TypograFriday: TypArchive

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Thanks to one of my new favorite blogs, The Jealous Curator, I just discovered TypArchive, an amazing collection of images of hand-painted, neon and dimensional signage. Aside from being really nice to look at, I think it could be a great resource if you are looking for a little typographic inspiration. When Owen and I travel, we are constantly snapping pictures of cool typography; perhaps we’ll need to submit a few images.

TypArchive is an image library primarily focused on hand painted signage. The objective is to amass a comprehensive global collection of a high-quality images and produce hard-copy volumes.

Amidst a landscape of vapid strip malls and sterile signage, hand-painted lettering retains a soulful aesthetic to be treasured. Like other crafts dissolving in the digital age, sign painting is a fading occupation. Today it’s easy for any layman with minimal computer knowledge to produce a sign within minutes, but the skill acquired to artfully produce hand lettering took years of apprenticeships, dedication and true talent. – RD Granados

Here you can find out more about digital signage software.

TypograFriday: BKLYN type

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1. Negative space typography remaining on the facade of an old fabric warehouse.

2. Fabulous awning-side metal letters on a Hotel in the Besties’ neighborhood – note that not only does Greenpoint turn around its curve, but Square actually tilts up a bit to fit as well.

3. Handpainted sign for a Haitian Baptist church with both blackletter and sans serif lettering. I love the mix of careful, studied shapes and disregard for details: the wild line weights and spacing letter to letter in “New,” the awkward sans “S.”

4. Subway poster for Mira Schendel show at the MOMA. We saw this poster on our final day in NY, but didn’t end up seeing the show. The poster made us pretty excited though (this is totally in the vein of some of our faves: Martin Venezky and Simon Evans).

We saw a lot of beautiful typography walking around New York, and it made us want to snap more photos around more often, because it’s really just a matter of paying attention: we have urban type this good in San Francisco too after all!

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