Mission Mission

If you can’t already tell, I’m a huge fan of local typographer James T. Edmondson and his contributions to the world of letters. Well, James has done it again. Mission Script is a tribute of the hand-painted signage of the liquor stores, taquerias, doughnut shops, and bodegas of our neighborhood, and it’s the first typeface to come out of Lost Type’s Mission Collection.

You can download Mission Script (and a bunch of other snazzy typefaces) over at Lost Type. And do consider making a contribution if you’re really going to use it.

Lost Type is an amazing pay-what-you-want type foundry, also known as the place where that trendy new restaurant got those cool fonts for their menus. They’re also previously known for releasing a font inspired by Mission laundromats.

They’ve just completed Field Trip SF, a four-day reality TV-style trip to San Francisco, where “a handful of Lost Type’s designers [lived] under one roof with a common goal – to create a typeface inspired by San Francisco.”

As it turns out, the designers spent a lot of time in the Mission, developing type inspired by St. Francis Fountain, liquor store signage, that one optometrist/art gallery place on Valencia, and other notable Mission landmarks.

Lost Type plans to release three typefaces produced during Field Trip as a Mission-themed collection in the near future, so get excited, type nerds!

P.S. These guys aren’t the first to delve into Mission-themed typography. Just check out our sidebar headers, all referencing iconic Mission signage and all designed by our buddy Sexpigeon. Can you identify them all?

Local designer James T. Edmondson has created a new font based on the lettering found on laundromat windows in the Mission, aptly named Lavanderia. Fancy!

Here’s what James had to say about his font:

Laundry is an incredibly tedious task—the antithesis of glamour, so I have massive appreciation for the guy that decided to letter the window with a script that captures all the essence of what a laundromat lacks. Excitement, passion, love. It’s all in that script.

How nice it is to create something beautiful, where boring, stagnant lettering would have easily sufficed! My latest typeface Lavanderia is a celebration and a tribute to the enthusiasm that influences those who go above and beyond to create beauty where there is none.

Inspiration came from San Francisco’s Mission District, a vibrant and at times foul smelling part of town, rich with dive bars, taquerias, and unemployed twenty-somethings who look extremely creative but actually do very little. It’s a magical place.

Download Lavanderia here, and consider leaving a donation. Making fonts is hard!

Tipster Chris writes in with photos of a new smoke shop being put up AS WE SPEAK on 24th and Folsom:

At first I thought tipster Chris was messing with us with a couple of doctored pics.  A sign that ugly can’t be real.

Boss Tycoon is clearly taking typography tips from a seasonal Halloween Headquarters store.  Cool!