This logo for the New York City Transit Authority was only in use from 1962-1968, yet it still adorns the side of a building in South Brooklyn.

Brand management this is not. Brand oversight is more appropriate. Maybe it’s just a matter of expense, but still…44 years? I think they could have saved up the money to change or at least remove it. Perhaps they don’t even own the building anymore.

This is the logo from my grandfather’s hard hat. It has to be at least 50 years old (the hat at least, a quick search for the company yielded no results). He wasn’t a construction worker by trade, but did surveying for the Ohio turnpike as a summer job when he wasn’t teaching.

I love the typeface for the “hardtop” text. A nice slab serif — a little wide, a little thin, not too bold, but with enough presence. And that “R” is perfection. If I can find some time, I’ll have to re-create the font from this photo.

There’s something at firs odd, but then somehow comforting in this sign. The angled background shape and highly italicized “super” sans-serif typeface contrasting with the old school slab serif “P” with the heavy drop shadow. Plus the white shape being corner cut to match the angle of the black background. It’s all a little bit circus and a little bit modern. It’s a little bit country and a little bit rock ‘n roll.

Upper West Side, Manhattan.