The concept of "branding" per se is a fairly recent phenomenon, although "trademarks" have been around since at least 1777, when the Bass Brewery registered Great Britain's first ®, and longer than that in the form of the "hallmarks" used by craftsmen from medieval times.

City—or, perhaps more properly, Empire—"branding" is much older: in witness whereof, consider the iconic statue of Romulus and Remus and the SPQR banners carried by Roman legionaries.

I'm not familiar with the Metro Letters project. Was it actually implemented, or was it just a proposal?

Thanks oldnick for the pointers, I didn't think of looking at it from the "empire" point of view, it definitely sounds interesting, but may be straying a bit too much from my topics of discussion. So it's something to look in to at some other point I hope! Also I've since discovered it is claimed that Peter Behrens was the father/founder of corporate identity in 1907 for AEG.

JamesM: There is quite a nice book which exhibits the whole process of the project. It's called Metro Letters: A typeface for the twin Cities. Basically back in 2003, in conjunction with the Twin Cities Design Celebration (TCDC), a type project was started inviting a handful of well established type designers/studios to create a unique face for the Twin Cities. The winning entry was by LettError, and I must admit it is a beaut, so do check it out. To this day, I don't think it has been implemented which is a shame, but there is mention in the book that it was mainly to brand any publications/literature derived for the TCDC and to get people interested in type and design, more so than to brand the two cities. Kind of like the stuff Erik Spiekermann did for Glasgow quite a few years ago, I guess.

Ed Benguiat says that if you name a typeface after a city, eventually the city will adopt it officially. It happened with Ed's "Barcelona".

jmontalbano, Thanks for the contribution. I've just had a look into that but can't see much on it. Do you know where "Barcelona" has been implemented by the city? Also do you have a reference for that quote from Ed?

Thanks for the additional info on Metro Letters.

Offhand I'd think that cities have far less ability to brand themselves than private companies do. Branding a city's official website and literature is certainly feasible, although in many cities (especially smaller ones) some of the city's publications are put together by departmental staffers who clearly aren't designers and who may not understand or care about typographic guidelines.

Regarding signage, city council members may be hesitant to vote the money to redo all the city's signage just to update the typography. And some signage may be impractical to change or may need to be retained for historic reasons.

I'm not saying branding doesn't happen, obviously some cities do try to brand themselves. I'm just saying it's more difficult, for a variety of reasons, than for a corporation to do so.

hey Vicke, maybe in this node you can find something interesting http://typophile.com/node/80568

Hi andrijko, yes I have already looked at (and exhausted) that thread already! Although thanks for the mention and I now see that you were the one who started that discussion. Do you mind if I ask what your research was for and how did it go in the end?

As my question states I was more interested in finding out the how far back city's started this "effort", but through my research it does seem like something recently adapted in the past two decades maximum. However there has always been an intricate non-corportate relationship with city and typography obviously which is still very interesting.

Metro Letters was an interesting project but it was academic in nature as it wasn't part of any formal visual identity initiative for the cities. 'twas a nice Walker exhibit, though and some very nice typefaces came out of the project, of course.

aluminum: Yes, that's true which may be a shame as I really love the forms of LettError's winning family. I did wonder whether since the project in 2003 there have actually been any propositions to officially use it in the Twin Cities - I don't suppose you have any idea? There was no follow-up online which I found to suggest this.

Interestingly Yanone's work for Amman, the capital of Jordan, although starting off in a sense as a university project, actually manifested into a typeface officially used by the city which is great news and with good coverage of the project as well.

Using type to visually define a place may work best if you leverage design that is already associated in the public's subconscious mind with that place. The classic example is businesses who highlight their Maine roots by using Cheltenham, a face that is already synonymous with Maine because it's been used in the LL Bean catalog for decades.

I'm not aware of any City-sponsored use of the typefaces that were created. I believe the Walker has used the faces.

Great input, PublishingMojo. Would you be able to name any of these businesses which I could find a logo of online just as light research? Unfortunately from the UK I'm completely out of my depth when it comes to businesses specific to Maine.

Vicke, a US bottled-water company (Poland Spring) comes to mind, but looking at their web site now, it appears they've changed their look since then.
For research, you might pick some cities (or regions) and identify the most high-profile brands associated with those places (well-known consumer businesses, sports teams, movies or TV shows about those places, etc.). Do any of those brands use type in a way that evokes the spirit of the place?

