The new "Helvetica and the NYC Subway System" book by Paul Shaw

Last night at the Type Directors Club in New York, lettering artist, type designer, teacher, design historian, and all around type nut Paul Shaw released his latest book, titled Helvetica and the New York City Subway System: The True (Maybe) Story.

The book presents years of research Paul has done on the complicated history of NYC’s subway signage, and why the popular concept of Helvetica as the typeface of the system isn’t entirely accurate. An earlier version of the research originally appeared as an epic online essay for AIGA Voice, but the book introduces all kinds of new material, including a signage-focused chronology of the subway, extensive supplementary text (some pages have more footnotes than body text), additional new photographs, and reproductions from historic standards manuals. See gratuitous detail shots below.

While the 273 illustrations in the book are bound to please the typical type-gazer, the publication also serves as much more than a fluffed up piece of eye candy. The level of detail in research for such an obscure topic is staggering. For anyone familiar with Paul, however, this comes as no surprise (check out his blog, Blue Pencil for a taste of his detail-oriented fanaticism).

Interestingly, the only thing in the book that is typeset using Helvetica is on the binding. This conscious exclusion emphasizes the central concept of the text that the typeface originally chosen by Unimark for their 1966 and 1970 signage designs was not Helvetica (it was a face called Standard, aka Akzidenz-Grotesk). You can read the book for the details.

Paul self-published the book under the imprint of Blue Pencil Editions in a limited edition of 500 (400 of which are for sale). The $85 price tag might cause some hesitation, but for those interested in type or design history it’s well worth the investment.

For more info or to order a copy, check the official website.