Foreign Language by Flight Facilities music video
I think Lee is an objectively hideous typeface, but I can’t argue its appropriateness for this pitch-perfect ode to 1970s TV nostalgia.
“Now this is Retro with a capital 'R’. Done with an immaculate sense of styling, tongue-in-cheek, and oozing with Fun, Foreign Language is a music video by Dimitri Basil that emulates the title sequences of all our favorite vintage action films and TV shows. You name it; Bond, Baywatch, Starsky & Hutch, Charlie’s Angels.
The choice of font is really important for this video. What font did you use, and why did you select it?
Dimitri Basil: ‘I tried multiple fonts, everything that was designed before 1978. Most of the appropriate fonts created in the ’60s and early ’70s look too modern, so at the end I decided to go with Lee Bold.’
Lee was used as the titling font on the TV series Charlie’s Angels and for the original VHS mark.” — Remco Vlaanderen, Watch the Titles
Obviously the font used lacked sufficient kerning. It is most likely “Lester Bold”, the version offered by Solotype with their Moderne Display Fonts book.
2 Comments on “Foreign Language by Flight Facilities music video”
I wonder what font he actually used since there is apparently no digitalized version. Or if he digitalized the letters himself for this purpose…
Hi Miro, please see our typeface page: There’s a digitization by Dan X. Solo, named Lester Bold. Unfortunately, it’s not really well made. Judging from the spacing/kerning problems in “HILTON” or HOSTILE”, Basil used this version.