“The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and the New York City Subway”, 2008-11-18 (; similar):
There is a commonly held belief that Helvetica is the signage typeface of the New York City subway system, a belief reinforced by Helvetica, Gary Hustwit’s popular 2007 documentary about the typeface. But it is not true—or rather, it is only somewhat true. Helvetica is the official typeface of the MTA today, but it was not the typeface specified by Unimark International when it created a new signage system at the end of the 1960s. Why was Helvetica not chosen originally? What was chosen in its place? Why is Helvetica used now, and when did the changeover occur? To answer those questions this essay explores several important histories: of the New York City subway system, transportation signage in the 1960s, Unimark International and, of course, Helvetica. These four strands are woven together, over nine pages, to tell a story that ultimately transcends the simple issue of Helvetica and the subway.
…The sign system that Noorda and Vignelli first proposed to the NYCTA in 1966 has proved remarkably resilient. It endures today despite a number of severe changes that make one wonder if it can even be attributed to them and Unimark anymore. Their modular system survives but only as graphic units rather than physical components. The black stripe, mistakenly created by the sign shop but then integrated into the 1970 standards manual, exists in a variety of colors and iterations. The black-on-white color scheme is now reversed. The colored disks are still used—some with the original artwork—but the colors themselves have changed. Finally, Standard Medium has given way to Helvetica Medium—or, more accurately, to Neue Helvetica 65. Yet not only is the Unimark DNA still in evidence but it has served as the basis for a much broader transportation system identity. So, the answer to whether or not Helvetica is the typeface of the New York City subway system is that it is—but that it was not.