Just take a moment and bask in the beauty of this building. Happy Friday, indeed.
a blog about how culture can affect typography
This is happening tonight. If you are in the Richmond area, I hope to see you there!
Check out these letters! Wow. These are definitely 3D, no doubt about it. Nock makes me laugh. That N reminds of guys puffing up their chest to show off their muscles (sorry to the guys reading this). Just be normal. We see you. The poor letters that follow N are totally rolling their eyes. Wouldn’t you? The kerning is horrendous but you can’t (k)nock the character this sign has.
I love the letters in the George Aiken’s sign. -Delicious Prepared Foods- How about delicious prepared letters? Seriously. The kerning is pretty close to perfect and there’s no puffing of any chests going on here. Of course I had to get up close and personal with that apostrophe. So so awesome.
…and this sign hangs perpendicular after the S in Aiken’s:
Typography like this just blows my mind. Thanks to Brian Grellmann for sharing his picture from London. I can look at this for days. It’s just amazing. TP ligature with an O hiding out in the middle? Sure! Why not?!
When I saw Brian’s picture I was reminded of this coffee sign in Pittsburgh. Some of those letters are a little jacked up on caffeine but that’s ok.
Both pictures are examples of beautiful, beautiful typography.
Here’s an example of how the smallest of details makes the biggest difference. Big thanks to Amishi Parekh for sharing her picture taken in Bombay…another awesome #FontSunday contribution. What first caught my eye was the beautiful ligature created between the A and r in Art and the way the o in Co comes to a beautiful end. Someone cared about the letterforms in this sign. It’s just beautiful. When Amishi posted this picture I immediately thought of the picture I took in Cleveland. The end of the h in Push just blows my mind.
What makes this door even more amazing is that it’s just a random door on the side of a building. Like the picture taken in Bombay, both artists really cared about the individual letterforms. White lettering on red is usually a hard read but both of these signs pull it off very well.
So, here’s a story. I was in Pittsburgh and came across this beauty:
I was standing across the street taking this picture and a man comes out of the store and approaches me. He asked what I was doing. I told him I was taking a picture of the letters on the building. He said “You’re the 4th person I’ve seen today taking pictures of this building. I was beginning to think someone was on the top about to commit suicide!” I said “Ummmm, or people really love the old typography and want to take a picture of it?” He said that never crossed his mind (but suicide did?!) Anyway, moving on. I couldn’t find any history on this building (bummer!). I sure do love what’s left of the neon outline of the letters.
Happy weekend!
I couldn’t resist this pairing. Lone man (or woman!) trying to make a living crafting one of a kind shoes (bless their heart) up against the big corporate giant that is NikeTown. Thanks to Meemee Monae for sharing her picture from South Africa. Another awesome contribution from #FontSunday.
Another amazing example of how culture affects typography. Big thanks to Jorge Rodrîguez for sharing this picture taken in Barcelona. I love the colors and the lettering, especially the ligature created between the r and k. A true piece of art. In stark contrast, check out the PARK sign in NYC. Nothing real artistic about this Park sign, although that arrow is pretty smokin’. Both signs get the job done using almost the same colors. I find the contrast between the two very interesting.
I love these signs. Thanks to Emelia Haglund for sharing her picture taken in Key West. There’s no denying those letters are having a party. The leg of that K is just amazing. I just want to sit in the curve and gaze up at that sun illustration. The san serif type in between the craziness is such a perfect pairing.
The sign for Optimo Cigars is right above the stairs to the subway in Brooklyn. There’s no party here in Optimo. The letters are spaced to far apart. These are serious cigars. Although, that T looks like he’s about to bust loose…as soon as P looks the other way. I love that you can see the stroke marks that filled in each letterform.
How amazing are these?! My co-worker, Chris Dayer was showing me pictures from his recent trip to South America. His pictures, especially the ones from Valparaiso, were just amazing. I just love the entire composition of this picture. The painting of the woman looks like she should belong on the cover of National Geographic! And that bird. That’s an awfully big bird. But, as always, it’s the letters that I love. I thought it paired so well with the picture of the Akron roots.
See any interesting typography in your city? Of course you do! Snap a pic and tweet ‘em to me @nikki_vz
