[HN Gopher] Fran Sans - font inspired by San Francisco light rai...
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Fran Sans - font inspired by San Francisco light rail displays
Author : ChrisArchitect
Score : 370 points
Date : 2025-11-23 18:20 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (emilysneddon.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (emilysneddon.com)
| ChrisArchitect wrote:
| Start here for more of the actual font:
| https://emilysneddon.com/fransans
| zygentoma wrote:
| Both of these pages seem to me like they're designed for
| mobile-only usage.
|
| I'm sitting here with a 4k screen, browser maximized, and all
| text is, like, huuuuge!
|
| And the worst part? You can't zoom! Seems kind of user-hostile
| to me ...
| aoki wrote:
| > Back at the SFMTA, Armando told me the Breda vehicles are being
| replaced, and with them their destination displays will be
| swapped for newer LED dot-matrix units that are more efficient
| and easier to maintain. By the end of 2025 the signs that
| inspired Fran Sans will disappear from the city, taking with them
| a small but distinctive part of the city's voice.
|
| :-(
| amelius wrote:
| If the dot-matrix is fine enough, you could still render any
| font properly. Plus you can add emoticons :)
| eichin wrote:
| FYI no lower case, also "contact the author for licensing". (The
| article is a neat story of digging into the history of the
| displays which are about to be going out of service, as well as
| some practical aspects of the font design - it's just not
| casually available.)
| lilsneddz wrote:
| Honestly, I wasn't expecting this font to go anywhere, and then
| the SF Chronicle reached out, which has been lovely. Anyone who
| emails me can have a copy, I just haven't made an easy download
| link. I've thought about it since, but actually it's way nicer
| to hear from people and hear about what they're making. It is a
| community-driven project, and this slower form of distribution
| feels closer to my original intent. :)
| oktwtf wrote:
| Typography nerds are some of my favourite nerds.
|
| Font specimen pages are so often screaming with design language
| and intention, they push and prod to evoke and present.
|
| Maybe the secret has something to do with the lack of priority to
| the actual content; just present the font gosh-darn!
|
| Looks nicely executed within the confines of the inspiration.
| very cool
| shagie wrote:
| Andrew Glassner's Notebook: Recreational Computer Graphics is a
| _really_ neat book (I especially like the tiles that can add
| numbers). The author 's site is https://glassner.com/computer-
| graphics/
|
| Chapter 6 in the book (
| https://archive.org/details/andrewglassnersn0000glas/page/98...
| ) Signs of Significance starts with 7 segment displays to the
| 14 segment and 5x7...
|
| He then goes on to the 66 segment Vienna underground font and
| an 83 segment font he saw in an elevator at a Siggraph
| conference in Orlando ... and then concludes with his own 55
| element mosaic.
|
| --
|
| Also, Adam Savage's Tested - https://youtu.be/eKCcqlJnZcA (3
| days ago) looking at
| https://www.kellianderson.com/books/alphabetinmotion.html
|
| At 7:00 into the video is C & D pages looking at the modularity
| of a font.
|
| (the section "U & V" about 3/4 down the page has the modular
| components for Kombinations-Schrift
| https://www.moma.org/collection/works/2724 which was also
| looked at at 22:00 into the video.
| Doctor_Fegg wrote:
| For UK readers, this is eerily similar to the typeface originally
| used on the "Thames Turbo" trains (class 165/166) from their
| construction in the 1990s until a refurb about five years ago - I
| could believe it was the same manufacturer. Some photos:
|
| https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:166207_DMCO_Interior...
|
| https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:British_Rail_Cla...
| croisillon wrote:
| i believe that 3x5 display is quite common and might not have
| its origin in SF
| Johnny555 wrote:
| >On route, train operators punch the code into a control panel at
| the back of the display, and the LCD blocks light on specific
| segments of the grid to build each letter
|
| I always thought those were mechanical displays with little
| mechanical shutters that moved to display the segments... like
| these:
|
| https://youtu.be/Gj_mTp6Ypzk
|
| Never knew they were LCD.
