Geotype Submission

The Geotype project charts the rich history of lettering and type forms that have established the identity of cities and towns around the world. Explore the map

How does this letter-form communicate its location?

The ghost sign typography is on a wall of The Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock, Cape Town. Built-in the Industrial revolution of the 1900s by John Pyott (the old biscuit mill, 2021), the company name and messaging were hand-painted by an artisan of the time as a means of cheap advertising and identification. A clean, bold, minimalistic and straightforward Neo-Grotesque typeface similar to that of Helvetica and Univers was used (A History of Typeface Styles & Type Classification, 2021). Before Covid, the building housed the infamous Pot Luck Club whose signage hung in a complementary manner alongside the ghost signage and played off its Cape Town heritage.

Location

Albert Road, Woodstock, Cape Town, South Africa