Optical vs. Metrics

When setting automatic kerning, sometimes you use Metrics and other times you use Optical. When setting automatic kerning for numbers in Futura, however, you must always use Optical!

Numbers in Futura are particularly wonky, especially the number 1. This is what happened when the creators of the "90210 The Musical" sign, at the beloved Theatre 80 St. Marks, on St. Marks Place, used Metrics:

Bad kerning, especially around the "1".

But that's the least of it! In the notice board is a sign advertising the musical that uses an entirely different font!

Entirely different font.

I like Futura Bold as much as the next East Villager, but I like consistency more!

Also, they should have adjusted the kerning manually on this sign, eh?!

#eastvillage #90210themusical #fonts #kerning #metrics #optical #signs #stmarksplace #theatre80stmarks