New York City Vintage Signage

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Copyright Š 2014 by Courtney L. Simpkins All rights reserved. Design and Photography by Courtney L. Simpkins Copy editing by Trudy Abadie, David Ayllon, Ashley Baca and Terra Thompson The book was designed and written for the graphic design graduate studies class Graphic Design Studio: Typographic Practice at Savannah College of Art & Design. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review. Printed in the United States of America



THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO MATTHEW MARCHUK (1983-2006)


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Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 9 FORWARD 11 NEW YORK CITY SIGNAGE

15

THE EVOLUTION OF THE SANS SERIF

17

ANATOMY OF A SANS SERIF

21

DIFFERENCES IN STYLES

23

TRANSITIONAL 25 HUMANIST 41 GEOMETRIC 55 CLOSING REMARKS

71

ENDNOTES 73 BIBLIOGRAPHY 75

«

VENIERO PASTICCERIA // EAST VILLAGE // EST. 1894


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS If you have had any support in the continued sucess of my education, whether it be emotional, intellectually or otherwise, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Specifically, I would like to thank Susan & Randy Caroon, Dawn Marchuk, Paul Hurst and Josh Manley for encouraging me to take the plunge into graduate school and supporting me the entire way. I would like to give a special thanks to professor Trudy Abadie, as well as my peer reviewers, David Ayllon and Ashley Baca, for their guidance and expertise during the editing of this book. Last but certainly not least, this book would not have the photography throughout it without Terra Thompson’s willingness to drive me all over Manhattan on a Saturday (during the worst traffic I have ever seen here) to get the perfect photographs for this book. That in itself deserves 1,000 thanks.

« W HISKEY TOWN // WASH I N G T ON S Q U A R E // ES T . 2 0 0 7

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FORWARD When I began this journey, I figured I would find a lot of old vintage signs of forgotten restaurants, stores and pharmacies all over the city. What astounded me was the sheer amount of stores and restaurants that have remained open in spite of great depressions, recessions, wars and attacks on their city. For example, the restaurant to the left, P.J. Clarkes has been around, in the same spot, since 1884. According to their website: “A cultural and architectural holdout, P.J. Clarke’s has soldiered on through the Depression, Prohibition, two World Wars, and an onslaught of high-rises and office towers. It has had five owners in its history. None of them liked change.” To me, this is what makes a city like New York City so amazing. The ability and desire to preserve the best of the best is apparent on every street corner and in every borough. This book is meant to highlight the amazing collection of signage and the typography that the city has managed to hold on to through centuries of history. Hopefully, throughout this book, you will begin to gain an understanding of the history of typography surrounding the signage as well as an appreciation for the artistry behind them.

« P .J . C LARK ES // MIDTOWN EA S T / / ES T . 1 884

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芦 M ON T ERO B AR & GRI L L / / B R OOKL YN H E I G H T S / / E S T . 19 4 7

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NEW YORK CITY SIGNAGE Founded in 1664 by Dutch immigrants as New Amsterdam, New York City is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The history of New York City is kept alive through architecture, city planning and museums all over the city. It’s very easy to see the history in the buildings and architecture. There is a vast array of vintage signage that still lives all over the city. Some of this signage isn’t as vintage as we would like to believe, but others paint a picture of what the city that never sleeps looked liked “back in the day.” The types of signage in New York City are as eclectic as the types of residents. Many stores and restaurants still have old neon signs that still hang on the storefront. Others are large installations of woodcut type that display over the window or signs that sway in the breeze, hanging from brackets jutting off the building. The typefaces of the vintage signage in New York City share as much history as the signs and patrons do. Through my exploration of vintage signs in Manhattan I noticed a very interesting trend: much of the signage that I came in contact was some form of sans serif. As such, I decided to explore this further and categorize all of the sans serif signage I found into one of three categories: transitional, humanist and geometric typefaces.

