In Use: Benton Sans for Pangea Day

On May 10, 2008 — Pangea Day — sites in Cairom, Dharamsala, Jerusalem, Kigali, London, New York City, Ramallah, and Rio de Janeiro will be videoconferenced live to produce a 4-hour program of powerful films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music.

Avenue A | Razorfish designed the website for this groundbreaking project using a simple black and teal color scheme and soft shadows and glows to create a cinematic stage for the videos and information. The type is set almost entirely in Benton Sans Condensed Black, a strong, contemporary font that is powerful when set big and tight and surprisingly legible at small sizes on screen.

Benton Sans is Tobias Frere-Jones’ and Cyrus Highsmith’s update of an old American workhorse, News Gothic. Many of News Gothic’s quirks have been regularized and Benton is livelier in the heavy weights, but the original’s sturdy, no-nonsense tone remains. And, as is the Font Bureau way, the family was expanded into a versatile 26-piece set.