I’m curious as to what fonts railroads use in their logos and various other markings. All I could figure out was that UP uses ‘Futura’ and ‘Cityof’, but I couldn’t find any others. Specifically, Canadian Pacific, BNSF and Amtrak are what I’m looking for.
The one I want to know the most is for Amtrak’s Acela… That would make me very happy.
But if you know any, even if they’re not mentioned, that would be great.
Thanks,
Acela
I have no idea, but I do know that it is not Dingbats. Who would use such a font?
You might try this site or one similar to it:
Professional dingbats[:o)]
For logos, keep in mind that the type is often designed or modified for the sole purpose of the logo, and are never used elsewhere. I don’t know about the Acela logo, but it could be that the only characters created are the a, c, e, and l, since they are the only ones ever used in the logo.
Same as anywhere else, different fonts for different things at different times. Often suggested and used by an advertising executive or agency…yes, they’ve been around a long, long time. One constant was large and clear images were needed so that carmen and trainmen could readily identify them, and numbers on locomotives had to be seen and not confused by operators, agents, towermen, engineers, or train crews either for schedules and safety. Even penmanship was important when writing messages and train orders and keeping records. I know I’d be disqualified in tower, dispatching and agency work on my handwriting alone!
I am in the graphics industry and for years have been a supplier to various railroads and car builders for their decals.
Most corporations today use a specific logo which has been developed for their branding. There is a strict compliance associated with the use of the logo, colors, fonts, etc.
About 8 years ago Union Tank Car moved to a specific fontstyle which was closely associated with their hertitage “stencil” font. Their UTLX logo on tank cars looked like their stencil style of previous years.
When UTC closed their East Chicago manufacturing plant about 5 years ago, my contact with them pretty much ended and I am not sure what they are doing today.
Ed
I don’t know the answer to your question. However I do notice that Amtrak uses a fairly dark blue color on a white background. This makes the name easily readable unlike a lot of other print I see today.
In the old classic railroad days the most commonly used font for locomotives and rolling stock was called “Railroad Roman”. If you look at any photos from the old days you’ll see it and recognize it immediately.
Nowadays, it looks like anything goes as long as it legible and recognizeable.
Well, anyone who wants access to special characters from a keyboard, for one.
(In the old days, when it was a real hot-metal ‘font’ instead of a typeface, how else would you have molds for all those characters? Cut’em with a dental tool? Use watchmaker’s tools? …)
Not all systems have the Alt-xxx switch for special characters, and not all typefaces have what you need in the high-bit characters. So some access to Dingbats (which is a technical term for this sort of thing in typography, btw) or Wingdings or whatever is still useful in many situations.
No more intended as a ‘font’ in itself than, say, Montreal Steak Seasoning would be as an entree. And surely you would not think ketchup is a vegetable… ;-}
Well ketchup may not be a vegetable but tomato sauce certainly is! That’s what makes pizza a perfect food, it’s got the vegetable group, the dairy group, and the grain group. Throw on some pepperoni and you’v e got the meat group as well!
Sorry for the off-topic rant, I’ll go quietly…
[quote user=Foghorn Leghorn} It was a joke, son.
Many years ago now, in the Reagan Administration, there was a kerfuffle about school lunch programs, in which one of the cheap-ass ‘arguments’ was that ketchup ‘counted’ as a vegetable in nutrition assessments. This was gleefully seized upon by the press as an example of Stockmania or whatever.
It’s not so much that it’s ‘wrong’ as that the semantics are. Ketchup is a condiment. Tomato sauce is … well, much more a component of what it’s applied to.
Now you’ve got me hungry for lasagna, and I have no way to get it. Curses!!!
RME
So basically most roads have their logos and lettering specially designed and probably won’t be availible as a font. That’s what I’m hearing.
No problem though! (English class requires us to use Times New Roman anyway, blech! [zzz])
Acela
No. With so many fonts available today it is unlikely that there is a font exclusive to one or any railroad. If so, it would be trademarked or copyright and not be on anyone’s keyboard or hard drive anyway; I don’t off hand know of any secured font. Logos, arrangements of letters, phrases, names, terms, figures, artwork, etc, are often TM or Copyright protected however… And most often it is the one who uses it first and can prove it, owns it. Sometimes it is so because no one else would want to copy or there is no sense in copying…
N
H
That is the closest I can get to the New Haven’s logo.
NH’s letters look rather like “Stymie Bold,” which I happen to have in actual type in a couple of sizes.
NYC’s font is called “Grand Central” and is available on-line, for a small fee, which I did pay. I use it a lot when preparing handouts for our railroad, which runs on a former NYC line.
There are literally thousands of type styles, the differences between many of which can be told only by an experienced eye.
As for original fonts (like Grand Central), sometimes the font itself isn’t original (or is real close to an existing font), but the arrangement make it so, as already noted. Adding a flourish, outlining, or some other feature changes a routine type style into something that uniquely identifies it’s user.
The logo of one tech company was rumored to be either the grease stain from a donut or the rings from a coffee cup…
As for the dingbats - I use a few of them fairly often, especially the pointing “fists.” As long as you don’t get too cute, the various characters can provide a way to make “bullet lists” unique in a report.
Don’t get type fonts and logo’s mixed up…a type font is the way a letter or members of a set of letters are styled or configured. A logo can be a combination of letters and figures and shapes which specifically identifies an entity such as company, orginazation, etc.
Just as a nitpick: the way that the letters and numbers are styled and configured is the TYPEFACE.
The ‘font’ is the collection of all the characters with a particular style and configuration.
This used to be a traditional sore point, back in the Alan Cooper Macintosh days. Produced the same sort of effect as calling a Spartacist a “Trotskyite” – NO, IT’S “TROTSKYIST,IST,IST” <stamps feet, turns red, then holds breath and turns blue, etc.>
I usually refrain from grammar fascism (I can’t very well be a ‘grammar Nazi’ when italicized type would have to be Fascist, could I?) but in this particular case I consider the distinction to be meaningful enough to mention it.
BTW: Usually the letterforms used in logos have been derived from some existing (probablly electronic) typeface source. The best thing to do is CONTACT the organization in question, and ask what firm did the logo design. Then ask that firm how they developed the letterforms, why they altered them, etc.
When I design logos, I do quite a bit of tweaking to existing letterforms, and to their leading and kerning, to get ‘just the right effect’. Do not forget the typeSETTING aspect of this material, in addition to the letterforms…
RME
Larry,
I used new courier which is the closest I could get on my Mac.
John
Isn’t ACELA a nasal decongestant ?