«

HOMESTEAD STEAKHOUSE // BROOKLYN // EST. 1868

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THE EVOLUTION OF THE SANS SERIF THE EMERGENCE OF SANS SERIF TYPE

GREATER USE OF SANS SERIF TYPE

Typography has an ancient history that goes back as early as the ancient Greeks. Many typographers believe chiseled typefaces done by the Greeks are the first sans serif typefaces. However, the execution of a modern typeface only came into existence in 1779. During this time, John Soane used sans serif type on a drawing of the British Senate House. It is the earliest example of sans serif type that can be found in modern history.

During the 1920s, there was a large shift in how type was displayed in publications. Artistic and industrial movements questioned the validity of restricting use cases of sans serif types to large headlines and display text. This revolution altered the public’s perception on the use of sans serif type. As such, there was a shift in what was considered acceptable uses of body copy.

In 1816, William Caslon IV developed what is widely considered the first sans serif typeface. The typeface became known as “grotesque” and “sans serif.” Over the next several years, sans serif typefaces began to show up in printed international publications and advertisements.

« BLOCK DRUG ST O RE // L O W E R E A S T S I D E / / E S T . 18 8 5

The Bauhaus movement was largely responsible for the modernization of many design features. The very manifesto of the Bauhaus movement suggested that anything ornamental needed to be removed because it did not add to the functionality of the object. In this way, sans serif typefaces became an obvious form of expression for a movement focused entirely on intentional choices and simplicity in design.

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MOST INFLUENTIAL TYPEFACES

In 1902, Morris Fuller Benton designed Franklin Gothic, which is considered one of the first sans serif typeface families. This typeface was followed by Linotype Gothic (1908) and News Gothic (1908) which were the first sans serif type families that varied by weight distribution alone. Futura, one of the most widely used sans serif typefaces in the design community, was created in 1930 by Paul Renner. He is regarded as one of the most influential book artists during this era. Renner was largely influenced by modernism when designing his typefaces. At first he focused on creating simple geometric typefaces, but after a failure with that he was able to develop what is known as the Futura typeface. This typeface had subtle thickening and thinning of the strokes and was designed to have proportionate glyphs.

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KABEL A C O MPARISON OF W E IGHT DIST RIBUT I ON IN T HE TYP E F ACE F AMIL Y KABE L (1 9 26 )

In 1986, Akzidenz-Grotesk emerged as an original grotesque typeface. This typeface was designed by Ferdinand Theinhardt. His typeface is considered the building block of the sans serif movement. In many ways, it laid the foundation for modern sans serif typefaces and is largely used as a model for typeface designers.

As modernism moved forward and type designers looked for ways to revolutionize type design, Rudolf Koch was working on developing his typeface Kabel. Kabel emerged in 1926, around the time Futura was being released. Kabel was developed with woodcut type in mind and was designed and named after the transatlantic cable1.

WORLD WAR II ENDS EXPLORATION OF TYPEFACES With World War II looming over Europe and the United States, all exploration of typefaces were put aside during this time. However, as a neutral country during the war, Switzerland was able to move forward with typface explorations. During this time, designers in Switzerland developed many san serif typefaces that have now become widely regarded as the most important and useful sans serif typefaces in modern history.


THE SWISS INFLUENCE ON THE EVOLUTION OF SANS SERIF TYPEFACES In 1956, the Swiss Haas foundry developed Neue Haas Grotesk. The goal behind this typeface was to take the exploratory typefaces from 1890 to 1920 and build a more solid type family that was focused on balance in structure, line and form2.

Originally, the typeface was named Neue Haas Grotesk but was then changed to Helvetica. It was largely modeled after Akidenz Grotesk with very little variance. The typeface is meant to be anonymous in character and style, while also cleaning up some of the irregularities for which Akidenz Grotesk had become known. In 1957, Adiran Frutiger released Univers to the public through Deberny & Peignot Foundry. The typeface is based off of geometric principles that are subtle but apparent upon close inspection of the font. It was meant to have sans serif and geometric qualities without the loss of readability.

