Beachwood
Inspired by the vintage stretched-to-fit street signs of Los Angeles
6 WEIGHTS & HEIGHTS
XTALL EXTRA LIGHT
REGULAR EXTRA LIGHT WIDE EXTRA LIGHT XWIDE BOLD
Beachwood Variable font, focus on its inspiration from vintage Los Angeles “shotgun” street signs, its capture of a wide range of widths and weights, and its functionality as a single variable font file with multiple design axes for controlling width, weight, and slant within a single file
Many of the U.S.’ early roads were unmarked until local auto clubs began installing wooden signs to help drivers find their way. Auto club workers traveled the roads with paint and brushes to touch up dents and scratches. When the U.S. Department of Public Works standardized signage on U.S. highways in the late 1940s, the delightfully idiosyncratic local signs were all replaced.
SYMBOLS & EXTRAS
PARAGRAPH
ALDVLB//. VA %3***IJSBB3&&CILS3LBAIRAVK
LA “shotgun” street signs refer to the iconic, classic porcelain street signs used in Los Angeles from 1946 to 1962, characterized by their distinctive “shotgun” shape and blue background with white lettering. Though the city now uses a different style, many of these durable “bird nest” or “shotgun” signs remain in place, especially in historic Hollywood and downtown areas, due to their durability and nostalgic appeal
Pre-1946
X
Wooden signs were used before World War II.
1946-1962: The “shotgun-style” porcelain signs were introduced.
Mid-1960s: An aluminum blade-style sign with white letters on a black background replaced the porcelain signs.
1985-Present: The current style, a blue trapezoidal sign with porcelain on steel, is the most common today.
For a city supposedly as private as Los Angeles, there’s always a lot of chatter about the public streetscape. What belongs, what doesn’t, and what to hold precious. The never-ending controversy about billboards and graphics pasted on walls has gotten hot again. But in a new way. The upset now is over plans by the owners of the Wilshire Grand hotel to tear it down and build a pair of skyscraper towers.
Any developer -- in this economy -- willing to invest in a downtown skyscraper should be on some level applauded. But the controversy isn’t really over the construction project. The debate is about the developer’s request for the OK to let advertisers beam messages on the towers.
The targets of those flashing colors would I presume be downtown pedestrians and drivers. And if there’s enough of either of those to support ads like that, well -- that’s another good sign about the future of Downtown. Some who oppose the signage think the sedate nature of Figueroa Street needs to be safeguarded. They lose me there. There are places in the city where billboards should be allowed to burn bright, where outdoor graphics should be bold and distracting. If you can’t do that at the corner of Figueroa and Wilshire, I don’t know where you could.
Impose some controls that let City Hall dial things back if cars suddenly start crashing in the intersection. But otherwise, adding a little visual life to a downtown that still sleeps too soundly at night seems like a good thing.
On the other hand, I’m less sold on a change that affects the streetscape in a different way. You know those signs at almost every corner in Los Angeles that tell you the street name? Well, the city is slowly phasing in a new style of sign. And if you’ve seen them you can’t help but notice a certain aesthetic shift. For decades L.A. street signs have been sleek and cool.
UPPERCASE
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff
Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm
Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt
UPPERCASE
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff
Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm
Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt
lowercase
Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz abcdefghijklm nopqrstuvwxyz
Symbols & Extras
!@#$%^&*()_-+=`~{}[]:;”’< > ,.?/
Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
lowercase abcdefghijklm nopqrstuvwxyz
Symbols & Extras
!@#$%^&*()_-+=`~{}[]:;”’< > ,.?/
UPPERCASE
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr
Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz UPPERCASE UPPERCASE
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt
Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
lowercase
lowercase
abcdefghijklm nopqrstuvwxyz
abcdefghijklm nopqrstuvwxyz
Symbols & Extras
Symbols & Extras
!@#$%^&*()_-+=`~{}[]:;”’< > ,.?/
!@#$%^&*()_-+=`~{}[]:;”’< > ,.?/
lowercase
abcdefghijklm nopqrstuvwxyz
Symbols & Extras
!@#$%^&*()_-+=`~{}[]:;”’< > ,.?/
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff
Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm
Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt
Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
abcdefghijklm nopqrstuvwxyz lowercase
Symbols & Extras !@#$%^&*()_-+=`~{}[]:;”’< > ,.?/ 13jBj jbh^y65^ djh xxGuy9 JH
(O09099009N]] jiou28u&* T >/{P_ ~jdjbZOLKL ;;L>: ”,jidhiwo__=@@kndjn
Beachwood Variable
Beachwood Variable
Beachwood Variable
Beachwood Variable
Beachwood Variable
Beachwood Variable
Beachwood Variable
Beachwood Variable
Beachwood Variable
Beachwood Variable
Beachwood Variable
Beachwood Variable
BEACHWOOD VARIABLE BEACHWOOD VARIABLE BEACHWOOD VARIABLE