Subway 56
A2-Type · 2015
Drawn from mid-century New York Transit Museum signage and originally commissioned by art director Matt Willey for the New York Times Magazine in 2015, then expanded in 2022 into four height variants.
About
Originally a single-style commission for the New York Times Magazine 'Walking' issue, the typeface takes its letterforms directly from signs held in the Brooklyn-based New York Transit Museum collection. In 2022 A2-Type expanded it into a multi-height family of four masters — X, XX, XXX and XXXX — giving designers control over vertical proportion while retaining the original's period character. The result works across editorial, signage and display applications at both large and small sizes.
Classification
A single-style sans drawn from mid-century New York transit signage, placing it firmly in the vernacular or sign-painter tradition of sans-serif lettering rather than any formal grotesque or geometric lineage.