A COMPARISON BE T W E E N T RANSI T IONAL , HUMANIST & GE OME T IC T Y PE F ACE S

Once World War II ended, the design of grotesk typefaces began again. Folio, by Konrad Bauer and Walker Baum, is an example of the emergence of type design after the war. During this time, Max Mideinger was also developing the most widely used typeface in modern history: Helvetica.

A MORE IN-DEPTH LOOK AT TYPEFACE CHARACTERISTICS As we move forward in this book, many of the typefaces will be discussed in more detail along with an analysis of what makes each of these typefaces unique. This book will classify each typeface by the following categories: transitional, humanist and geometric. Each section is meant to give an analysis on the fundamental differences of each type category. The characteristics of these typefaces follow through to all the signage that is provided throughout this book. Once you see the differences between the typefaces you will begin to notice the subtle clues in the signage photographed in the book. Each clue tells you some history about the sign, the typeface used and the history behind it.

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COUNTER

MEANLINE X-HEIGHT

BASELINE

New Yo finial

Baseline – The baseline is the invisible line on which characters sit. Meanline – The meanline falls at the top of many lowercase letters such as “e,” “g” and “y.” X-Height – The x-height is the distance between the meanline and the baseline. Cap Height – The cap height is the distance from the baseline to the top of uppercase letters. Ascender – The part of a character that extends above the meanline is known as an ascender. 2 0 · N E W Y O R K C I T Y V I N TA G E S I G N S


ANATOMY OF A SANS SERIF ascender

ork Cab LEG

STRESS

CAP HEIGHT

BOWL

Stem – The vertical line of a “B” and the primary diagonal line of a “V” are known as the stem. STRESS – The thickening of curved strokes and angle of the thickening in relationship to the vertical axis. Bowl – An open or closed circular line that creates an interior space, such as in “e” and “b.” Counter – The inside of a bowl. Leg – The bottom stroke of a letter, such as the base of an “L” or diagonal stroke of a “K.” N E W Y O R K C I T Y V I N TA G E S I G N S · 2 1


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DIFFERENCES IN STYLES

Aa Aa Aa Gg Gg Gg Qq Qq Qq 01: T RA NSITIO NA L • Uniform stroke contrast • Vertical stress • Spur at the bottom of the stem

02 : HUMA NIST

03 : GEO MET RIC

• Very low or uniform stroke contrast • Slight oblique to vertical stress • Calligraphic influence

« • HELVET I CA // • FRUT I GER / / • A V A NT E G A R D E G OT H I C

• Uniform stroke contrast • Vertical stress • Inspired by geometric shapes

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01

TRANSITIONAL Around the mid-twentieth century, transitional sans serifs began taking over where the original grotesque typefaces left off. Characters of transitional types generally have very little stroke contrast and a vertical stress. Stroke contrast is less obvious than in grotesque types and much of the squareness in curved strokes has been eliminated. One of the most obvious changes of these fonts are their single-bowl g. Also, transitional sans serifs such as Helvetica and Univers have curved letterforms such as c, e, and s with strokes that end horizontally rather than at an angle.

T Y PICA L C HA RA CT ERISTIC S • Uniform stroke contrast • Vertical stress • Spur at the bottom of the g stem

« THE D ONUT PUB // W EST VI L L A G E / / E S T . 19 6 5

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Q

stroke ends horizontally

slight STROKE contrast

Aa Gg

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Tail at the end of stem

Spur at BOTTOM of the stem


HELVETICA Max Mideinger, a Swiss typeface designer, created Helvetica in 1957 under the name Neue Haas Grotesk. In 1960, the type foundry Stempel renamed the typeface to its current name in order to maintain marketability on an international level. Helvetica is designed to be unobtrusive, simple and easy to use in a variety of applications. The typeface is characterized by a tall x-height, a two-storied a and narrow t and f. It also has a very unique rounded off square tail of the R. Helvetica is a typeface that is loved and hated by many designers. However, it cannot be disputed that it is one of the most widely known sans serif typefaces for signage in New York City and in many places around the globe. For example, the typeface for The Donut Pub (shown on page 20) is an excellent example of the use of Helvetica.