Hi this is my first post, but I personally have dealt with ideas in relation to this. I am a geography student here in Utah (Western U.S., Rockies, Great Salt Lake, etc.) and completed a paper awhile ago on my town's "Sense of Place". In reference to that I would like you Google "Welcome Arches", the Western U.S. is dotted with them. Most famous might be Reno, Nevada. My hometown (Brigham City, Utah) has quite a good looking one as well which has been there since the mid 1920's. Also something that might help...Google or Wikipedia "Hillside Letters" or "Mountain Monograms" these are letters that represent High Schools and Colleges. I find one in most every town with a decent hill or mountain nearby, including my own. I don't know if this is in the direction you are heading, but here's a nickel in your hat.

TurtleType: I'm really grateful for your contribution, whilst it may not be something I can look at in much detail in terms of as a case study, it may be worth a mention during my analysis. Plus, it's quite a wonderful thing to be introduced to, you certainly don't get these in the UK. I just googled it quickly and it's a shame that apparently the numbers of them are slowly declining, some of them do seem quite dated with slogans saying "a nice place to live" etc

Possibly the most famous city sign in the US is this Las Vegas sign. It's appeared in numerous movies, tv shows and in countless tourist photos:

You can read about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_Fabulous_Las_Vegas_sign

Another famous one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Sign

However the Vegas and Hollywood signs were NOT created as part of official city-branding projects. They were private projects.

Ah right, yes now you've brought it to my attention, I do remember that Las Vegas sign featured in films and whatnot, it didn't cross my mind to think of that when looking at welcome "arches", but I agree it pretty much does the same job.

Wasn't there some celebrity uproar when there were talks of disposing of the sign? I remember reading that actors were paying ridiculous amounts trying to save it. Anyway, it's interesting that you bring it up actually, obviously the Hollywood sign is one of its kind and instantly recognisable, but I wonder whether it's the whole backdrop and context as well that contribute to that. For example, if you were to replace the lettering, particular the "O"s with a rounder form for instance, do you think people would notice?

Questions like this are surfacing in my mind since I'm also looking at the London Underground and Johnston's infamous typeface, and I found out a while ago that one of the roundels at Euston Square (just an underground station for people unfamiliar with the tube) actually have the wrong typeface, I believe they used Gill Sans instead of Johnston's, yet I don't think people bat an eyelid when they look at it. May have something to do with the two faces being quite similar, or also just because it's not a big deal.

Hi, I don't know what parameters you have, but the idea of associating visual symbols to places can be quite far reaching. Have you considered the concept of landmarks in relationship to communicating place. Using made up symbols to communicate might be a nice venture, consider the hobos who placed notches on fence posts to communicate a friendly home. http://www.vagabondish.com/the-secret-language-of-vagabonds-and-traveling-hobos/ The prominence of structures also can create significance thus creating a sense of language without the use of the alphabet. I apologize if I keep finding examples from my region but not only was Independence Rock in Wyoming a landmark of significance to the pioneers, but they carved and tarred their names in it! I have been there and it is quite a sight! This might be a little in left field (I tend to be a divergent thinker) How about "Metes and Bounds" which communicates property lines using natural features. All I'm saying is don't limit yourself to the alphabet, visual communication is everywhere! If I saw a picture of Big Ben I wouldn't think, A big clock. I would think, Big Ben=London. You can't force that type of communication. Typography is interesting because it's one of the few arts that tries NOT to be noticed...well, generally. Question? Do you have an actual hypothesis in mind for this dissertation, or is this an exploration. (I should have started with that question to begin with.) Thanks for your consideration.

Thanks, TurtleType, I love diverse thinking myself as usually better ideas follow but I'm afraid my time is limited in this venture and I just need to press on with what I already have and not diverge too much. Obviously there is communication on all levels and it's not limited to type and letterforms, but that is my main area of interest and if I branch out too much I might as well be looking at visual communication as a whole. Also just to establish that it's an explorative study I'm doing rather than proposing a hypothesise and then looking for findings etc. Basically I am focused on the relationship between typography and culture, and investigating this on three levels: national, local/regional and in metro systems with time as a parameter, so my research spans from the last century. This was actually through the suggestion of my supporting tutor, however I've come to regret it as with such a wide scope it doesn't seem feasible to get really in-depth. I would have definitely done it differently had I not already gone this far.

> if you were to replace the lettering [in the Hollywood sign] ...
> do you think people would notice?

There would be a very negative reaction if someone changed the sign. It's a landmark.

It's not famous due to the appropriateness of the font. A skilled designer would not have picked that font to represent Hollywood. It's more like folk art. And it's been there so long that it's become iconic.

Vicke,
i have used collected info for talking about territorial identification in Donetsk city. here is video and slides, if you are interested (sorry, without any translation from Ukrainian):
http://type.org.ua/znaky-misc-znaky-mist/