In the late 1970s and '80s, a wonky lettering was all the rage in design. Early Apple Computer products came adorned in its font, and the beloved puffy folder of grade school children everywhere, the Trapper Keeper, embraced it as well.
Sloping, curving letters with diagonal accents which don't close at points were its hallmark, shown here:
Created in 1975 by Austrian designer Othmar Motter, who named it Motter Tektura, the font gained mainstream success--at least as a marketing tool--shortly thereafter. Yet, after a decade of dominance, the font's use largely died out. But why?
The thing is, no one really knows. Fonts In Use notes that there is no known authorized digital version of the font available, while Gizmodo argues it might be more a matter of the "rotating wheel of 'good taste.'"
If that's the case, then Reebok never got the memo about good taste. They held out the longest with their classic logo, only changing it fairly recently:
With Reebok finally off the Motter Tektura bandwagon, the font's use is officially off life support.
Much like New Wave music in the 1980s, it had a good run.
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