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4 5 6 A C E

SUBWAY CAR

YELLOW CAB METRO NORTH

WATCH THE GAP GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL

PENN STATION TURNSTILE•METROCARD

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ABCDEFG HIJKLMNOP QRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklm nopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 (!@#$%^&*;) N E W Y O R K C I T Y V I N TA G E S I G N S 路 2 9


Q

stroke ends with A slight angle

EAR

Aa Gg

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Tail at the end of stem

TRADITIONAL DOUBLE-STORY


FRANKLIN GOTHIC Franklin Gothic is a typeface that was designed by Morris Fuller Benton in 1903. It is a bold sans serif typeface that was used widely as headline and advertisement type in the early 1900s. The typeface is still used today due to the timeless characteristics. Most noteable are the double story a and g. The g also has a unique ear which is rare for a sans serif typeface. The tail of the Q (shown on page 24) is noticably different depending on its typeface and curls down from the bottom center of its body. Culturally, the typeface is still used by many different corporate identities including NYU, Time Magazine and the Museum of Modern Art for their branding.

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UPPER EAST SIDE

HELL’S KITCHEN EAST HARLEM•MIDTOWN

WEST VILLAGE UPPER WEST SIDE

CHELSEA•TRIBECA

MURRAY HILL GREENWICH VILLAGE

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ABCDEFG HIJKLMNOP QRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklm nopqrstuvwxyz

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Q

STROKE ENDS HORIZONTALLY WITH BASELINE

slight STROKE contrast

Aa Gg

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Tail at the end of stem

STEM ENDS AS ANGLE, CURVES INTO SPINE


UNIVERS In 1957, a Swiss designer named Adrian Frutiger designed the popular typeface Univers. It has very similar characteristics to Helvetica due to the fact that it is modeled after the 1898 typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk. However, there are a few key differences that make this typeface different. For example, the G is formed without a spur on the end of the stem and the tail of the Q runs horizontally along with the baseline (shown on page 30).

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TIME OUT NEW YORK THE VILLAGE VOICE

NEW YORK TIMES

BLOOMBERG THE NEW YORKER

VOGUE•COSMO

THE DAILY NEWS WALL STREET JOURNAL GO NYC•VICE 3 6 · N E W Y O R K C I T Y V I N TA G E S I G N S


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芦 LOB S T E R J O I NT / / L OW ER EA S T S ID E

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02

Humanist Humanist sans serifs takes their inspiration from Humanist serifs. A calligraphic influence is apparent by the minor thickto-thin stroke contrast. This separates Humanist types from other sans serif typefaces. To the left you can see an example of Humanist type in the Capitol Fishing & Tackle sign. There is a slight thin-to-thick stroke contrast apparent in the terminal of the G. It is very similar to the characteristics of the G in the typeface Frutiger.

T Y PICA L C HA RA CT ERISTIC S • Very low thick-to-thin or uniform stroke contrast • Slight oblique to vertical stress • Calligraphic influence

« CAPI T O L FI SHI N G & T AC KL E / / M I D TOW N WE S T / / E S T. 18 9 7

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Q

stroke ends VERTICALLY

MODERATE STROKE CONTRAST

Aa Gg

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Tail at the end of stem

STEM ENDS AS ANGLE, CURVES INTO SPINE


FRUTIGER In 1975, Adrian Frutiger released his typeface Frutiger. This typeface was comissioned for the signage in the Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Roissy, France. It is widely regarded as a very legible typeface for signage. This typeface’s unique characteristics include a square dot over the i, double story a and g with no spur at the bottom of the G’s stem. The Q also has a distinctive tail that juts out diagonally from the bottom center of the body.

