Trains Magazine: Custom Typography

I created a custom type headline for Trains Magazine’s “City Of Railroads” spread. There is so much history behind the American railroad system that a simple sans serif typeface could not be visually effective. 

For inspiration I found old railroad pamphlets from the 1920 – 1950’s. Then, I did some studies of the typography from them. I knew I wanted a thick, bold, heavy-duty slab serif. I then sketched out some ideas. I also wanted to have a hint of railroad tracks within the type so I made the crossbars extend to the left in order to portray motion and railroad tracks. I scanned my sketches in and created the custom typeface on Illustrator using a somewhat modular block system.