How New York City subways signage evolved from a "visual mess" to a uniform system with Helvetica triumphant.
For years, the signs in the New York City subway system were a bewildering hodge-podge of lettering styles, sizes, shapes, materials, colors, and messages. The original mosaics (dating from as early as 1904), displaying a variety of serif and sans serif letters and decorative elements, were supplemented by signs in terracotta and cut stone. Over the years, enamel signs identifying stations and warning riders not to spit, smoke, or cross the tracks were added to the mix. Efforts to untangle this visual mess began in the mid-1960s, when the city transit authority hired the design firm Unimark International to create a clear and consistent sign system. 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. This book tells the story of how typographic order triumphed over chaos.
The process didn't go smoothly or quickly. At one point New York Times architecture writer Paul Goldberger declared that the signs were so confusing one almost wished that they weren't there at all. 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). It wasn't until the 1980s and 1990s that Helvetica became ubiquitous. Shaw describes the slow typographic changeover (supplementing his text with more than 250 images—photographs, sketches, type samples, and documents). 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.
Le informazioni nella sezione "Riassunto" possono far riferimento a edizioni diverse di questo titolo.
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.
Le informazioni nella sezione "Su questo libro" possono far riferimento a edizioni diverse di questo titolo.
Spese di spedizione:
EUR 3,75
In U.S.A.
Descrizione libro hardcover. Condizione: New. Good Reading Copy, May have minor shelf wear, Fast Shipping - Safe and Secure in Mailer. Codice articolo 4Q2SPP001IDV
Descrizione libro Condizione: New. Codice articolo 11801268-n
Descrizione libro Hardcover. Condizione: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Codice articolo Holz_New_026201548X
Descrizione libro Hardcover. Condizione: new. Codice articolo 9780262015486
Descrizione libro Condizione: new. Codice articolo newMercantile_026201548X
Descrizione libro Condizione: New. Brand New. Codice articolo 026201548X
Descrizione libro Condizione: New. pp. xi + 131, Map (Col.). Codice articolo 262362475
Descrizione libro Condizione: New. Buy with confidence! Book is in new, never-used condition. Codice articolo bk026201548Xxvz189zvxnew
Descrizione libro Condizione: New. Book is in NEW condition. Codice articolo 026201548X-2-1
Descrizione libro Hardcover. Condizione: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Codice articolo think026201548X