Fontwatch: Relax! It’s Just Brush Script

Sandwiched between the Blu Monkey an an adult video store touting PRIVATE BOOTHS just west of Western on Hollywood Blvd,

Club & Music

suffers from identity crisis. Is it actually R E L A X P U B? The verbiage on the canopy is a recent addition, this much we do know. Mayhap the owner awoke one day and thought, “Club & Music? Fuck that! Why limit ourselves when we could also be a PUB!”

Each time I stumble into Relax, something hilarious is happening on stage. You’ve pretty much got to turn out in person to see what I’m talking about, because I’m not sure I can properly lay down the concept of shadow-drumming in words. On to the font! Top sign, squashed Brush Script. You take your Brush Script Standard (Robert E. Smith, 1942), squash it to 70% vertical, throw a second layer behind it, offset second layer a couple pixels at 120 degree angle and call it a day. Relax! It’s just Brush Script. Why they chose to go reverse-on-black makes no real sense, but who’s arguing. From Adobe:

Brush Script was designed in 1942 by Robert E. Smith for American Type Founders. It has a spontaneous, brush-written look, and the lowercase letters are connected as in handwriting. Brush Script is ideal for casual display work where an informal, handwritten style might be advantageous, such as posters and signage.

Basically Adobe seems to be saying ‘Do not use this one, fool.’

Second sign. Actually, don’t even get me started on that horrid outline serif on the orange canopy with the unusual (that’s being generous) gigantic “A”. But people! For Kern’s Sake: