Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Typographer Discovers Brooklyn's Letter Perfect

Over the last year, typographer Paul Shaw took a wonderful walking tour crisscrossing Brooklyn's neighborhoods from Williamsburg to Bensonhurst in search of the letters that spell out our daily lives. In so doing, he has unearthed an aesthetic bounty of fonts that reflect in their diversity the history, eccentricity, wit, and wisdom of our borough.

Often his study illuminates the artistry of a building or storefront that has unjustly lost its luster simply because it has grown familiar to us - as I experienced when I came across the letters that form La Taqueria (my beloved Mexican eatery at 72 7th Ave.) in Shaw's section on Park Slope. It is this quality that makes Shaw's article from AIGA's Journal of Design delightful reading for all Brooklynites, even those who ordinarily wouldn't think to marvel at typefaces.

Shaw's article is available here, along with a treasure trove of photographs illustrating his striking observations.

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