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Rumsey Taylor discovers why Choc, a quirky calligraphic typeface drawn by a French graphic designer in the 1950s, appears on storefronts throughout New York:

Choc is far from the most popular typeface on the storefronts of New York, but it can still be found everywhere and in every borough. It’s strewn on fabric awnings and etched in frosted glass. It gleams in bright magenta or platinum lighting. It’s used for beauty salons, Mexican restaurants, laundromats, bagel shops, numerous sushi bars. It may be distorted, stacked vertically, or shoehorned into a cluster of other typefaces. But even here Choc remains clear and articulate, its voice deep and friendly, its accent foreign, perhaps, yet endearing.

Turns out the fonts wide-spread adoption can be traced back to it being included with CorelDraw (a graphics editor popular with sign-making shops in the early 1990s), although under the pseudonym Staccato 555. Software defaults strike again!

(Also, check out the specimen cover from 1955; both timeless and yet of the period. I love it!)

Tom Williams captured these two craftsmen at work. Discovered via this review of the new O Street identity, created with the help of a Glasgow-based road-lining crew.

Jason Santa Maria:

Ratios and baselines grids can be too rigid for the inherently flexible nature of the web. Just because something works at one size doesn’t mean the same ratio will be appropriate at larger or smaller sizes.

I often design websites to a vertical rhythm, even though maintaining it can be difficult during development. Jason’s arguments made me realise that this practice goes against the grain of the medium; something I discourage in The Web Aesthetic. I need to let go of my baseline grids.