Mistakes in typography to drive you batty

“Dirt. Noise. Crowds. Delays. Scary smells. Even scarier fluids swirling on the floor. There are lots of reasons to loathe the New York City subway, but one very good reason to love it — Helvetica, the typeface that’s used on its signage.”

So begins “Mistakes in Typography Grate the Purists,” an excellent essay in the Nov. 15, 2009, New York Times. Alice Rawsthorn has captured the wonderful world of typeface fanaticism.

Seeing the clean, crisp shapes of those letters and numbers at station entrances, on the platforms and inside the trains is always a treat, at least it is until I spot the “Do not lean …” sign on the train doors. Ugh! There’s something not quite right about the “e” and the “a” in the word “lean.” Somehow they seem too small and too cramped. Once I’ve noticed them, the memory of the clean, crisp letters fades, and all I remember are the “off” ones.

Read and enjoy. Just try not to notice the lousy on-screen kerning.