| becomevocal wrote:
| Have been in font picking mode recently so this was a relevant
| enough distraction. Excellent read!
| arkensaw wrote:
| Be honest though, did the name come first?
| lilsneddz wrote:
| Haha, hi, it's me, Emily, the designer of this font. It
| actually didn't come first! And strangely finding an available
| name was almost the hardest part.
| adastra22 wrote:
| As a native that absolutely cringes at "San Fran" ... I still got
| mad respect for that awesome name. Well done.
| jabberwhookie wrote:
| I've always found that cringe to be a strange shibboleth.
| AFAICT everyone has to summarize with the bay area instead,
| which I find even more comic having grown up on a coast, aka a
| bay area.
| adastra22 wrote:
| The bay area is more than SF. If you mean San Francisco and
| don't want to say the whole name, you use either 'SF' or 'the
| city.'
|
| I'm not sure why it's a strange shibboleth? Not every name
| has to be shortened, and if you are going to shorten names,
| not every short form is acceptable. I don't know where "San
| Fran" came from, any more than "Cali", neither of which are
| used by locals, but it just doesn't feel respectable. It's
| not the name of the city.
| gerdesj wrote:
| "SF ... It's not the name of the city."
|
| Your words ... 8)
| clhodapp wrote:
| I think it honesty just boils down to: It sounds bad.
| adastra22 wrote:
| You've never met an Alexander that despises being called
| "Alex"?
| decimalenough wrote:
| I'll be sure to call it "Frisco" instead.
|
| +1 on the awesome name though.
| bonoboTP wrote:
| Sans Francisco
| simondotau wrote:
| A silent router: Sans Fancisco
| lilsneddz wrote:
| Hey, I made this font. I really ummed and ahhed over the name
| for this exact same reason. But in the end it was just too
| clever to pass up. Thanks for moving past it, haha.
| roughly wrote:
| That was a great read with a ton of fun little bread crumbs to
| follow. Tipo Velez/Super Veloz gets a mention, and it's
| definitely worthy of a diversion if you haven't seen it before.
|
| For all the modern handwringing about SF, it really is a hell of
| a city with a fascinating history.
| gorgoiler wrote:
| I like the underlying commitment to design in the original
| displays. Seemingly the double height slants on the bottom are
| _solely_ for rendering the letter V. They have no other purpose
| than for that letter.
| lilsneddz wrote:
| I'm the designer of Fran Sans and I love that you noticed this
| detail in the original displays!!! :)
| agg23 wrote:
| Beware that pressing the back arrow twice takes you to unexpected
| naked photos.
| crazygringo wrote:
| This is the second comment I've seen on HN today about the back
| button having unexpected results on a site.
|
| I'm so confused -- I use Chrome on a Mac and my back button
| works entirely normally. No naked photos, sorry to report.
|
| Is this a real thing that Chrome isn't susceptible to? Or are
| people just making jokes?
| anamexis wrote:
| They mean the left arrow key on your keyboard.
| decimalenough wrote:
| Here you go: https://emilysneddon.com/tinn
|
| NSFW, obviously, but also not all _that_ titillating. (It 's
| artsy B&W photography of women in their bathrooms.)
| adastra22 wrote:
| Use the arrow key. It moves the carousel, landing on some
| scandalizing artistic photos.
| wkat4242 wrote:
| Not much scandalising in that IMO. Very arty photos. Would
| anyone find this offensive?
| seniortaco wrote:
| Are they naked photos you've seen before?
| myself248 wrote:
| I wonder what's happening to the displays that're being retired!
| I hope someone can nab them from the waste stream...
| lilsneddz wrote:
| Hi, I'm Emily the designer of Fran Sans. One of the Breda cars
| is going to the California State Railroad Museum, and it has
| the displays in it. I also suggested to the Letterform Archive
| in SF that they may have interest in it. I do know they've
| archived some of the NY subway curtain displays, so I think
| it's only fair they save one of these in their collections too.
