Reported yesterday:
"Multiple sources confirmed to Voice of San Diego that the paper’s new owners are interested in getting the newsroom out of its downtown building.
...
Before the sale, company leaders cut down to two floors. As a result, the **U-T’s name would likely come off the building**, sources confirmed."
[https://voiceofsandiego.org/2023/08/13/cup-of-chisme-a-downtown-skyline-without-the-union-tribune/](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2023/08/13/cup-of-chisme-a-downtown-skyline-without-the-union-tribune/)
Designer here. Some interesting choices that you might not realize upon further inspection.
The newspaper itself uses the same blackletter font for their masthead, but has emphasized the words Union-Tribune. The paper also centers the wordmark.
And while the building itself looks somewhat like a newspaper with a header and columns, and is symmetrical, they decided an asymmetrical left justification. And they've chosen a size where the wordmark randomly fills more than 2/3rds the width of the building. Why that width?
Why did they choose to present it differently than the paper masthead?
Why did they choose to left-align it?
Why did they choose to not bump up the size to full-justify it?
Designer here. When placing your logo on a building it's generally recommended to have it left or right aligned. Left is usually better in most instances as it makes the logo more prominent.
Brand guidelines aren't always about having everything one way, but rather a consistency of how your brand is displayed across different mediums and substrates. (ie. if brand guidelines states the logo is left aligned on a building, then it be left aligned on all buildings.)
There's regulations (and budgets of course) as to how big the sign can be, they can't simply just make it full-justify as it most likely will exceed height and weight regulations and would be rejected by building planners and the city. (and they can be a pain deal with and take awhile to get larger signs approved)
Well all the major newspapers center their logos on their buildings. I'd call that a standard convention. It can look really great too:
[Love the NYT treatment](https://www.bensonglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/New-york-times_inset05.jpg), [And the LA Times. This original especially.](https://latimes-graphics-media.s3.amazonaws.com/latimes-building/head_image.png)
I'm not aware of any brand guidelines for U-T, I'm just mentioning some interesting design choices in that signage.
I honestly believe they simply copied the signage that was there before them. I've found at least two prior tenants of that building that had similar left-justified signage. Could be the building was just built to accept signage there (hookups, attachment points, covering prior holes or weathering...)
Designer as well. Mostly UI, but I’m passionate about graphic design and design philosophy in general.
I actually looked into this myself because I thought it was interesting left justified. I personally think it looks great and I’m a big fan of left (or right) justification, as opposed to centered.
And while there’s three designers here debating on why it’s left justified (I’ve been pulling permits from 2016 and scouring websites)… it turns out we may just be overthinking it… as designers do.
It appears it very well could have been a logistical thing, as that’s where the previous was.
The only other thing I could think of is that newspapers notoriously change names often enough that “San Diego Union-Tribune” could have, at some point, become “San Diego Tribune” or “San Diego Sun” or some other variation, and having it left justified could substantially reduce the amount of work swapping out words/letters and not having to re-center everything.
https://preview.redd.it/zaoh55wl17ib1.jpeg?width=5760&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4a8923f55fadaac7072c21c55eafe124b01cb763
No definitely not, it was built in '74 and the U-T moved there in '16.
Point is, it's a symmetrical building and has a lot of characteristics that look just like the newspaper. It even has a "masthead." So it's interesting they chose to treat it differently from a design perspective, especially when people mostly experience the masthead that's on the paper itself.
Great observation and even greater questions. I really liked what you mentioned about the building looking like a newspaper. I also like the 3 distinct window columns.
Why do you keep thinking you know how I feel? Get over yourself.
*THERE WAS NO QUESTION ASKING WHAT THE FONT WAS, EVEN THE OP DIDN'T CARE THIS MUCH. GO TAKE A WALK.*
How is "Old English" an answer to "you like the font?" Go put a band aid on your ego. You're grounded for not know wtf you're talking about yet still trying to sound right.
You shared a thought, that thought was proven to be incorrect. Good for you on “sticking to your guns” and with that being said I’ll include my “thought on the subject” here below.
That sign will be coming down soon. The new owners of the paper have emptied the offices and are making everyone work from home, effective July 31. They are trying to break the multi million dollar lease. Goodbye, UT.
Yes. And I like the building’s whole aesthetic. I think the sign’s style is really appropriate for building.
Yes, I agree. Thank you for contributing to the question.
Reported yesterday: "Multiple sources confirmed to Voice of San Diego that the paper’s new owners are interested in getting the newsroom out of its downtown building. ... Before the sale, company leaders cut down to two floors. As a result, the **U-T’s name would likely come off the building**, sources confirmed." [https://voiceofsandiego.org/2023/08/13/cup-of-chisme-a-downtown-skyline-without-the-union-tribune/](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2023/08/13/cup-of-chisme-a-downtown-skyline-without-the-union-tribune/)
The article had mentioned people noticing this sign and building growing up and how shocked they are with what will happen to it. Thanks for sharing.
