Design— Feature
The Typeface That Runs the Ferry System
A harbor authority commissioned a typeface for its signs in 1974 and never replaced it. Fifty-two years later it is the most-read piece of design almost nobody has heard of.
Design Editor
Santiago Vela
Santiago Vela edits Veyra’s design section and designed the magazine itself, including the cover plate system used across the archive. Vela trained as an industrial designer and worked for eight years on transit wayfinding before moving to editing, which explains a recurring editorial position: if the public has to be taught how to use something, the something is at fault.
- Based
- At Veyra since
- Contact
Byline
4 stories in the archive
Design— Photo Essay
Twelve Objects from the Repair Counter
A repair shop’s counter holds a precise record of how things are built now. Twelve objects, photographed as they arrived.
Design— Dispatch
Benches Designed to Be Slept On
One district quietly reversed a decade of hostile street furniture and kept careful notes. The results are less tidy, and more useful, than either side of the argument expected.
Technology— Essay
A Field Guide to Defaults
Most people never change a default. That makes the default the actual policy — and the person who chose it the actual policymaker.