Address Numbers, what size?
Hi all, some of you have been following my front door blog, we’re just about finished, Nathan at southslope.woodworks has created a great custom storm door for us. The last piece of the puzzle is the semi-circle piece over the door. Nathan has provided the hardwood-faced plywood semi-circle that’s now primed and installed, the plan…
Hi all, some of you have been following my front door blog, we’re just about finished, Nathan at southslope.woodworks has created a great custom storm door for us.
The last piece of the puzzle is the semi-circle piece over the door. Nathan has provided the hardwood-faced plywood semi-circle that’s now primed and installed, the plan now is to cover it with a dimensionally more accurate piece of plexiglass. I’m gonna paint the back of it white, then we want to spray on numbers for the front. Using special plastics paint, of course.
The question I have is, how big should the letters be? The semicircle is 19″ high x 35″ wide at the base.
I have the capability as a amateur photog and graphic designer to print 17″ x 22″ type to be used as a stencil, and, after printing out a few dozen samples, Mrs. D and I agree on Roger Slimbach’s Adobe Minion Bold, which is my fave text face (not bold, obviously).
Is there a standard to print address size on this? How big, or how small, would you go?
I like it!
Thanks everyone. Bikerboy, that sounds like a good start. Vinca, there actually was a fantail window in there and I still have it but it looks too far gone to restore (also we didn’t allow for it on the interior.)
Love Vinca’s idea.
You may find that it makes the most sense to do what ever you choose from the inside,
and not paint the exterior side. You could still accomplish the plan you outlined, but you would paint the numbers first, on the inside (print out a template that you can tape onto the front of the window and ‘trace’), and then once the numbers have dried, paint over them and the entire background in white.
Check outthe last door in this link. Those numbers look like the right scale.
http://doorwaysaroundtheworld.wordpress.com/category/washington-dc/
For me, your facade is a confusion of styles—rustic mortar and brickwork, undersized Prairie or Craftsman light fixture, Bauhaus or Modern storm door and lockbox. Nothing unifying (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Even Minion is a knock-off of the most classic serif typefaces. I’d put the number on the door’s kickplate or on the lockbox. If I had the funds, I’d install a fanlight window above the door (whether classic or spare), or carved wood echoing historic sunburst transoms or Chippendale-style fan or scallop. If doing that, you could set the number into the sun or shell at the radiating base.
Another option is to photograph a fanlight or carving that appeals to you, photoshop it into something that includes a house number, and transfer the entire image to plexi.
NYC Merchant’s House Museum with fanlight window: http://bit.ly/chnwEe
Deborah Mills, classically trained woodcarver: http://bit.ly/ab3rwP
Honeoye Falls Millwork fanlight window restoration: http://bit.ly/aUpZJM
You can also find several features on house numbers if you search Apartment Therapy, Remodelista, etc.
Fire code requires 4″ letters w/ 1/2″ stroke
denton – So far as I can tell, there isn’t a standard size. I’d just play around w/ a graphics package trying out different ones on your picture to see what is aesthetically satisfying & then translate the size to the real deal.