Designer aims to save D's vintage signs, letters

The historic individuality of Detroit's faded neighborhoods is preserved in characters, literally — in the fonts lining the vintage signs and hand-painted advertisements of small businesses.

That is, until decades-old signs for laundromats, bars, car washes and more are torn down, painted over or sun-baked away.

To preserve that history, a graphic designer and illustrator in Detroit has a Kickstarter campaign under way to digitize 10 unique fonts from Detroit neighborhoods. Jessica Krcmarik, 25, aims to offer pay-as-you-can downloads of the fonts to be used on anything from the size of matchbooks to billboards, or even on digital signs.

"I can't save the physical sign, but I can at least make sure people don't forget it was there," she said, adding that the signs are part of a visual landscape that makes the city's neighborhoods "awesome and unique."

Many of these signs are so-called "ghost signs," hand-painted on brick, that remain decipherable long after their intended purpose has been served. The Free Press, with help from readers, recently compiled ghost signs into a map and photo gallery. Ghost signs are in even more danger of disappearing than the ones from still-operating businesses.

Krcmarik's project makes it possible for a piece of these signs to exist in perpetuity. She's halfway to a $5,000 goal, and if successful, her Gratiot and Riopelle type foundry is to receive a matching grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The money will go toward software and hardware to compile the fonts and make them shareable, she said.

Among her at least 60 backers is Nick Tobier, associate professor at University of Michigan's School of Art and Design. He said digitally cataloging those fonts is a great legacy and culturally important.

The 20th-Century signs come from an era when it was still more affordable to have somebody paint a sign than to have it printed on vinyl. Preserving the lettering styles offers an alternative to fonts that are largely standardized.

"It injects the artist's language into stuff that ordinarily comes preloaded with a software package," he said.

On Thursday, Krcmarik said she was walking by a check-cashing place that had recently replaced its original-looking signage with letters in what appear to be Times New Roman.

Tobier said there's growing interest today in a throwback to hand lettering. He pointed out that Great Lakes Coffee in midtown Detroit has employees who are really skilled at chalkboard lettering used to illustrate its menu.

Krcmarik is finding similar signs in specific neighborhoods, creating the fonts from what she's seeing in them. The fonts have names like "Mack Avenue," "Dundee" and "Southwest" for the neighborhoods or blocks from which they originate.

"The thing that takes a lot of time is collecting photos," she said, adding that she appreciates people sending her what they see.

Among her favorite spots are signs along the Alter Road area and near Gratiot and 8 Mile, where "a lot of great old laundromat signs" can be found, she said.

Krcmarik lives in East English Village and previously lived in Woodbridge. She said she came up with the typography idea during her commutes to and from her studio in Eastern Market, on Riopelle and Gratiot, where she also works as a freelancer for small businesses.

Judith Moldenhauer, associate professor in graphic design with Wayne State University, wasn't familiar with Krcmarik's project but said the signs often are based on existing typefaces such as serif and sans-serif.

"That kind of thing is kind of a tradition in a lot of places; Milwaukee, Chicago, various places," she said.

Tobier said font projects similar to Krcmarik's have been created based on carnival posters, among other sources.

"There's a large industry in font design, and it comes from somewhere," he said.

He said Krcmarik's project is especially interesting because it involves sightings in neighborhoods. "They're not isolated in a page or a blank wall," but they're part of the city.

"It's really beautiful stuff," he said.

Contact Robert Allen at rallen@freepress.com or @rallenMI.