"There is a particularly American style of sans serif lettering that is so pervasive as to be almost invisible. It's a distinctly non-typographic style, drawn from the aesthetic of sign painting (and sign making) rather than printing types. Like all sans serifs, it probably has its roots in the nineteenth century, but the most exemplary examples of this particular style probably appeared starting around 1920. It is simultaneously geometric and 'grotesque,' a happy medium between the ruthless geometry of the Bauhaus and the more practical kinds of vernacular letters that figure prominently in American faces like Franklin Gothic. "A particularly handsome example of this appears on the Eighth Avenue façade of the Port Authority Bus Terminal, in metal channel letters. Tobias and I had both admired this sign for some time, and thought it a good starting point for a typeface inspired by this style. That this lettering hadn't been developed into a typeface really reveals an absence in the American typographic spectrum. Imagine British typography without Gill Sans, or German typography without DIN. "Tobias Frere-Jones designed Gotham in 2000 for the redesign of GQ magazine. The family includes eight weights in roman and italic, as well as a companion range of designs in a narrower width, Gotham Condensed. Since its retail release in 2001, Gotham has become one of the most successful sans serifs in American graphic design."