by Raquel Breternitz, Lauren Griffin and Karen Soriano

Our aim was to locate and record examples of interesting signage and typography in Mart and their varying conditions, with emphasis on lettering with a hand-made, authentic feel. Our hope is that the residents of Mart will recognize the significance that signage and typography has on the outward appearance of the town as well as its potential to reflect Mart’s rich history.

Walking up and down Texas Avenue and Pearl Street, we photographed about thirty examples, drew outline versions of the ten best ones (a standard typographic practice when digitizing “found” letters) and plotted them on a map. The rest were put into a book accompanying the map so that none of the information was lost. We would like to do more extensive research on the buildings where we found the signage/typography and incorporate that into the book so as not to assume historical significance. Each example probably has a its own story and the book would be a great opportunity to add that information.

The book can be viewed on blurb here

Texture of type location and type style

by Karina Munguia and Shara Kashani

A reworking of the above research, showing the type styles and surfaces of the signs.