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GUGGENHEIM METROPOLITAN THE WHITNEY

MODERN ART

CLOISTERS

ROSE CENTER

NATURAL HISTORY

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Q Aa

Aa

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stroke ends VERTICALLY

UNIQUE HORIZONTAL

Aa Gg Tail at the end of stem CURVES UP

TRADITIONAL DOUBLE-STORY


gILL SANS In 1926, British designer Eric Gill created the typeface Gill Sans. The typeface is inspired by a hand painted sign that hung over a bookstore in Bristol3. Its popularity and usage became more widespread after it was comissioned for use in the advertisements and publications for the London and North Eastern Railway. The typeface itself is very clumsy with a significant amount of inconsistencies in the weights and widths of the typeface. These noticable differents include the shape of the spine in the S between weights and the dot of the i changes from circle to square depending on the weight. Also, the lower case t changes shape dramatically in the crossbar across weights. You can see an example of these characteristics below.

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WASHINGTON SQUARE

BRYANT•RIVERSIDE UNION SQUARE RANDALLS AND WARDS ISLANDS

STUYVESANT FORT TYRON BOWLING GREEN

STRAUS•PALEY HORACE GREELEY SQUARE

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Q

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stroke ends IN A NATURAL ANGLE

Thick-to-Thin STROKE CONTRAST

Aa Gg no cross bar


STONE SANS In 1988, Sumner Stone worked with John Renner to create Stone Sans. It is an extremely legible typeface that has many humanist typeface characteristics. One of the main features of the Stone Sans typeface is the lack of a cross bar on the G. It is also characterized with a larger x-height as well as a double story a. There is a significant thin-to-thick stroke contrast that is apparent in the lowercase g. Also, the Q has an abnormally long and sharp tail.

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STATUE OF LIBERTY

TIME'S SQUARE BODIES EXHIBIT WATER TAXI•HIGH LINE

SOUTH STREET SEAPORT

BROADWAY ROCKEFELLER CENTER

LITTLE ITALY MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

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03

Geometric Geometric sans takes their inspiration from geometric shapes such as circles and squares. It is a very simplistic typeface category with uniform stroke contrasts and very little ornaments on the glyphs. To the left, you can see the sign of the famous Katz’s Deli in the lower east side of Manhattan. This sign is the perfect example of a geometric typeface that is built with the characteristics of a circle in mind. Note the curvature in the spine of the E as well as the uniform stroke width of the type. You can also see the nod to a circle in the curve at the top of the A.

T Y PICA L C HA RA CT ERISTIC S • Uniform stroke contrast • Vertical stress • Inspired by geometric shapes

« KAT Z DEL I CAT ESSEN // L OW E R E A S T / / E S T. 18 8 8

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Q

SINGLE STORY WITH LARGE X-HEIGHT

VERY SLIGHT THINNING

Aa Gg

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ROUNDED GLYPH


Avant Garde Gothic The typeface Avante Garde Gothic was an evolution between 1970-1977 by designers Herb Lubalin and Tom Carnase. It was originally modeled after the Avant Garde magazine headline design4 and is modeled after geometric shapes. Many of the glyphs have circular characteristics with no variation in stroke width. For example, the G of Avant Garde is rounded out significantly. The a is reminiscent of a circle with a single story a. The Q has a round body and counter with a tail that cuts through the counter and flows into the baseline.

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LEXINGTON MULBERRY•CHARLTON COLUMBUS

BLEEKER•SPRING DESBROSSES

FRANKLIN HOUSTON FORSYTH •

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THICK-TO-THIN STROKE WIDTHS

SINGLE STORY

Aa Gg ROUNDED GLYPH


Futura In 1927, Paul Renner created the typeface Futura. It was originally designed for a public housing complex called New Frankfurt in Germany5. It is a Bauhaus era typeface that is simplistic with very few ornaments. After its creation it was comissioned by the Bauer type foundry and released to the public in 1936. Some features of Futura include a fairly high x-height, single story a and the font is characterized by very little stroke contrast.

