ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO
PQRRSTUVWXYZ
aabcdefghijklmnopqrs
ttuvwxyz 0123456789
_.:;‘’-–—/()?!$¢
→↘↓↙←↖↑↗Ⓣ
Astor Pl, Bedford Av, Canal St, Delancey St, Essex St, Flatbush Av, Greenpoint Av, Howard Beach, Intervale Av—163
St, Jackson Av, Knickerbocker Av, Lefferts Blvd, Metropolitan Av, Nassau Av, Ocean Parkway, Penn Station—34 St,
Queensboro Plaza, Rockaway Park, South Ferry, Times Square—42 St, Union Sq, Van Wyck Blvd, Woodlawn, Avenue X, York
St, Zerega Av
(For better spacing and overall readability in continuous text, this paragraph is tracked out slightly but with
smaller wordspaces. Also stylistic alts for ‘R’, ‘a’, and ‘t’ are turned on for OpenType-savvy browsers.
Finally, font-smoothing has been set to grayscale for browsers that allow the adjustment, reducing the
mushy weight gain that’s otherwise common on Macs when light type is knocked out of a
dark background.) The NYCTA Standard typeface is based specifically on the glyph designs and spacing system
shown in the 1970 New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual. Digital versions of the Standard
typeface (or Akzidenz Grotesk, as it was also historically known) existed previously, but the digital NYCTA Standard
font focuses on the design as it was rationalized and presented by Unimark International for implementation in the
NYCTA’s signage system. The new font began as a literal digitization experiment in February 2013, based on images of
the Manual provided by Jesse Reed and Hamish Smyth. Despite various eccentricities in some letterforms and
their spacing, the digitization remains very faithful to what was presented in the original Manual. This includes a
translation of the coarse unit-based kerning table shown on page 10, recreating the logic in the form of digital
class-based kerning for the new font.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO
PQRRSTUVWXYZ
aabcdefghijklmnopqrs
ttuvwxyz 0123456789
_.:;‘’-–—/()?!$¢
→↘↓↙←↖↑↗Ⓣ
Astor Pl, Bedford Av, Canal St, Delancey St, Essex St, Flatbush Av, Greenpoint Av, Howard Beach, Intervale Av—163
St, Jackson Av, Knickerbocker Av, Lefferts Blvd, Metropolitan Av, Nassau Av, Ocean Parkway, Penn Station—34 St,
Queensboro Plaza, Rockaway Park, South Ferry, Times Square—42 St, Union Sq, Van Wyck Blvd, Woodlawn, Avenue X, York
St, Zerega Av
(For better spacing and overall readability in continuous text, this paragraph is tracked out slightly but with
smaller wordspaces. Also stylistic alts for ‘R’, ‘a’, and ‘t’ are turned on for OpenType-savvy browsers.) The NYCTA
Standard typeface is based specifically on the glyph designs and spacing system shown in the 1970 New York City
Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual. Digital versions of the Standard typeface (or Akzidenz Grotesk, as it
was also historically known) existed previously, but the digital NYCTA Standard font focuses on the design as it was
rationalized and presented by Unimark International for implementation in the NYCTA’s signage system. The new font
began as a literal digitization experiment in February 2013, based on images of the Manual provided by Jesse Reed
and Hamish Smyth. Despite various eccentricities in some letterforms and their spacing, the digitization
remains very faithful to what was presented in the original Manual. This includes a translation of the coarse
unit-based kerning table shown on page 10, recreating the logic in the form of digital class-based kerning for the
new font.