Very briefly, I just want to pause here and remember the work of Bob Noorda, influential graphic designer who passed away two weeks ago. Noorda’s impressionist style was seen in a number of corporate logos and posters, but he is most famous and celebrated for designing the signage for the Metro Transit Authority right here in the city that does not sleep. The New York City Subway signage is considered one of the major keystones in the ubiquity that Helvetica currently enjoys as the straightforward, no-frills typeface.
A couple of interesting tidbits from the New York Times obituary:
“Their system was a mess,” Mr. Noorda was quoted as saying… “Sometimes pieces of paper taped to the wall were the only indication for the station.”
Yet the project proved disappointing to the designers. The M.T.A. was responsible for executing the designs and producing the signs in its own sign shop, and Mr. Noorda’s directives were not always followed. The sign makers, for example, at first chose to use Standard Medium, a typeface from their own shop. “They did not want to invest in Helvetica,” Ms. Conradi wrote.
Mr. Noorda’s black-on-white signs also got dirty quickly, so the M.T.A. switched to white on black.
The rest of the obit is a quick and interesting read, I recommend it.
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