Results tagged “font”

After we covered the grammatically-busted Brodaway sign on Brooklyn's G platform yesterday, a number of font-philes questioned the typography in many "Do Not Lean" decals adorning subway doors. NYC Transit's Paul Fleuranges tells us that while "customers see fit to vandalize" signs, this particular error could be blamed on the car builder. He explained:

We did have a recent problem with a car builder who took it upon themselves to manufacture and apply subway car decals without the prior approval of NYC Transit. The cars were delivered to NYC Transit with the wrong decals. They have since been instructed not to do so going forward, and those that were applied in error will be replaced with NYC Transit approved and manufactured decals.

If you want The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and the New York City Subway, AIGA has it for you in a sprawling (and well-worth-reading) 9-page article on New York's subway fonts. They state that while it's commonly believed that Helvetica is the official typeface of the New York City subway system, that hasn't always been the case (of course, since the font just celebrated its 50th anniversary, and the first underground transit system in New York City was built in the late 1800s). While "Helvetica is the official typeface of the MTA today, it was not the typeface specified by Unimark International when it created a new signage system at the end of the 1960s." Trace the typeface of the underground, font nerds, you know you want to!