Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!bu.edu!wang!wdr From: wdr@wang.com (William Ricker) Newsgroups: comp.fonts Subject: more on Johnson Underground Keywords: Gill Sans, London Metro, Toronto Message-ID: Date: 11 Apr 91 20:50:57 GMT Organization: Wang Labs, Lowell MA, USA Lines: 54 > From: td@research.att.com > (Mike Hawley 9mike@tome.media.mit.edu forwarded your message about Johnson > and Gill Sans to me.) > Johnson's Underground face (usu. just called `Johnson' by people I've > talked to) is also used in the Toronto subway for station names and on > some signs. Many other TTC signs use Helvetica. I wish they wouldn't > do that, but I suspect that they hired a decent typographical consultant > when the subway was built (1952), and have had Ontario College of Art > (the local commercial-art school) interns do all of their signage ever > after. In isolation, Helvetica looks merely ill-proportioned and ugly. > In the same room with Johnson, it makes me want to run screaming from > the premises. From wdr Thu Apr 11 [me] In-Reply-To: [the above] Argh! mixing Johnson Underground & Helvetica? That might not look as bad as mixing, say, Optima with Franklin Gothic, but I don't recall seeing anyone do *that*. May I have your permission to forward your commentary back to the original venue, the COMP.FONTS newsgroup? [He consented.] I would readily agree that Helvetica is muchly over-rated. It's an improvement over ruboff Gothics (Franklin, News, etc), but there are *pleasant* sans faces. I think I could like Optima, Futura, or Gill Sans. ------ end quotation, begin paraphrase ------ Does anyone know of any sources for Johnson Underground in Film, Metal, or Bits? Or is it only used in large enough size that it's Pen,Ink,Brush technology? (Which would leave Gill Sans as the related Film/Metal/Bits face.) T.D. once saw a sample sheet of Underground, but doesn't remeber where; "probably in a history of the London Underground." If it exists no-where except as sample sheets, we can revive it as an outline font, if someone can find the samples! [I gather such "piracy" of fonts is unfortunately perfectly legal in the U.S.; this is why Zapf and some foundries include their trademarks in their face-names now, so they get some brand protection at least.] /s/ Bill Ricker wdr@wang.wang.com "The Freedom of the Press belongs to those who own one." *** Warning: This account is not authorized to express opinions. *** -- /s/ Bill Ricker wdr@wang.wang.com "The Freedom of the Press belongs to those who own one." *** Warning: This account is not authorized to express opinions. ***