Close

Help with Font

Home Forums Lettering and Font Identification Help with Font

Viewing 2 posts - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #5491
    swlacy
    Participant

    I’m new to the industry trying to find matching font. Font ID

    #5517
    MLC
    Keymaster

    Hello, welcome. This is a font you may be aware of called Modified Roman. However, the exact version is a bit hard to nail down based on your rubbing photos, due to the fact that there are several dozen versions out there. The font dates back to 1925, when it was designed by Timothy Jellow of the Spacerite Company, as a condensed (“or modified”) version of the Classic Roman alphabet. At this time metal letters were used to create an imprint on stencil which was then hand cut. Later the company also created a Condensed Roman. It remained largely unchanged until the 1960s when several companies, including PALL Canada and SKS (later renamed ScotchKut by 3M) produced their own plastic versions for use with the stencil press. These versions were based on the Spacerite alphabet but contained some changes, including thicker serifs. Often these companies would make variations to the alphabets at smaller sizes to allow for better sandblasting, so a 1″ plastic alphabet will often differ from a 2.5″ set–increasing the number of versions of the alphabet.

    In the late 1980s several CAD companies created digital versions of the Modified Roman alphabet, making their own changes along the way–some more faithful to the original metal or plastic alphabets than others. Since then there have been many other digital versions, some by software companies and others by specific monument shops in the US and Canada.

    This version looks either to be the SKS/ScotchKut alphabet, or a digital version based on it. The punctuation is often a giveaway, as well as small details on certain characters. You can feel free to check what you have against the MLC’s version of the SKS Modified Roman, which is faithful to the original plastic alphabets: https://www.monumentletteringcenter.com/product/mlc-scotchkut-modified-roman/

    A list of distinguishing features is listed on all MLC fonts, so you can view the MLC’s list of Modified Roman fonts and read through the specific features of each font here: https://www.monumentletteringcenter.com/product-tag/modified-roman-fonts/

Viewing 2 posts - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.