Timișoara · a type project

The signs of the cityredrawn as letters

We document the hand-painted signs of the old quarters and turn them into a type family anyone can use.

Pastry shop
Open daily
Pastry shop
Open daily
The sign todayRedrawn
Bakery
Shopfront
Barber
Shopfront
Tailor
Shopfront
Books
Shopfront

Three styles,
one street

Each style starts from a kind of sign often seen in the city. Names and drawings are concept-stage proposals.

Style 01in progress
Rr

Bega Bloc

Condensed, for long signs on narrow facades.

Style 02in progress
Rr

Bega Serif

High contrast, for tailors, pharmacies and cafés.

Style 03in progress
Rr

Bega Brush

Round and heavy, like letters brushed onto sheet metal.

The sign
map

Press a stop to see the kind of sign we document in that quarter. The route is schematic.

BEGAFabricCetateElisabetinIosefinTraian Square
Stop

The method

Four steps, from the street to the font file.

1

We photograph

Fictional concept: an imagined archive of the city’s surviving signs.

2

We draw

The letters are redrawn, not copied, into a full set.

3

We test

On posters, menus and maps, before release.

4

We restore

Part of each licence would fund repainting the original signs.

Know an old sign worth saving?

Send a photo (demo)