and feel comfortable sharing, I'm sure many in the community would find it a great - well, intellectually stimulating at least - read. Thanks for the info, Aanchir. You've got a great brain for this!

Edited by Crownie, 17 February 2013 - 03:19 AM.

[jonwil]

Related to the Bionicle story, the first waves of Hero Factory specifically said "By the makers of Bionicle" on the packaging, presumably to capture all the market that liked Bionicle but didn't really like LEGO more generally.