FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Design

Signs of the Times: A Graphic Designer Is Preserving Urban Typography

One website’s quest to chart the disappearing beauty of urban signage.
Images courtesy of Molly Woodward

Before the dawn of corporate one-size-fits-all signage, there existed singular signs that welcomed people into shops and buildings around the world. Seeing all the signs of a vanishing artform, graphic designer Molly Woodward created the site Vernacular Typography to archive the unique signage that is often steeped in local history and culture.

Woodward's website has since cataloged and categorized over 10,000 images of signs by type from around the world. One section features the category, “Post No Bills,” to show even the diversity of signs against signs.

Advertisement

“Signs were once created by artisans and fabricators, and their work was grounded in the local visual context," Woodward tells The Creators Project. “It seems like every day, places that once represented communities are being replaced by global chains with no stake in local history or culture.”

Woodward, who collected images of unique signs for years before starting the project, ties her passion to collective identity: “Vernacular lettering and other forms of urban communication have a way of creating and preserving a sense of place and local culture, and serve as a marker of regional identity. They become symbols of our heritage and when these symbols disappear, our sense of place and who we are is diminished.”

Below, some of Molly Woodward's favorite signs from Vernacular Typography:

Vernacular Typography is a sponsored project of Artspire, a program of NYFA. For more, click here.

Related:

The World's Largest Collection Of Neon Signs Is Ridiculous and Amazing

Seen From Below, Hong Kong's Neon Signs Look Like Electric Rainbows

Hypnosis As Data Retrieval And Web Searches As Railway Signs: Q&A With Artists Thomson & Craighead