Game Boy logo, console and packaging
If the Nintendo Entertainment System is the cultural icon for 1980s video games, then the Game Boy and its bold, direct logo does the same for the 1990s.
From Wikipedia:
The Game Boy is an 8-bit, fourth generation, handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America and Europe later that year. Designed by the team behind the Game & Watch handhelds and NES games (Satoru Okada, Gunpei Yokoi, and R&D1), it was Nintendo’s first portable console, combining features from both.
The Game Boy logo uses Gill Sans, set in all caps and italics and utilizing tight kerning. Gill Sans was designed by Eric Gill and first released in 1928 by Monotype. Two logo variants exist; a primary logo set in Gill Sans Italic, and a secondary logo using bolder letterforms. These are not from Gill Sans Bold Italic, but were rather emboldened artifically. Box art for Game Boy games uses the secondary logo, rotated vertically and set along the left side of the cover (see also: Pokémon – “Gotta catch ’em all!”). Print advertisements for the Game Boy console and games use both logo variants. In television advertisements, the bolder logo variant is printed large on the front of the console and the Nintendo logo is omitted. In commercial units, the lighter logo variant is used, printed smaller and with the Nintendo logo set to the left of the logo.
Labels on the Game Boy (excluding the face buttons) use Futura. Futura was designed by Paul Renner and first released in 1927. The face button labels use Corporate in all caps, mirroring the typeface’s usage on the Nintendo Entertainment System (see also: Nintendo Entertainment System console and components). Corporate was created by Roc Mitchell and released in 1971 by Alphabet Innovations. The face button labels are set on an angle, mirroring the alignment of the buttons.
Japanese box design for the Game Boy with the lighter logo variant using unmodified Gill Italic. “Handy game machine” uses italic caps from a yet unidentified typeface similar to Eurostile.
International (or American) box design for the Game Boy. The logo uses much bolder letterforms than on the Japanese box and the Game Boy itself. “Compact video game system” is in italic caps from Gill Sans as well. The list of items is set in Futura Extra Bold Condensed, again in italic caps.
Cover of the instruction booklet for the original Game Boy. The white line at the bottom is Futura in bold italic caps.
