I was hoping for your help with something.
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1.
In Rotterdam, I spotted this quirky house number font with a very distinctive 3 and 5. I also saw it on some (historical?) license plates.2.
In Hong Kong, I saw this fascinating stencil font for I think electricity markings? Or gas? -
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In Hong Kong, I saw this fascinating stencil font for I think electricity markings? Or gas?3.
Taiwan has this characteristic license plate font with a droopy 6 and a cool 3. The digit 4 doesn’t appear very often because of bad luck, so when it does, it seems to be celebrated maybe? (Last photo.) -
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Taiwan has this characteristic license plate font with a droopy 6 and a cool 3. The digit 4 doesn’t appear very often because of bad luck, so when it does, it seems to be celebrated maybe? (Last photo.)4.
In at least parts of Poland, there used to be this distinctive street name font, with a fascinating R. -
I was hoping for your help with something.
Is there a particular font that’s instantly recognizable to someone who lives where you do, and appreciated/recognized/hated there, but completely unknown elsewhere? Something on road signs, street names, transit, infrastructure, stuff like that? I’ll share some examples in the thread.
I’d love to learn more about these. I’m not afraid of links in languages I don’t understand, ha.
(Also please repost for reach if you are willing!)
Thank you!
@mwichary there's the house face of the TTC subway in Toronto which is similar but different than Johnston Sans
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I was hoping for your help with something.
Is there a particular font that’s instantly recognizable to someone who lives where you do, and appreciated/recognized/hated there, but completely unknown elsewhere? Something on road signs, street names, transit, infrastructure, stuff like that? I’ll share some examples in the thread.
I’d love to learn more about these. I’m not afraid of links in languages I don’t understand, ha.
(Also please repost for reach if you are willing!)
Thank you!
@mwichary the FE font of German number plates maybe. was made so that people couldn't a P into an R https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FE-Schrift
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In at least parts of Poland, there used to be this distinctive street name font, with a fascinating R.5.
Anyone traveling by BART in California’s Bay Area will instantly recognize these two classic fonts used in this distinctive way. -
@mwichary there's the house face of the TTC subway in Toronto which is similar but different than Johnston Sans
@secretasianman Oh yeah, I love that font!!! It’s so quirky.
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@mwichary the FE font of German number plates maybe. was made so that people couldn't a P into an R https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FE-Schrift
@tehabe Ha, yes! Coming right up as an example in a thread, as soon as Mastodon un-rate-limits me.
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I was hoping for your help with something.
Is there a particular font that’s instantly recognizable to someone who lives where you do, and appreciated/recognized/hated there, but completely unknown elsewhere? Something on road signs, street names, transit, infrastructure, stuff like that? I’ll share some examples in the thread.
I’d love to learn more about these. I’m not afraid of links in languages I don’t understand, ha.
(Also please repost for reach if you are willing!)
Thank you!
@mwichary Does this count?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deseret_alphabet#Alphabet
No, it's not used in street signs or anything like that, but it does pop up from time to time, and when it does, I can tell the creator is someone who really knows their Utah history
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@mwichary Does this count?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deseret_alphabet#Alphabet
No, it's not used in street signs or anything like that, but it does pop up from time to time, and when it does, I can tell the creator is someone who really knows their Utah history
@mwichary A sort of a typographical shibboleth, I suppose
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@secretasianman Oh yeah, I love that font!!! It’s so quirky.
@mwichary @secretasianman there's a whole saga about how the Toronto's TTC was going to release a free version of the font, but had a massive falling out with the project proponent.
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I was hoping for your help with something.
Is there a particular font that’s instantly recognizable to someone who lives where you do, and appreciated/recognized/hated there, but completely unknown elsewhere? Something on road signs, street names, transit, infrastructure, stuff like that? I’ll share some examples in the thread.
I’d love to learn more about these. I’m not afraid of links in languages I don’t understand, ha.
(Also please repost for reach if you are willing!)
Thank you!
@mwichary I feel like Gill Sans is _very_ much of London, but that might be too obvious. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_Sans
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I was hoping for your help with something.
Is there a particular font that’s instantly recognizable to someone who lives where you do, and appreciated/recognized/hated there, but completely unknown elsewhere? Something on road signs, street names, transit, infrastructure, stuff like that? I’ll share some examples in the thread.