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WOOLWORTH EMPIRE STATE

CHRYSLER•CITYSPIRE ONE WORLDWIDE PLAZA

TRUMP TOWER METLIFE•LINCOLN

PARAMOUNT RANDOM HOUSE TOWER

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ABCDEFG HIJKLMNOP QRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklm nopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 (!@#$%^&*;) N E W Y O R K C I T Y V I N TA G E S I G N S 路 6 3


Q

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Aa Gg TALL X-HEIGHT

cIRCULAR COUNTER

STEM ANGLES AND CURVES INTO SPINE

CIRCULAR DOUBLE-STORy


Kabel Rudolph Koch, a German typeface designer, created Kabel in 1927. During its creation two very large advancements in technology came to pass: Zugspitze cable car and the transatlantic communications cable1. Koch took this oporrtunity to name his typeface after these advancements in communication. The typeface has many interesting characteristics including a double story g, as well as a G with no spur on the stem. The a is slightly awkward with an oval counter and tight apeture. In contrast, the counters of the b and d are very circular. Finally, the b is also unique with a very round bowl and short ascender.

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PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

MARY POPPINS

HEDWIG•WICKED

KINKY BOOTS

CINDERELLA

THE LION KING

PIPPIN•CHICAGO BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL

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芦 WA V ERL Y REST UARN AT / / G R E E NW I C H V I L L A G E / / C . 19 3 0

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CLOSING REMARKS The restaurants and businesses in New York City have amazing signs that speak to the culture and history of the city. Exploring Manhattan has been an absolute pleasure. Once I evaluated the signage collected it was clear that there were several different sans serif typefaces characteristics being used in their construction. It was only by coincidence that I managed to collect a large array of neon signage. While this wasn’t my original intention, it was a happy accident. Neon signage limits the amount of ornaments a typeface's glyph can have, and allows for a collect of beautiful sans serif signs in the city. This happy accident also led to the discovery that many of the typefaces used in signage were custom designed to meet the needs of the client and that many of the signs couldn not be linked to a specific sans serif typeface. Hopefully, throughout the book, you have gained an insight as to why each sign is different. The goal was to show you the characteristics of each typeface, which would allow you, as a reader, to deduce what sans serif categories the signage falls under. I hope this exploration has been as interesting for you as it has for me. It certainly has shown me a side of the city that I think has a strong historical tie to culture and it’s relationship to typography.

« BOW ERY & V I N E // B O W E R Y / / E S T. 19 8 0

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Endnotes 1 Macmillan, Neil. An A–Z of Type Designers. Yale University Press: 2006. 2 Neue Haas Grotesk. Font Bureau. Web. 3 Archer, Ben. "Eric Gill Got It Wrong; a Re-evaluation of Gill Sans." Typotheque. 4 "ITC Avant Garde Gothic Font Family." Details & Background Information. Linotype. 5 Fabian, Nicholas. "The Bauhaus Designer Paul Renner." CreativePro.com. 15 Dec. 2000.

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Bibliography Alessio, Joseph. "Smashing Magazine." Smashing Magazine. Making Sense of Type Classification, 19 June 2013. Web. May 2014. Ambrose, Gavin, and Paul Harris. Typography: The Arrangement, Style and Appearance of Type and Typefaces. 3; 3. Vol. Lausanne, Switzerland; London; New York: AVA Pub. SA, 2005. Burgess, Paul, and Tony Seddon. Design:Type: A Seductive Collection of Alluring Type Designs. Beverly, MA: Rockport Publishers, 2012. Crisp, Denise Gonzales, William F. Temple, and Meredith Davis. Typography. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2012. Friedl, Friedrich, Nicolaus Ott, and Bernard Stein. Typography: An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Throughout History. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 1998. Gillespie, Thom. Typography. 124 Vol. New York: Media Source, 1999. "Type: Classification." Thinking With Type. "Typedia." Type Classification.

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A Collection of Signs The types of signage in New York City are as eclectic as the types of residents. Many stores and restuarants still have old neon signs that still hang on the storefront. Others are large installations of woodcut type that display over the window or signs that sway in the breeze and hang from brackets jutting off the building. The typefaces of the vintage signage in New York City share as much history as the signs and patrons do.


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