Street Typography: The 59 that started it all

For the past year I have been learning to love type and hate type, to love Helvetica and hate Comic Sans. It was this month that I recognized a use of typography that often goes neglected by passers by. On a trip to visit my girlfriend's relatives, both architects by profession, I was confronted by a garage door scarred by spray paint. The house was in the later stages of construction and not yet painted. To make sure everyone could find the newly built house, the owner sprayed a giant 59 on the garage door. It wasn't a stencil. It was free hand or some could argue custom type. It reminded me of a great use of painted address numbers I'd been shown in Vancouver. It might be a future consideration for this house when ready for its real paint job.