I’d love to learn more about these. I’m not afraid of links in languages I don’t understand, ha.
(Also please repost for reach if you are willing!)
Thank you!
@mwichary my home region has a specific typography that you can find in many places (PDF): https://www.bretagne.bzh/app/uploads/charte_graph_RB_2025_sept_2025_v03.pdf
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I was hoping for your help with something.
Is there a particular font that’s instantly recognizable to someone who lives where you do, and appreciated/recognized/hated there, but completely unknown elsewhere? Something on road signs, street names, transit, infrastructure, stuff like that? I’ll share some examples in the thread.
I’d love to learn more about these. I’m not afraid of links in languages I don’t understand, ha.
(Also please repost for reach if you are willing!)
Thank you!
@mwichary Traffic sign typeface guidelines for Finland, written in Finnish language:
https://www.traficom.fi/files/media/file/Liite_11_Liikenne-_ja_viestint%C3%A4viraston_tieliikennemerkkien_kirjasintyypin_mitoitus.pdf (PDF file)Traffic signs of Finland in printable vector file formats:
https://kuvapankki.traficom.fi/en/album/8865 -
I was hoping for your help with something.
Is there a particular font that’s instantly recognizable to someone who lives where you do, and appreciated/recognized/hated there, but completely unknown elsewhere? Something on road signs, street names, transit, infrastructure, stuff like that? I’ll share some examples in the thread.
I’d love to learn more about these. I’m not afraid of links in languages I don’t understand, ha.
(Also please repost for reach if you are willing!)
Thank you!
@mwichary the Johnstone typeface used by Transport for London: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnston_%28typeface%29
And there's a specific typeface for UK road signs too, I can't remember what it is.
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I was hoping for your help with something.
Is there a particular font that’s instantly recognizable to someone who lives where you do, and appreciated/recognized/hated there, but completely unknown elsewhere? Something on road signs, street names, transit, infrastructure, stuff like that? I’ll share some examples in the thread.
I’d love to learn more about these. I’m not afraid of links in languages I don’t understand, ha.
(Also please repost for reach if you are willing!)
Thank you!
@mwichary How about video games? This font is used extensively in-world in Final Fantasy 14. It has a sort of exotic look to it, but the glyphs are one-to-one with English, so it's actually readable if you are familiar with it: https://github.com/karaipsum/Eorzean-Typeface
(this is someone's third-party re-creation of the in-game typeface)
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I was hoping for your help with something.
Is there a particular font that’s instantly recognizable to someone who lives where you do, and appreciated/recognized/hated there, but completely unknown elsewhere? Something on road signs, street names, transit, infrastructure, stuff like that? I’ll share some examples in the thread.
I’d love to learn more about these. I’m not afraid of links in languages I don’t understand, ha.
(Also please repost for reach if you are willing!)
Thank you!
@mwichary the portland classic ceramic house numbers came to mind https://www.pdxmonthly.com/home-and-real-estate/2021/03/the-relics-of-portland-s-great-renumbering
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@mwichary the Johnstone typeface used by Transport for London: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnston_%28typeface%29
And there's a specific typeface for UK road signs too, I can't remember what it is.
@brunogirin I think it’s called Transport!
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I was hoping for your help with something.
Is there a particular font that’s instantly recognizable to someone who lives where you do, and appreciated/recognized/hated there, but completely unknown elsewhere? Something on road signs, street names, transit, infrastructure, stuff like that? I’ll share some examples in the thread.
I’d love to learn more about these. I’m not afraid of links in languages I don’t understand, ha.
(Also please repost for reach if you are willing!)
Thank you!
@mwichary The Cambridge Tile Company address tiles used in Milwaukee and Portland.
These are repros, as the originals haven't been made in decades:
https://shop.historicmilwaukee.org/products/milwaukee-address-tiles-brackets -
I was hoping for your help with something.
Is there a particular font that’s instantly recognizable to someone who lives where you do, and appreciated/recognized/hated there, but completely unknown elsewhere? Something on road signs, street names, transit, infrastructure, stuff like that? I’ll share some examples in the thread.
I’d love to learn more about these. I’m not afraid of links in languages I don’t understand, ha.
(Also please repost for reach if you are willing!)
Thank you!
@mwichary Something else led me to these crib sheets for geoguessr which may be of use/interest: https://www.plonkit.net
