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jozl
Guest
The following website was originally posted in 1999 but it's still relevant today.
joeclark.org/design/signa...urTTC.html
While I was in London a while ago I was once again impressed with the strong identity of the London Underground. The famous "Underground" signs are so iconic and they are such good navigational markers that it's hard to imagine London without them. The transit systems' signs and graphics act as orientation points in an otherwise impossibly complex system of streets. It's as if the transit system has an important secondary function as a unifying graphic structure. It's like a free bi product achieved through distinctive and consistent signage. This applies to cities like Paris New York and to a lesser extent Boston as well.
Then there's Toronto's mess. We actually have a beautiful font that was created for the subway when it opened in the 1950's and is present on the walls of our older subway stations. It's like a hybrid of Futura and Gill Sans fonts. I think it's beautiful but it was abandoned long ago and replaced with a Hodgepodge of disparate signs and fonts that have buried the TTC's fledgling identity.
Well there is hope. Adam Giambrone the new TTC chair is a bright young ambitious guy who's well aware of the TTC's shortcomings and would like to shake things up. I for one will be writing to him about the TTC's confused branding and will also suggest that perhaps a new TTC logo be incorporated into a resuscitated identity. I know, I know, too expensive.
joeclark.org/design/signa...urTTC.html
While I was in London a while ago I was once again impressed with the strong identity of the London Underground. The famous "Underground" signs are so iconic and they are such good navigational markers that it's hard to imagine London without them. The transit systems' signs and graphics act as orientation points in an otherwise impossibly complex system of streets. It's as if the transit system has an important secondary function as a unifying graphic structure. It's like a free bi product achieved through distinctive and consistent signage. This applies to cities like Paris New York and to a lesser extent Boston as well.
Then there's Toronto's mess. We actually have a beautiful font that was created for the subway when it opened in the 1950's and is present on the walls of our older subway stations. It's like a hybrid of Futura and Gill Sans fonts. I think it's beautiful but it was abandoned long ago and replaced with a Hodgepodge of disparate signs and fonts that have buried the TTC's fledgling identity.
Well there is hope. Adam Giambrone the new TTC chair is a bright young ambitious guy who's well aware of the TTC's shortcomings and would like to shake things up. I for one will be writing to him about the TTC's confused branding and will also suggest that perhaps a new TTC logo be incorporated into a resuscitated identity. I know, I know, too expensive.