| meta-level wrote:
| I like it because my first name is Frans
| msarnoff wrote:
| I have seen these throughout the US and Europe and been
| fascinated by them. Penn Station has (had? been a while) a big
| one with more segments per character. I've been trying forever to
| find the name of this particular style of segmented displays and
| get more info on them. The closest I could find is "mosaic
| display."
|
| Love this article!
|
| Signed, someone who has an obsession with segmented displays
| sho_hn wrote:
| It's probably Reitberger's 38-segment AFA alphanumeric LCD:
|
| https://www.reitberger.de/English/Large%20displays/Alphanume...
|
| https://www.reitberger.de/English/Broadsheet/Prospekt_GA_AFA...
|
| These are very common here.
| badlibrarian wrote:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-flap_display
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip-disc_display
| msarnoff wrote:
| When I was last at Penn Station in the 2010s their departure
| board was a mosaic LCD like the article, not a split-flap
| display:
|
| https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Penn_Sta.
| ..
|
| I do miss the split flap displays at the Boston and
| Providence Amtrak stations though...
| Beijinger wrote:
| For commercial and non-commercial use of FRAN SANS, please get in
| touch: emily@......com
| seniortaco wrote:
| For some reason when I read this font in the digital samples, it
| feels a bit Soviet? I subconsciously expect the text to be in
| cyrillic.
| lynndotpy wrote:
| This is the spitting image of the "FontStruct" tool, which I have
| fond memories of! I wonder if there was some overlap.
|
| I second the sentiments here about typography nerds. This is very
| very cool.
| shevy-java wrote:
| So ... hard to read then?
| flypunk wrote:
| This post ends with a beautiful poem set in Frans Sans
|
| OUTSIDE MY LIFE, INSIDE THE DREAM.
|
| FALLING UP THE STAIRS, INTO THE STREET.
|
| LET THE CABLE CAR CARRY ME.
|
| STRAIGHT OUT OF TOWN, INTO THE SEA.
|
| PAST THE DAHLIAS AND THE SELF-DRIVING CARS.
|
| THE CHURCH OF 8 WHEELS. THE LOWER HAIGHT BARS.
|
| THE PEAK HOUR SPRAWL. THE KIDS IN THE PARK.
|
| THE SLANTING HOUSES. THE BAY AFTER DARK.
|
| MY WINDOW, MY OWN SILVER SCREEN.
|
| I FOLLOW WHERE THE FOG TAKES ME.
|
| By MADDY CARRUCAN
| kens wrote:
| I appreciate that the author talked to various people
| (technician, engineer) and visited the shop rather than just
| doing online research. It's rare for people to go to the effort
| of in-person research.
| int0x29 wrote:
| When I was a child the front side displays on new Muni buses used
| to use these probably solonoid driven LED arrays. If you sat
| under one you could here this clattering sound that sounded kinda
| like rain each time the display changed. This discussion is
| bringing back old memories of those.
|
| The older Breda trains and I think buses also used to use backlit
| paper rolls for signs:
| https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/T_Third_...
| Those were significantly more readable
| lilsneddz wrote:
| They certainly did. The SFMTA also showed these to me and
| explained that not only were they extremely temperamental, but
| it also cost about $3k to print one of the curtains with the
| special barcode that prompts the curtains to rotate.
| some_guy_nobel wrote:
| > For commercial and non-commercial use of FRAN SANS, please get
| in touch: emily@emilysneddon.com
|
| Cool article, pretty lame that the person creating a recreation
| of a public-funded font is gatekeeping it behind their email,
| though.
| nrhrjrjrjtntbt wrote:
| I am not expert but I really like the font. It does a lot for
| such a primitive display. Makes me wonder why we used to have
| those bad 80s 90s alphanumeric LCD displays in most places too
| cheap for pixels when they could have done this.
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(page generated 2025-11-23 23:00 UTC)