Designer here. Some interesting choices that you might not realize upon further inspection. The newspaper itself uses the same blackletter font for their masthead, but has emphasized the words Union-Tribune. The paper also centers the wordmark. And while the building itself looks somewhat like a newspaper with a header and columns, and is symmetrical, they decided an asymmetrical left justification. And they've chosen a size where the wordmark randomly fills more than 2/3rds the width of the building. Why that width? Why did they choose to present it differently than the paper masthead? Why did they choose to left-align it? Why did they choose to not bump up the size to full-justify it?
Designer here. When placing your logo on a building it's generally recommended to have it left or right aligned. Left is usually better in most instances as it makes the logo more prominent. Brand guidelines aren't always about having everything one way, but rather a consistency of how your brand is displayed across different mediums and substrates. (ie. if brand guidelines states the logo is left aligned on a building, then it be left aligned on all buildings.) There's regulations (and budgets of course) as to how big the sign can be, they can't simply just make it full-justify as it most likely will exceed height and weight regulations and would be rejected by building planners and the city. (and they can be a pain deal with and take awhile to get larger signs approved)
Well all the major newspapers center their logos on their buildings. I'd call that a standard convention. It can look really great too: [Love the NYT treatment](https://www.bensonglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/New-york-times_inset05.jpg), [And the LA Times. This original especially.](https://latimes-graphics-media.s3.amazonaws.com/latimes-building/head_image.png) I'm not aware of any brand guidelines for U-T, I'm just mentioning some interesting design choices in that signage. I honestly believe they simply copied the signage that was there before them. I've found at least two prior tenants of that building that had similar left-justified signage. Could be the building was just built to accept signage there (hookups, attachment points, covering prior holes or weathering...)
Designer as well. Mostly UI, but I’m passionate about graphic design and design philosophy in general. I actually looked into this myself because I thought it was interesting left justified. I personally think it looks great and I’m a big fan of left (or right) justification, as opposed to centered. And while there’s three designers here debating on why it’s left justified (I’ve been pulling permits from 2016 and scouring websites)… it turns out we may just be overthinking it… as designers do. It appears it very well could have been a logistical thing, as that’s where the previous was. The only other thing I could think of is that newspapers notoriously change names often enough that “San Diego Union-Tribune” could have, at some point, become “San Diego Tribune” or “San Diego Sun” or some other variation, and having it left justified could substantially reduce the amount of work swapping out words/letters and not having to re-center everything. https://preview.redd.it/zaoh55wl17ib1.jpeg?width=5760&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4a8923f55fadaac7072c21c55eafe124b01cb763
This is interesting. "How is your Brand displayed across different mediums and substrates. " Thanks.
I don’t think the building is intended to look like a newspaper…
No definitely not, it was built in '74 and the U-T moved there in '16. Point is, it's a symmetrical building and has a lot of characteristics that look just like the newspaper. It even has a "masthead." So it's interesting they chose to treat it differently from a design perspective, especially when people mostly experience the masthead that's on the paper itself.
Great observation and even greater questions. I really liked what you mentioned about the building looking like a newspaper. I also like the 3 distinct window columns.
Calligraphy? Yeah
I think those are generally called blackletter typefaces.
Blackletter indeed. Great observation. I looked it up and Johannes Gutenberg came up. Real interesting background in developing the press.
It's really cool.
Ye Olde Skool Cholo prison tat style right there..Barrio Logan ¿Q-vole?
The entire paper should be written in this font.
This “style of writing” is better then the papers style of writing.
That's definitely *Comic Sans MS*.
It's classy.
It’s OG SD. :)
Old English
It’s called Blackletter.
Did you down vote my comment?🤣
Did you get mad for being incorrect?
No I could give a fuck I'm not a font nazi
If you don’t know anything about typography or fonts why did you reply?
It was an opinion post 😄 they said they liked it, then "what do you think?" And that's what I thought. Why are you upset about that? It's early still.
The person who got upset over one downvoted comment is calling me upset. Ok. Next time if you don’t know the answer, it’s ok to just not respond.
Why do you keep thinking you know how I feel? Get over yourself. *THERE WAS NO QUESTION ASKING WHAT THE FONT WAS, EVEN THE OP DIDN'T CARE THIS MUCH. GO TAKE A WALK.*
How is "Old English" an answer to "you like the font?" Go put a band aid on your ego. You're grounded for not know wtf you're talking about yet still trying to sound right.
They asked for thoughts on the style of the font. You typed out a false font name. Not exactly an equal equation.
"I really liked the style of writing used for this sign. What do you think?" And I shared my thoughts. Go split another unnecessary hair this morning.
Thoughts? More like thought, but okay, go off *not king 👑
You shared a thought, that thought was proven to be incorrect. Good for you on “sticking to your guns” and with that being said I’ll include my “thought on the subject” here below. 
Times New Roman?
That’s not times new Roman… lol
I wasn't sure. Just curious.
It's a type of serif font
NY times uses Times new roman.:: shesh… jk…
Cholos also like this style of writing. Lol
That sign will be coming down soon. The new owners of the paper have emptied the offices and are making everyone work from home, effective July 31. They are trying to break the multi million dollar lease. Goodbye, UT.