Type in Times Square: the Spectacular Signs of Artkraft Strauss

A design festival for people who use type.

Typographics Festival

Throughout the twentieth century, giant illuminated signs defined Times Square. Artkraft Strauss built nearly all of them.  Working by hand in metal, paint and neon tubing, the company created marvels of flashing imagery and animated type. Displays such as the fifties’ north-Square stack of Admiral TV, Canadian Club, and Chevrolet, among many others, made type cavort, talk, sell. The company was also responsible for the oversize marquee typography of the Square’s first-run movie houses, which created indelible come-ons to the pleasure-seeking crowd, plus landmark signs at other city sites.  
The Artkraft Strauss archive, now at the main branch of the New York Public Library, contains photos, blueprints, designs and other memorabilia of the signs’ creation, from conception through installation. They are typological time-travel. Led by Tama Starr, the president of Artkraft Strauss, and Arthur Boehm, the company’s archivist, the tour will visit the archive to see first-hand the visual materials that helped create the Times Square dream.  
More detailed information about meeting place will be sent to registered participants closer to the date of the event.

New York Public Library - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

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