Bullitt (1968) opening title sequence

Static images can only hint at the moody atmosphere of intrigue so deftly created by Pablo Ferro’s Bullitt titles. You need to watch them in motion.

The main type is Information Extra Bold Wide, an extension to the Information family, a group of sans serifs from the early 1900s. This particular stout weight was released in 1958, a decade before the release of Bullitt, but it still must have been hot stuff at the time. It still is today.

It’s possible that Bullitt set a trend for heavy/wide sans serifs in crime thrillers. A variety of TV shows went with an extended Folio shortly after.

I can’t positively identify the other type used in the sequence. They could be other styles of Information, or some of the many other narrow grots available at the time, such as Compacta, Neue Aurora, Anzeigen, or Plak.