> Back at the SFMTA, Armando told me the Breda vehicles are being replaced, and with them their destination displays will be swapped for newer LED dot-matrix units that are more efficient and easier to maintain. By the end of 2025 the signs that inspired Fran Sans will disappear from the city, taking with them a small but distinctive part of the city’s voice.
All of the Breda LRVs were retired earlier this month and their replacements use entirely different displays. Can't say I'll be that nostalgic for the signs or trains.
FYI no lower case, also "contact the author for licensing". (The article is a neat story of digging into the history of the displays which are about to be going out of service, as well as some practical aspects of the font design - it's just not casually available.)
Many of these seem to be on HN if you come to think about it as every post about fonts skyrockets immediately in popularity. Or STEM people are generally inclined to adoration of nice looking glyphs...
Yes! I've always been interested in seeing what arcana and niches (like fonts) fairly predictably rise to the top here, kind of a Bizarro World third rail (not including AI and cryptocurrency, which seem to have/had their own subworlds).
In no particular order, after nearly 10 years of paying attention (the past five or so multiple times daily):
For UK readers, this is eerily similar to the typeface originally used on the "Thames Turbo" trains (class 165/166) from their construction in the 1990s until a refurb about five years ago - I could believe it was the same manufacturer. Some photos:
>On route, train operators punch the code into a control panel at the back of the display, and the LCD blocks light on specific segments of the grid to build each letter
I always thought those were mechanical displays with little mechanical shutters that moved to display the segments... like these:
That was a great read with a ton of fun little bread crumbs to follow. Tipo Velez/Super Veloz gets a mention, and it’s definitely worthy of a diversion if you haven’t seen it before.
For all the modern handwringing about SF, it really is a hell of a city with a fascinating history.
I like the underlying commitment to design in the original displays. Seemingly the double height slants on the bottom are solely for rendering the letter V. They have no other purpose than for that letter.
I have seen these throughout the US and Europe and been fascinated by them. Penn Station has (had? been a while) a big one with more segments per character. I’ve been trying forever to find the name of this particular style of segmented displays and get more info on them. The closest I could find is “mosaic display.”
Love this article!
Signed,
someone who has an obsession with segmented displays
I appreciate that the author talked to various people (technician, engineer) and visited the shop rather than just doing online research. It's rare for people to go to the effort of in-person research.
When I was a child the front side displays on new Muni buses used to use these probably solonoid driven LED arrays. If you sat under one you could here this clattering sound that sounded kinda like rain each time the display changed. This discussion is bringing back old memories of those.
I am not expert but I really like the font. It does a lot for such a primitive display. Makes me wonder why we used to have those bad 80s 90s alphanumeric LCD displays in most places too cheap for pixels when they could have done this.
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Font specimen pages are so often screaming with design language and intention, they push and prod to evoke and present.
Maybe the secret has something to do with the lack of priority to the actual content; just present the font gosh-darn!
Looks nicely executed within the confines of the inspiration. very cool
In no particular order, after nearly 10 years of paying attention (the past five or so multiple times daily):
fonts
autism/ADHD
diet supplements/vitamins
surveillance and privacy
outages (e.g. Cloudflare)
Apple hardware/software (new)
A very detailed summary for another font (by the creator of the font), including ancient materials as well: https://mass-driver.com/article/md-nichrome-on-spacing-and-s...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:166207_DMCO_Interior...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:British_Rail_Cla...
I always thought those were mechanical displays with little mechanical shutters that moved to display the segments... like these:
https://youtu.be/Gj_mTp6Ypzk
Never knew they were LCD.
For all the modern handwringing about SF, it really is a hell of a city with a fascinating history.
Love this article!
Signed, someone who has an obsession with segmented displays
I second the sentiments here about typography nerds. This is very very cool.
OUTSIDE MY LIFE, INSIDE THE DREAM.
FALLING UP THE STAIRS, INTO THE STREET.
LET THE CABLE CAR CARRY ME.
STRAIGHT OUT OF TOWN, INTO THE SEA.
PAST THE DAHLIAS AND THE SELF-DRIVING CARS.
THE CHURCH OF 8 WHEELS. THE LOWER HAIGHT BARS.
THE PEAK HOUR SPRAWL. THE KIDS IN THE PARK.
THE SLANTING HOUSES. THE BAY AFTER DARK.
MY WINDOW, MY OWN SILVER SCREEN.
I FOLLOW WHERE THE FOG TAKES ME.
By MADDY CARRUCAN
The older Breda trains and I think buses also used to use backlit paper rolls for signs: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/T_Third_... Those were significantly more readable
Should be possible to get a passable @ on those.