Unisonic 888 Slide Rulette
The Unisonic 888 Slide Rulette is a calculator launched by Unisonic in 1975. It has a rather retro design for today and is a good example of the design of objects from the mid-1970s.
The design is rather pure for the time. It presents nevertheless various materials and forms, sometimes very rectilinear and sometimes more rounded – notably for the function keys. The use of Microgramma makes the design of this calculator very contemporary and allows the number to fit into this design, which is both rigid and has some curves and roundings.
The calculator also has an 18-key keyboard and could be powered by a rechargeable battery or conventional batteries. It was popular with engineers, science students and finance professionals at the time.
The display is, like many backlit calculator displays, a seven-segment display with numerals that were later made into fonts, see for example Letraset’s LCD from 1981.
The model name “SLIDE RULETTE” is in ITC Blair [edit: no, that typeface didn’t exist yet in 1975, see comments].
2 Comments on “Unisonic 888 Slide Rulette”
I thought ITC Blair came out in the 90s, not the 70s. What wide sans is really used for “Slide Roulette?”
Good point! I’ve removed the ITC Blair credit.