You can also have custom made subway metal signs made for you at www.underground-signs.com

A good way to create professional looking fake signs is to use www.online-sign.com

You can customise any type of sign with your own text then print or save it as a pdf. It doesnt cost anything, and there is no sign up or other restrictions.

"The entire system was devised by the great Massimo Vignelli in the early 70s" when he was employed by Unimark International.

I know everyone forgot about this thread a while ago im sure... but I just started writing a term paper about the typography/lettering in the NYC subway. The font originally used on the subway signage was called Standard (before america had Akzidenz Grotesk). The entire system was devised by the great Massimo Vignelli (http://www.vignelli.com/vignel... in the early 70s. Yes, today Helvetica is the font used, but you can still see Akzidenz used on original signs and the R in the yellow circle. I get this information from Paul Shaw who teaches the history of typography at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and is personal friends with Massimo... so he must be right! Also, originally the signs were supposed to be black type on white, but was changed last minute to aid against grafitti. How strange would that have looked!

The MTA's signage was originally Akzidenz, but now there's Helvetica mixed in. Half the station signs (the older ones) are in Akzidenz, but more recent signs use Helvetica. The picture on the helveticafilm site is Helvetica, trust me. It's at the corner of 5th Avenue and 23rd street, right by the Flatiron Building.

Cheers,

-Gary

The most apparent difference between Akzidenz-Grotesk and Helvetica lies in the leg of capital R's. Helvetica's R does a little squiggly dance.

I stumbled on this post because there will be a feature length Helvetica documentary come next year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its design to supplant AG. One of the curious photographs on the website shows a New York City subway station sign. This will no doubt raise some eyebrows.

http://helveticafilm.com

merry Xmas, the trains are back :)

Here's a nice, illustrated history of sans-serif typography that shows the very first of Thorowgood's faces, which he dubbed "Grotesque" -- probably largely by analogy with "Gothic" rather than an aesthetic judgement.

Let's try to stem the confusion that's already running rampant in this thread.

Yes, and the trolling.

Adam: Based on the J, my guess is Futura Extra Bold Condensed.

does anyone care to identify the face used here?

name this face

I believe it was Professor Dmitiri Schaudenfreude who first designed the typeface Aksidental-Degulasse commissioned by the Capetian dynasty in 1635 that eventually evolved into Extrema Bold Black sans serif after some extensive tinkering by Mame Lopez-Chang and her partner Ronaldinho during the 1930s. Hence, my love for Dingbats.

In regards to Paul's misinformation and misspelling of "Azikendz Grotesque"---

Akzidenz-Grotesk was designed by Günter Gerhard Lange in the year 1896. In German, Akzidenz means trade type and Grotesk means sans serif. And, I really doubt that out of all the trades 100 years ago, typographers couldn't keep accurate records of who designed which font. They were the backbone of the printing industry with easy access to professional printing methods. They were constantly producing type catalogs.

Santos:

if you wish to stem the confusion rampant in this thread, please start with your own post. As scott said, its Univers (and not even pronounced 'Universe'). Even those who get the pronunciation wrong still spell it right.

I don't understand your additional comments. Are you debating the fact that Frutiger designed Univers?

Adrian Frutiger designed Univers, Frutiger, and the fantastic Avenir, among many others.

Re: Scott's comment regarding the spelling and/or historical accuracy:

Scott, I don't think you're being entirely fair here. You and I both know that the legacy of typefaces is not entirely known--more than two hundred years have passed since the first was invented, and many details have since been lost. Even Nick Findley agrees that the "whos" and "whats" are a bit murky.

As for Universe and Frutiger, I have a hard time believing that it's mere coincidence that one of the most popular fonts today (namely, Frutiger) also happens to be the name of a person who designed Universe. Let's try to stem the confusion that's already running rampant in this thread.

I liked the 'Do not bomb Iraq' stickers on the doors. But they didn't work.

The thing I like about Azikendz Grotesque is that it has a nice, solid, strong sound to the name. Reminds me of Hitler or something. Anytime I bring it up in a meeting the client is always impressed with the font name. Anybody could use common fonts like Helvetica...but that's one thing that really sets me apart is my ability with a large range of fonts like this one.

If you want to know exactly how many people in the world care about these details, just count the number of people participating in this post.

i have fallen in love with the "do not fall in love" stickers... if you haven't seen them, here is a not-great photo of one: http://flickr.com/photos/janelle/26212763/

Why not use http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ to solve this?

actually, max miedinger designed it. hoffman told him to.