Helvetica and the New York City Subway System: The True (Maybe) Story (MIT Press)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.62 (878 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 026201548X |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 144 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-02-21 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
There isn't better testimony to the city as a melting pot or to the strange turns that any major design project inevitably takes. His beautifully illustrated book brings a unique perspective to the subject, and is a welcome addition to the vast literature on New York City. (Erik Spiekermann, creative director and managing partner, Edenspiekermann)Paul Shaw's detailed narrative of the evolution of signage in the New York City subway system over the past half-century reveals how the many decisions underlying its appearance have been shaped as much by political, economic, and bureaucratic f
He places this signage evolution in the context of the history of the New York City subway system, of 1960s transportation signage, of Unimark International, and of Helvetica itself.. Legend has it that Helvetica came in and vanquished the competition. Paul Shaw shows that it didn't happen that way -- that, in fact, for various reasons (expense, the limitations of the transit authority sign shop), the typeface overhaul of the 1960s began not with Helvetica but with its forebear, Standard (AKA Akzidenz Grotesk). Shaw describes the slow typographic changeover (supplementing his text with more than 250 images -- photographs, sketches, type samples, and documents). We can see the results today in the white-on-black signs throughout the subway system, displaying station names, directions, and instructions in crisp Helvetica. It wasn't until the 1980s and 1990s that Helvetica became ubiquitous. The original mosaics (dating from as early as 1904), displaying a variety of serif and sans serif lett
Paul Shaw, an award-winning graphic designer, typographer, and calligrapher in New York City, teaches at Parsons School of Design and the School of Visual Arts. He is the coauthor of Blackletter: Type and National Identity and writes about letter design in the blog Blue Pencil.Paul Shaw, an award-winning graphic designer, typographer,and calligrapher in New York City, teaches at Parsons School of Design and theSchool of Visual Arts. He is the coauthor of Blackletter: Type and
A Sign of the Times? Kim Seale This book may easily fall into the category of "everything and more than you ever wanted to know" about the use of typeface or letter styles in the New York City Subway system. On the one hand, it is easy to dismiss this as simply a study of the evolution of a specific font. However, when considered in the overall context of the evolu. "Real-World Duels with the Client Bureaucracy" according to Dezcom. Most often, books on design, present a lovely completed vision of the final product with all their flaws Photoshopped away like a centerfold image. Those of us who have tilted at windmills know the real story behind working with the quagmire of complex institutions.Paul Shaw has forsaken the "healing tool" in favor of a look at the de. A Different Kind of Book on the NYC Subway Corey D. Rosenberg Most books about the subway, deal with the history of the system and how it was built. This book focuses on something most of us neglect when we are down in the subway, its signs and placards. I discovered through this book that they have a history in itself that is as intriguing as its building. Must read for subway history buffs and