http://www.samizdat.cc/type/ Copyright 2006 Mon, 22 Nov 2004 13:34:38 -0500 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.17 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss The nameplate on an apparently disused CELCO substation at the intersection of hampshire and broadway. It's difficult at first to focus on the text itself since the effect of the selectively-peeling paint is so beautiful. The colors must have... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/celco_1.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/celco_1.html Wed, 10 Nov 2004 22:44:58 -0500 A church on hampshire ave between kendall and inman squares. The contradictions in this sign are staggering on so many levels it's hard to know where to start. The most dramatic is the idea of using a stencil and... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/stencil_church.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/stencil_church.html Wed, 10 Nov 2004 22:51:15 -0500 The mysteriously under-defined American Academy of Arts and Sciences on Beacon between Porter and Inman squares. This hand-painted sign has some beautifully restrained and unique letterforms with serifs so subtle as to make classifying it as a non-sans difficult... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/academy_of_arts_1.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/academy_of_arts_1.html Thu, 11 Nov 2004 00:01:19 -0500 An erstwhile hotel (now apartments) on Oxford street just south of the Somerville/Cambridge border. The typeface in this case isn't tremendously unique, aside from its being implemented in stained glass. The diagonal through the capital O is an unexpected... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/the_oxford.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/the_oxford.html Thu, 11 Nov 2004 00:07:38 -0500 One of the many `markets' (more commonly referred to as liquor stores) dotting haight street in san francisco. Unlike most of the earlier examples, the appeal of this sign doesn't relate directly to the typefaces used, since neither the... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/john_murios_1.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/john_murios_1.html Sat, 13 Nov 2004 18:49:34 -0500 Another SF liquor store (this one a little more honest about its true identity). This sign is full of weird details that don't entirely mesh with one another. For one there's a little indecisiveness over whether the font wants... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/franks.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/franks.html Sat, 13 Nov 2004 18:51:34 -0500 A pharmacy on telegraph ave in berkeley with a fabulous heavy script face and a saturated orange backdrop combining for a strongly retro feel. It's always seemed a little ironic for huge, industrial signs to be aping the look... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/rexall.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/rexall.html Sat, 13 Nov 2004 18:52:33 -0500 A laundromat in a san diego suburb. There's not too much to this sign necessarily. It's pretty clearly just a stock font on a mass-produced sign. But its use here is highly effective, and the font itself is interesting.... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/launderland.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/launderland.html Sat, 13 Nov 2004 19:29:03 -0500 An apartment building in the knob hill section of san francisco. It's encouraging to see that hand lettering is not dead. Better still that it's lettering that looks torn out of an Edward Gorey cartoon. Particularly nice touches include... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/the_gables.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/the_gables.html Sat, 13 Nov 2004 19:39:56 -0500 In front of a house on cottage ave west of porter square.... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/sidewalk_iv.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/sidewalk_iv.html Sun, 14 Nov 2004 15:11:49 -0500 More strange mixtures of fraktur and inappropriate, modern type on the front of this defunct publishing house at the beginning of summer street in davis square. There's something kind of charming about putting a ridiculously ornate capital on the... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/dole_publishing.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/dole_publishing.html Sun, 14 Nov 2004 15:33:19 -0500 A sign announcing some of the offerings of the Y-Not Variety market on Willow ave connecting davis and ball squares. So clearly this one caught my eye more due to the decay aspect rather than because the typeface itself... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/submarines.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/submarines.html Sun, 14 Nov 2004 15:38:50 -0500 A tiny restaurant in the south end. After waiting an hour for a table there once, we were then informed that they were out of the ingredients for about 50% of the menu.... All the same, the place's identity... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/delux.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/delux.html Mon, 22 Nov 2004 13:18:57 -0500 A shoe store on mass ave in central square. The appeal here is somewhat similar to the John Murio's sign: an already retro design made even older and more colorful by the askew and blasted state of its neon... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/teddy_shoes.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/teddy_shoes.html Mon, 22 Nov 2004 13:21:43 -0500 A victorian sweatshop-style building off mass ave in the area between central and kendall where MIT stops and the warehouse district begins. They clearly had a major design problem to solve given the length of the company name and... http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/kaplan_furnitur.html http://www.samizdat.cc/type/archives/2004/11/kaplan_furnitur.html Mon, 22 Nov 2004 13:34:38 -0500