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Overhead signs, station signs, whathaveyou in Akzidenz-Grotesk


MHV9218

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I realized I'm probably one of not that many people on the site has a copy of Akzidenz-Grotesk BQ. In case people don't know, this is the font that was used for all subway signs until 1988 before a switch to Helvetica. A bunch of signs still remain, which you can identify most easily by the lower case Cs, Ss, and Es -- all of these are horizontal in Helvetica, but slanted in Akzidenz. 

 

Anyway, I figured I might as well offer some signs with this font, as it's a lot more accurate than Helvetica for signs and I'm not sure how many people have it. I'm only really using Pages at this point, but there's a fair amount I can do.

 

Just so you have an idea what Akzidenz looks like, here's an Astor Place sign and bullet pre-1988:

 

ScreenShot2013-08-07at32234AM_zpsa63bcc1

 

And here's the same sign and bullet in modern-day Helvetica:

 

ScreenShot2013-08-07at33001AM_zps32d75ee

 

Anybody catch the difference? It's subtle, but it's sort of neat.

 

I know a lot of people do signs, so maybe this is a waste--and I'm not the best at these, not having PhotoShop--but if anybody would like a sign done in the real MTA pre-1988 font, let me know. 

 

--

 

P.S. Know how some of the (J) bullets look different? That's because some are in Akzidenz, and some are in Helvetica. Check it:

 

Akzidenz:      

ScreenShot2013-08-07at33320AM_zps0f57dfe

 

Helvetica:

ScreenShot2013-08-07at33411AM_zpsc6cae97

 

Anyway, anybody can let me know if they're interested. 

 

 

 

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I checked on all of the station entrance signs, and it looks like if it's an entrance/exit it always says "Station" at the end. If you want I can change it, but here's yours (wasn't sure if you wanted white or black):

 

 

ScreenShot2013-08-07at21658PM_zps618e0ae

 

ScreenShot2013-08-07at21646PM_zpsd1b90be

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Here you go. This one definitely makes more sense in black, so that's what I did. The MTA also puts just "E" or "W," not E. or W. The small-number 6 is pretty consistent with the old Akzidenz bullets where it was small compared to the whole shape. 

 

ScreenShot2013-08-08at124541AM_zps3392af

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Whoa...never saw this. Here, this is probably how the MTA would have formatted it back in the day (one with the old color scheme, one with the new):

 

ScreenShot2013-10-14at83129PM_zps21d30e2

 

ScreenShot2013-10-14at83144PM_zps17d2b2f

The RR actually should be green :)

Request for DeKalb Ave Station in Akd....

(D) (M Nassau Street Brown), (Q)(R) please

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The RR actually should be green :)

Request for DeKalb Ave Station in Akd....

(D) (M Nassau Street Brown), (Q)(R) please

 

Whoops, I knew something slipped my mind there...

 

Fixed. 

 

ScreenShot2013-10-18at30426PM_zps3048c0a

 

And for yours (you said D, not B, and the yellow Q), also resized it a little larger:

 

ScreenShot2013-10-18at31231PM_zpsb5765e6

Edited by MHV9218
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Can I request a sign? Black background, and thanks in advance.

 

Myrtle-Broadway

 

(J) (K, Brown) (P, Yellow) (Z)

 

The regular station would just say Myrtle Av, but I made it Myrtle-Broadway like you said:

 

ScreenShot2013-10-20at93617PM_zpsef90c52

 

 

Could I please get a black sign?

67 St-Owls Head Park Station

Staten Island     (G)(W)

Thank you!

 

The borough is never listed in the station and wouldn't fit otherwise, so I left it out--but if you'd like it with it, I can add it on a lager sign:

 

ScreenShot2013-10-20at94213PM_zps51412be

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May I have a sign like this:

 

West 4th Street-Washington Square

(A)(C)(E)(F)(K)(S)(JFK)

 

The (S) is gray because it's the 57th-Grand shuttle.

 

Thank you.

 

ScreenShot2013-10-29at113637PM_zps642c83

 

Just a separate aside, in general I make my own bullets, but for the JFK Express I have to use the common domain bullet floating around...

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On 10/14/2013 at 8:54 PM, MHV9218 said:

 

Whoa...never saw this. Here, this is probably how the MTA would have formatted it back in the day (one with the old color scheme, one with the new):

 

ScreenShot2013-10-14at83129PM_zps21d30e2

 

ScreenShot2013-10-14at83144PM_zps17d2b2f

If you are still doing these, could I have this sign done? Thanks.

img_115479.jpg

 

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