Westminster (typeface)
Encyclopedia
Westminster is a printing and display typeface
designed to be read by computers. It was created in the 1960s and is named after the then Westminster Bank
Limited (now NatWest), the United Kingdom
bank that helped fund its production. The entire font is based on the machine-readable
numbers printed on cheque
s.
Since its design, the typeface has been strongly associated with computers—especially in the late 1960s and early-to-mid 1970s. It is used frequently to indicate computer involvement in television series, films, books, and comics. The typeface is used on the side of K-9
, the robot dog
from Doctor Who
. It has also been used in the credits of such films as WarGames
and Revenge of the Nerds
and the animated series Whatever Happened to Robot Jones. Also, this was used as one of the Microsoft Plus!
Space theme
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
designed to be read by computers. It was created in the 1960s and is named after the then Westminster Bank
Westminster Bank
Westminster Bank was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1834 until its merger into the National Westminster Bank in 1970; it remains a registered company but is dormant...
Limited (now NatWest), the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
bank that helped fund its production. The entire font is based on the machine-readable
Magnetic ink character recognition
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, or MICR, is a character recognition technology used primarily by the banking industry to facilitate the processing of cheques and makes up the routing number and account number at the bottom of a check. The technology allows computers to read information off...
numbers printed on cheque
Cheque
A cheque is a document/instrument See the negotiable cow—itself a fictional story—for discussions of cheques written on unusual surfaces. that orders a payment of money from a bank account...
s.
Since its design, the typeface has been strongly associated with computers—especially in the late 1960s and early-to-mid 1970s. It is used frequently to indicate computer involvement in television series, films, books, and comics. The typeface is used on the side of K-9
K-9 (Doctor Who)
K-9, or K9, is the name of several fictional robotic canines in the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who, first appearing in 1977...
, the robot dog
Robot dog
Robotic dogs are robots designed to resemble dogs in appearance and behavior, usually incorporating canine characteristics such as barking or tail-wagging...
from Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. It has also been used in the credits of such films as WarGames
WarGames
WarGames is a 1983 American Cold War suspense/science-fiction film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film stars Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy....
and Revenge of the Nerds
Revenge of the Nerds
Revenge of the Nerds is a 1984 comedy film satirizing social life on a college campus. The film stars Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards, with Curtis Armstrong, Ted McGinley, Julia Montgomery, Brian Tochi, Larry B. Scott, John Goodman, and Donald Gibb...
and the animated series Whatever Happened to Robot Jones. Also, this was used as one of the Microsoft Plus!
Microsoft Plus!
Microsoft Plus! was a commercial operating system enhancement product by Microsoft. The last edition is the Plus! SuperPack, which includes an assortment of screensavers, themes, and games, as well as multimedia applications...
Space theme
See also
- List of typefaces
- OCR-A fontOCR-A fontIn the early days of computer optical character recognition, there was a need for a font thatcould be recognized by the computers of that day, and byhumans...
, another font designed to be machine-readable.