This is the version I came up with. It's based on  several images. I also have this as a PDF.

Thanks also!

Hello, everyone!

I'm a VFX artist in Los Angeles working on a CG TARDIS just as a personal project, and I'm amazed at how much great info is here!  I came to this thread looking for info on the lettering.  Tons of great stuff  here as usual, but I didn't see a vector-based, precise recreation of the hand-lettered sign seen on the Newbery box shown in the Ribos Operation reference.  So I did one, and you're welcome to it.  I think when it comes to hand-lettered stuff, getting all the imperfections right is crucial for the aesthetic - it's just not the same as a font.  In fact, really looking at the letterforms on the sign, they're all over the map.  It's wonderful

Here's a little animation showing my recreation against the original reference posted here.
http://mikeverta.com/Posts/POLICE_BOX_Sign_2.gif






And here is a link to the .pdf of the letterforms.

Thanks again!

_Mike

EDIT: Animated GIFs are not supported on TardisBuilders - image replaced by link -- SW

Thanks for posting this! It looks great.

And one more for you fellow detail nuts - the TY-J sign as it appeared at the Doctor Who Experience:





Here's the vector file:

http://mikeverta.com/TY-J_Sign_Final.pdf

_Mike

Loving these more more

Could anyone who's slightly nerdier about fonts than I help me identify the typeface used for the transitional era met box signage?


(variation?)
A couple of closer shots here:
http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=2090.msg20565#msg20565
It also seems to be used on the instruction signage of the box, too.

Regarding the Mark 3-5-style met box top signage, Avenir does indeed seem to be the closest match for "POLICE BOX"; however, the centre bar of the upper case E appears to be too long for Avenir, compared to the shorter length on the actual sign. The upper case P is also too long, and the C isn't a perfect circle like it should be. Pluto Sans is the closest thing we have for "PUBLIC CALL", but it's something of an anachronism as Pluto Sans wasn't designed until 2012! 


Apologies if this comes off as pedantic! I'm just stumped because I haven't found a single typeface published pre-1940 that matches at all.

Quote from: lymerence on May 16, 2018, 09:31 pm
...
Apologies if this comes off as pedantic! I'm just stumped because I haven't found a single typeface published pre-1940 that matches at all.

Pedantic? Welcome to the wonderful world of trying to match neat-and-tidy, modern computerised (perfectly drawn/rendered) versions of fonts to limited references of hand painted/stencilled/etc typefaces! 
It's these sort of tiny differences that had me draw the number 76 from scratch, because I could not, for the life of me, find a match to the I.M Foreman gate-sign!

Hopefully someone here will already have a clue to this typeface, but if not, I'll give it a go tomorrow.

I thought we'd determined the closest font used on the "Police Box" signs was Keep Calm:


Sorry about the clipping of some lettering on the tops. I don't know why my computer did that when I saved the file. It looks right when I typed it out.

Dino.

Quote from: lymerence on May 16, 2018, 09:31 pm
Could anyone who's slightly nerdier about fonts than I help me identify the typeface used for the transitional era met box signage?


(variation?)
A couple of closer shots here:
http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=2090.msg20565#msg20565
It also seems to be used on the instruction signage of the box, too.

I took the liberty of posting a copy of a close in shot of the top sign from the other page you are referencing..



The font is very hard to pin down exactly, but I'll share my assessment and hope it helps.  At first glance the typeface shares a number of similarities to the Trajan family, but there are differences, notably the serifs are much too long.  The Classic Roman typeface is very close except for the counter on the P is not connected to the stem, and the U has a spur, which is not visible on the top sign.




Coinage Caps Eric Gill is a typeface which is based off of coinage minted in and around the 1920s has a similar appearance to the font used too. The notable differences between the sample and the font are that the barbs on the C are more pronounced, the E and L have thicker arms and legs, and the U again has a spur.



If you were to ask me I would say the Classic Roman has more of the general look and feel of the typeface, but there are variants of the Coinage Caps font that are very close as well.  It may require a little tweaking to create an exact duplicate to match the lettering on the transitional box though.

Thank you! And it really is difficult to pinpoint the perfect font, if it even exists digitally. One of the main things I was looking for was the spur on the A, which both fonts lack (and which seems to be a rare thing in general). The bottom sign from 1929 to this era seems to use a similar typeface, although the Us have spurs on them.


The closest match I've found is Goudy Old Style, which shares a number of elements, but still has some that don't match (i.e. the lack of a spur on the A).

You may also want to look at Quadrat-Serial-Regular which has the spur you are looking for on the A, but also has the spur on the U as well.

Ok, I had a post all typed up about how it's not just the 'A' that's distinctive, but the 'P' and 'E' too.... but then I had another look between the sign as printed in the info leaflet, and the actual one on the box:
They're not the same typeface!



This is just on the first word, given that it's the only close up of the top sign in the linked post.

Quote from: Lord Other on May 20, 2018, 06:53 pm
I took the liberty of posting a copy of a close in shot of the top sign from the other page you are referencing..

[noimg width=799 height=602]https://s19.postimg.cc/cixtr3o2r/4-1.jpg[/img]

The Classic Roman typeface...
[noimg width=800 height=206]https://s19.postimg.cc/3x8cbg5ur/Classic_Roman.jpg[/img]

Coinage Caps Eric Gill is a typeface...
[noimg width=800 height=200]https://s19.postimg.cc/4mr4nqe37/Coinage_Caps_Eric_Gill.jpg[/img]

Here's a little help with those images, Other Lord. For some reason they're not coming through. (You might want to take a look at this post here for some help with posting images: http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=5617.msg66621#msg66621.

For the images above, in order:


4-1.jpg


Classic_Roman.jpg


Coinage_Caps_Eric_Gill.jpg

I hope this helps.

Dino.

Did we ever come up with a font-a-like for the top sign used on the redressed Newbery and the TJY in Logopolis?