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Door Sign Reference

Started by Scarfwearer, May 14, 2009, 03:14 pm

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hb88banzai

Interesting data point - I have since found out from the Seller that this particular sign was actually Perspex rather than glass. Unlike the other Perspex signs we've seen, however, this one has the printing on the back side of clear Perspex with a white wash behind the letters in the same fashion as the original glass signs.

So apparently they started using Perspex earlier than previously presumed, but using the older methods, and it was only later that they started using the translucent white Perspex necessitating the painting of the lettering on the more vulnerable front as seen in other samples that have come into various members possession.

I don't remember if this question has been asked before, but does anybody know whether the Barnet box's sign was on glass or Perspex? Ironageman?

deck5

Aug 10, 2012, 05:23 pm #106 Last Edit: Aug 10, 2012, 05:25 pm by deck5
Took a stab at it.

pa2.jpg

Here it is as a PDF:

http://quartus.net/nbridges/images/pa2.pdf

DoctorWho8

That's pretty darn close using the existing Perpetua.  Did you add a stroke to the heavy up some of the letters?
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

deck5

That's actually a font called Dragon TS, and I had to reshape and change the stroke weight of nearly every character.  Still needs a few tweaks.

Scarfwearer

Aug 10, 2012, 09:16 pm #109 Last Edit: Aug 10, 2012, 09:21 pm by Scarfwearer
I've always thought that some of the door signs come from the RansoM NoTe School of Graphic Design  :P
That's a beautiful reproduction of some heinous typography.

Crispin

hb88banzai

Well, as it turns out the Canadian buyer I was bidding against was our very own Starcross.

Now I wish I hadn't bid it up.

Some mixed signals from the Seller that this may be a reproduction sign done some time ago, but the similarities (to put it mildly) to the Barnet sign are way too much to believe it is a repro unless it was done directly from an original (making the silk screen master using photo-resist image from original sample, etc.).

Time may tell.

deck5

Aug 11, 2012, 01:03 am #111 Last Edit: Aug 11, 2012, 01:05 am by deck5
As a test, I've pasted my version of the sign text overtop of the two real Police Box images:

barnet.jpg

tellthepolice.jpg

The match is exact; it's a bit difficult to tell I did anything to the second image at all.

galacticprobe

Aug 11, 2012, 03:30 am #112 Last Edit: Aug 11, 2012, 03:32 am by galacticprobe
Quote from: deck5 on Aug 10, 2012, 07:19 pm
That's actually a font called Dragon TS, and I had to reshape and change the stroke weight of nearly every character.  Still needs a few tweaks.


Your version really looks spot on as it is. When you're done tweaking the strokes, are you going to rename the font (as in "Save it As...")? And if so, can you make it available for others to download? (Or is that not legal?)

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

deck5

It's not the font itself I'm modifying, it's the shapes of each resulting letter in the image I've created.  If I could modify the font, it wouldn't do the trick anyway -- even the same letter in different places in the sign have different shapes.  It's quite a piece of work. :)

hb88banzai

Aug 11, 2012, 08:32 am #114 Last Edit: Aug 11, 2012, 08:59 am by hb88banzai
Very nice reproduction deck5. You work fast!

Off hand, I have a few notes though --

- Right limb of the "U" should be as thick as the left.

- Bottom of the bow on the "P" shouldn't tuck up, it should meet the main vertical stroke at a right angle.

- The top left-going serif on the "N" and "A" is more pronounced - goes up a bit more from the vertical stroke and further left.

- Both horizontal limbs of the "F" should be the same length.

- All three horizontal limbs of the "E" should be the same length.

-- Note that due to the different type of serif on the central limbs of the "F" and "E" it gives the impression they are longer.

And yes, let us say the typography on this sign is... uh hmm, distinctive. But all in all I think its eccentricities add to its charm.

I've spoken with Starcross, and it is his intention to scan and post this sign in due course, so it should be possible at that point to do either a spot on reproduction (warts and all) or a more normalized one like this with even more accuracy of placement and sizing.

Can't wait!

hb88banzai

Aug 11, 2012, 11:11 am #115 Last Edit: Aug 11, 2012, 11:14 am by hb88banzai
I asked the Seller of this door to clarify the sign's original vs. repro status - to his knowledge it's almost certainly real and NOT a reproduction, as the relative condition of the grout, surrounding paint and uniform state of decay had suggested to me. The story he was relating regarding sign reproductions was a separate issue told in the same breath in a way that had confused things for both me and, apparently, Starcross.

So, Barnet lives!

Note that this particular example is on Perspex, however, and not glass. Still curious on whether Barnet was Perspex.

deck5

Quote from: hb88banzai on Aug 11, 2012, 08:32 am
Very nice reproduction deck5. You work fast!

Off hand, I have a few notes though --


I agree with your list of inaccuracies in my version; Starcross's scan would be a great place to start to build a better version.

hb88banzai

Here is another picture the Seller just sent - it's a bit more straight-on, but a bit further away --

PA2_Phone_Door_and_Beacon_Cap.JPG

hb88banzai

Quote from: deck5 on Aug 10, 2012, 07:19 pm
That's actually a font called Dragon TS, and I had to reshape and change the stroke weight of nearly every character.  Still needs a few tweaks.


In comparing things, I really do think Perpetua Titling is much closer a starting point to the font used in this Post sign (and by extension Barnet's) than Dragon TS. Much less adjustment of character shapes would have to be made - even to the point where this could be considered a variation of (or derived from) Perpetua Titling.

starcross

Quote from: hb88banzai on Aug 11, 2012, 08:32 am
A collector in Canada appears to have been the buyer.

Well, as it turns out the Canadian buyer I was bidding against was our very own Starcross.

I've spoken with Starcross, and it is his intention to scan and post this sign in due course.


I can't believe no one figured it was me with clues like Police Post parts and a Canadian!

The wait is over my friends the door arrived last night and I had a hell of a time getting the sign out of that rusted door.
eventually it all came loose. I scanned it today at work, all Images are on my flickr account.

I took both front and back scans at 600DPI, and I used a lamp to back light the sign to try and make the text sharper. As it has been said the sign is plastic, and the letters are printed on the back with a white wash across the entire back just like the glass signs. Now its all deteriorating and the white wash is flecking off, and so are bits of the text. At some point a painter slopped white paint all over the back of the sign trapping pencil scribbles in between layers. I got most of it off as it was already flaking but I dare not take anything more as it will take the text and all.

The scans on my flicker account will in any case give someone with the technical skills the ability to trace the characters to recreate the font from the backside scans.  The P in Pull is 5/8" tall, and the T in Obtain is 7/16".  If anyone wants more information please let me know.

Sadly the paint may not be much of a help to anyone wanting the correct colors. The paint melts in water and its too dirty to tell anything other than its mostly black. I'm still trying to locate a decent patch before I get the metal work cleaned up. I was thinking of sandblasting, but I'm open to suggestions on how best to get the rust down to bare metal for painting.

7883065708_4b20e57025_z.jpg