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Credit: Disney (left) @TheZachRiddley Instagram (right)If you have been to EPCOT as of late, you likely noticed that the theme park is under a lot of construction.
Upon entering, Future World is undergoing a massive overhaul, which was announced in 2019 at the D23 Expo. Not only did Guests and Disney fans alike discover that the theme park would be reimagined in many ways, but the logo for EPCOT would return to a very similar logo we have seen before.
EPCOT seemed to return to its origins in terms of the various logos that represent each area of Future World and the font and graphics of the theme park’s logo. Imagineer Zach Riddley (@thezachriddley) took to Instagram to discuss how the new signage is actually a homage to the past and dove into why Disney decided to go that route.
Origins of our new designs for EPCOT go back to the earliest days of the park’s history – right down to the fonts!
Did you know that EPCOT’s original Imagineers designed a custom font family to unify all the signage known amongst our team as “World Bold.” This font could be seen on main pavilion marquees, wayfinding signage and even backstage graphics – so that Guest and Cast alike were presented with a unified feel symbolic of EPCOT. Many of these original graphics are visible today and spotting them is a bit of game I like to play when walking the park.
As we started our EPCOT transformation, our WDI graphics team went back to the inspiration for this font and created new weights (thickness) and treatments (varying uses) that inform signage featured in the park. This new update to the “World Bold” font family gives us greater variety and flexibility – bold, thin, inline and even (for the first time ever) lower-case letters! Taken together with our updated EPCOT park logo – we are proud to return and enhance elements that continue this park’s proud legacy of originality, boldness and forward-thinking design.
I’m curious, what’s your favorite World Bold font sign in EPCOT?? Share in the comments.
Over the years, we have seen the EPCOT logo evolve. Still, it seems that the original version of the logo continues to hold true to the meaning of EPCOT and allows the theme park to have a unified thread move throughout it with the same “World Bold” lettering on signage. Although classic, the font continues to look futuristic, leaving the design timeless.
What do you think of EPCOT returning to its original logo? Let us know in the comments below.