A font from the past
December 5, 2007 12:07 PM   Subscribe

FontFilter: Can anyone identify the font used on this sign?
posted by ryanshepard to Media & Arts (15 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Identify this font
posted by special-k at 12:10 PM on December 5, 2007


Does that count as a font? It's a huge, custom made sign. I doubt there's a corresponding font.
posted by xmutex at 12:15 PM on December 5, 2007


That's a cool website. I just ran (quickly) through it based on the picture and came up with Metro Gothic, which is close, but a little too regular. I wonder if it was something concocted free-hand just for that sign.
posted by jquinby at 12:17 PM on December 5, 2007


Response by poster: Does that count as a font?

Possibly not - it does look similar to other mid-to-late 60s typefaces that I've seen, though - maybe a variation on a theme?

I suspect this was an "off the shelf" font, since I doubt they had the money to hire a designer, have custom dies (or whatever you'd need to make a sign of this style made) cut, etc. They were a marginally profitable art house theater for their entire run.
posted by ryanshepard at 12:20 PM on December 5, 2007


You could also run this by the Typophile Type ID forum.
posted by tepidmonkey at 12:23 PM on December 5, 2007


the sign would cost the same to make whether that was an existing typeface or not. i suspect that it was custom-lettered.
posted by violetk at 12:25 PM on December 5, 2007


the sign would cost the same to make whether that was an existing typeface or not.

But it takes less time to make a sign based on a font that already exists, since time is a cost. And I would think you were right, except the pairs of c’s, r’s and e’s in the sign look the same, which makes me think that this is a font – or at least based heavily on a font. (The way the o and the u, and the t and the e, in “outer” fit together suggest some customization.)

Lots of “huge, custom made” signs are in Helvetica. It makes more sense to use something pre-made than to go designing your own letterforms, unless you specifically pay more for this extra creativity.
posted by tepidmonkey at 12:34 PM on December 5, 2007


It might be based on a standard 60s-era typeface, but I'd bet that it was custom designed based on the layout of the characters. The 'oute' and the 'rc' in circle seem too perfectly matched for a standard typeface, no?
posted by maniactown at 12:36 PM on December 5, 2007


just because multiple letters are the same still doesn't indicate an existing font. it just means they used the same template for those specific letters rather than making new ones.

comparing the ubiquity of helvetica to these letterforms is like comparing apples to oranges. and signmakers often have in-house designers—this isn't the same as going out and paying a professional designer. i would think the cost was minimal to have custom letters in this case.
posted by violetk at 12:42 PM on December 5, 2007


my conclusion is that the signmaker custom-designed this sign based on the aesthetic of the period (i.e. space-age from the 60s).
posted by violetk at 12:44 PM on December 5, 2007


Well dang, violetk, now I have to know! I posted this to Typophile.

Also I used Helvetica in that example because it was the first thing that came to mind. It could just as easily have been Benguiat or Vivaldi or whatever.
posted by tepidmonkey at 12:59 PM on December 5, 2007


I'm with violetk on this one. I think it's unlikely that the second "c" in "circle" would have been lowered to kern with the "r" if it were a preexisting font (the "r" would just be taller). I used to go to the outer circle in the trail end of its operation and it was just the coolest thing to a kid. I like to think it was one of a kind.
posted by cowbellemoo at 1:23 PM on December 5, 2007


Response by poster: Thanks very much for the assist, tepidmonkey. I'm curious to see what those font geeks can make of this :)
posted by ryanshepard at 1:27 PM on December 5, 2007


Response by poster: I used to go to the outer circle in the trail end of its operation and it was just the coolest thing to a kid. I like to think it was one of a kind.

It was actually the last-standing member of a small local chain: the Circle Theater (2105 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, demolished ca. 1981) and two incarnations of the Inner Circle (the first in an also-demolished building next door to the Circle, and a later one at 2301 M St., NW) were the other locations.
posted by ryanshepard at 1:37 PM on December 5, 2007


I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle between "custom letters" and "preexisting font"

there is a chance that the sign shop had a book of preexisting typefaces to select from. I don't think that you could technically cal these fonts or typefaces, but they're also not necessarily one-offs.

If you can find a local signshop that's been around since whenever this sign went up, I bet you could get some info. I have a friend who's been a commercial sign installer for about 10 years, and you can point out just about any sign in NYC and he can tell you when it went up, what company did it, and if it isn't one of his, why it sucks. He's really interested in "the old ways", hand lettering etc. I'll run it by him and see what he says.
posted by billyfleetwood at 9:49 AM on December 6, 2007


« Older Political consulting firm interview: what to...   |   hunting the hunter Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.