I was hoping for your help with something.

[vfig@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@chemlon @mwichary oooh! there were so many interesting typographical forms in signage all over prague when i visited there. i took photos in every metro station i went to—absolutely loved the sleek lines of this face. excited to learn theres a digital version!

[mwichary@mastodon.online]

9.
I linked to this a while back – more quirky enamel house numbers in the Netherlands.

[floy@mystical.garden]

@mwichary DB Neo, corporate typeface of deutsche bahn is quite recognizable for people in Germany. It's not used on station signage or wayfinding, but it is used in advertisements, the app and website and passenger information system on some trains

https://marketingportal.extranet.deutschebahn.com/marketingportal/Marke-und-Design/Basiselemente/Typografie

[me_@sueden.social]

@mwichary And unfortunately made easy to read for automatic license plate readers, increasing the surveillance opportunities - while still causing lots of trouble in parking garages using crappy automatic readers…

[dlx@mastodon.social]

@mwichary @tehabe The O always reminds me of Hobo (and that in turn by its use by Hela Gewürzketchup)

[kallekn@mastodonsweden.se]

@mwichary This is East Berlin 1984. They still had some Fraktur signage.
🧐

[fanf@mendeddrum.org]

@mwichary Kindersley also designed the monumental lettering for the gateway of the new British Library at St Pancras

his wife Lida Lopes Cardozo Kindersley still runs a stonecutting workshop in Cambridge and they have a distinctive italic style that’s common in stone plaques around here https://www.kindersleyworkshop.co.uk

[mwichary@mastodon.online]

@kallekn Wow, this feels much older than 1984.

[mwichary@mastodon.online]

@grmon This is, weirdly, the only form of Gill Sans I can tolerate. Otherwise why not just go for Futura.

[andniz@c.im]

@mwichary the numbers on trams in Wrocław, especially the "2"

[pcherry@hachyderm.io]

@mwichary What is the history of these? I see them *all the time* in SF. There has to be some backstory given their ubiquity.

[u47@mastodon.social]

@mwichary @grmon It was very difficult to locate, but I bought a copy of MacCarthy’s biography about 20 years ago. It’s probably the seminal work on Gill.

It’s becoming more common to see the rejection of his type due to his notoriety. I believe there are some wanting his sculptures at 55 Broadway removed as well.

[u47@mastodon.social]

@mwichary @grmon or Johnston Underground.

[mwichary@mastodon.online]

@chunshek Oh, thank you! I wish I could read this. I might be coming back to Taiwan later this year!

[mwichary@mastodon.online]

@pcherry I think you missed a link I included.

[secretasianman@types.pl]

@michaelgemar @scruss @mwichary while the official ones roll and sit around

[linuxandyarn@hachyderm.io]

@grmon @mwichary I'm just learning about this today. When I sharpied the numbers on our recycling bins, I made the numbers look like Gill Sans because we'd seen a couple episodes of The Prisoner not long before.

I'll have to remake those.

[bmk@mastodon.online]

@mwichary
About Dutch license plates:
https://kentekenkennis.nl/home

[regordane@mastodon.me.uk]

@mwichary

Transport (as a typeface) is familiar to anyone who drives in the UK. It works brilliantly for road-signs, for which it was specifically designed.

Whichever font you use, for legibility purposes, do not use all caps. It astonishes me that road signs in many countries break this basic rule

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_(typeface)

[adamrice@c.im]

@raphv @mwichary I was going to suggest this. It seems that it’s not a single typeface but a very distinct style. In the USA, Trader Joe’s uses a version of it for their signage.