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?

This is somewhat of a temporary sign (although it’s been there for years) whilst the contractors look after the reconstruction of The Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh building. The display font is Primaset by James Goggin and is surprisingly still legible at a vertical placement. Primaset is based on Rudolf Koch’s Prima font from 1931 (McNeil, 2017, p.641). The sans serif font looks to be vinyl on the corrugated steel cabin. Although at first I questioned the font’s relevance to the hire company’s brand values, it seems to oddly fit into this particular site with the scaffolding beside it which surrounds the Mack. Perhaps the linearity of the letterforms is consistent with their environment on construction sites. –––– Mcneil, P. and Laurence King Publishing (2017). The visual history of type. London: Laurence King Publishing.

Location

Howard Street, Glasgow, UK