Street Typography: Walk The Plank

There is something attractive about using rough, often hidden construction materials as design elements. This steel support beam could hold up a lot more than two numbers balancing on a concrete slab. For such a quaint street lined with patios and beer pubs, this street address fights for attention like a heavy weight champion. Its size alone has its opponents beat. At night the front face of the 70 lights up, giving the illusion that it is simply floating. Brilliant. I think the designer increased the pt size of the #0 and altered the bottom of #7. Tight kerning. Futura SC Medium.

Street Typography: Let's Get Vertical

First off, if you've been to Japan you've seen this style of signage everywhere. The buildings have a different commercial business on every floor and need to advertise it with vertical billboards. Here in Toronto, on Front Street, this low rise has just gone vertical for style points. Perhaps this is a band aid for whatever lies behind. I think it is eye catching to the passerby and gives an older building a contemporary touch. Futura Extra Bold.

Street Typogrpahy: Industrial Style. Big and Bold.

What would appear to be an industrial bay door is actually a residential garage. My friend Cody showed me this gem in East Vancouver. It is similar in function to 59 amblepath but obviously more sophisticated in execution. My guess is Helvetica Neue Black. The 8s throw me though because the necks are not as deep as helvetica. Any guesses? A great address nonetheless.

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.