Filip Mishevski

London Street Type

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Making the case for London as the typography capital of the world.

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A mockup of the finished book on a sunlit table beside a pencil and dried flowers: an orange cover with The Exquisite Typography of London set in overlapping black and white serif letters.

A photo journal dedicated to the exquisite typography of London. A visual love letter to the city, captured by a designer and photographer.

On my first visit to London, I felt like visiting the world's largest design museum. I felt a strong pull not for the typical attractions and sights that a first-time visitor would gravitate towards, but for letters. Luckily, these letters were everywhere I looked.

Wherever I turned, I was amazed and inspired by one thing in particular - the careful selection and use of typography. Type was applied as a layer over London, adding even more texture to this magnificent city.

You can imagine my regret that I did not have my camera with me and had to rely on my iPhone to capture everything I found beautiful. On my second visit, I fixed this mistake and came back with a hard drive's worth of memories (2000+ photos to be exact).

St Paul’s Cathedral

Four centuries of lettering within a few minutes’ walk of each other — carved, cast, painted and printed. The area around St. Paul's Cathedral was my starting point for exploration and will be yours as well.

Title card of the carousel: St Paul’s Cathedral set in large white serif over a photograph of the dome seen between two buildings.
A street running toward St Paul’s, construction cranes above the rooftops and the Rising Sun pub on the corner.
Rooftops and chimneys, with a painted ghost sign on a brick flank wall reading The Rising Sun Restaurant.
A stone portico lettered Creed Court, with a Tattle coffee house sign beneath it and people passing in a blur.
The Tattle coffee house shopfront, its windows lettered with illustrations and Monmouth Coffee Company.
Three details together: a carved numeral 37, a Fleet St A.D. 1672 plaque, and a City of London bollard.
A cast information board reading Welcome to the City of London above a printed map of the square mile.
End card of the carousel: Follow for more set in large white serif on orange, with the handle london.street.type beneath it.

Seven Dials

Seven Dials feels like a typographic experiment disguised as a junction. Seven streets. Seven directions. And, if you pay attention, at least seven different philosophies (also directions) of lettering within a 30-second walk.

Title card of the carousel: Seven Dials set in large white serif over a photograph of the junction, shopfronts for Saint + Sofia, Emin Paul and Cubitts along the street and a yellow globe lamp in the foreground.
A faded painted ghost sign on bare brick between two sash windows, reading Pictorial Postcard and General Stationery, above a modern Saint + Sofia fascia.
Two shopfronts: a plain white Saint + Sofia hanging sign with matching letters on the fascia, and the Cubitts window with a poem set as a spiral of small white type.
Three shopfronts together: Rodeo Doughnuts lettered in red stencil capitals under a window box of geraniums, a cluster of hanging signs for Elemis, Astley Clarke and Emin Paul, and a sign reading They made this in rounded blue script.
A shop window lettered Great coffee, even better clothes in white script, with a welcome message below it and a vintage car and bicycle reflected in the glass.
Four more: Humble Crumble in pink serif on black, Thomas Neals painted in tall white capitals down a brick warehouse wall, a row of hanging signs for Subdued, Barbour, Ollie Quinn and Astrid & Miyu, and a black Seven Dials sign with a gold horse and the date 1690.
A hanging shop sign cut as a wheel of cheese with a wedge lifted out of it, lettered Neal’s Yard Dairy in purple capitals around the rim.
End card of the carousel: Follow for more set in large white serif on orange, with the handle london.street.type beneath it.

Hackney

Welcome to the wild, wild East. Well… it might look like that aesthetically and based on these photos, but it’s nice and pretty calm around there, actually. What I loved about it the most is the edginess and coolness that can be seen and experienced all over the place, both of which are achieved with a sense of effortlessness. And the vibes. Good vibes only.

Title card of the carousel: Hackney set in large pale serif over a photograph of the canal, brick terraces and a pub above the towpath and narrowboats moored along it.
Two enamel Netil Lane street signs on brick, a rusted steel directory listing Jason Bruges Studio and Netil Outback, and a black A-board for Files London archive clothing naming Issey Miyake, Comme des Garçons and Yohji Yamamoto.
Three more windows: a Third Culture shopfront, the Shrine to the Vine glass with people blurred as they pass, and Limited Edition written in a fine script beside a four-pointed star.
A bar window lettered Shrine to the Vine in soft rounded capitals around a drawing of a figure in a wide hat riding a fish, with people passing in front of the glass.
Forno lettered twice, once on glass and once in thin capitals across a red brick wall above the line a bakery, pastificio and deli, beside a black wall painted for Forest Road Brewing listing draft beer, growlers and keg rental.
A wall of Hackney lettering: South Hackney painted down black brick above a list reading beer, spirits, whiskey and provisions; a round YB sign and a Yeast Bakery window with its name set in a circle; a cast 322; a Netil Market E8 sign; and a banner repeating Brew Warm Heart.
A pink cap embroidered Hackney Love in yellow-green condensed capitals, resting on a folded grey t-shirt embroidered Hackney Vibes in the same lettering.
End card of the carousel: Follow for more set in large white serif on orange, with the handle london.street.type beneath it.

Chelsea

Red brick and terracotta serves as the perfect backdrop for some of the city's most elegant typography. As a result, even the street markings appear posh. Few examples:

Title card of the carousel: Chelsea set in large pale serif over a photograph of a red-brick and terracotta mansion block, its bay windows, moulded panels and a planted balcony filling the frame.
Two white globe lamps on black posts outside a terracotta mansion block, circular enamel numbers 3 and 5 set into the piers, with a close-up of the number 3 inset below.
Four pieces of Chelsea address lettering: a circled number 5, 59 Cadogan Square in white relief on red brick, a cast Sloane Gardens S.W. street plate, and a carved panel reading The Mansions, Sloane Gardens.
A gilt Papersmiths fascia, Tiffany & Co. on a pale blue awning and etched into the window beneath it, a carved stone block reading Choir Room 1890, and a red L’Objet sign.
Four Chelsea shopfronts: Beaverbrook Town House lettered on a navy awning with people passing in front, a gold Caramel fascia with an oval hanging sign, a hand-painted St George and the dragon on white render, and a window lettered Cashmere, since nineteen-something, behind marigolds.
The Royal Court Theatre pediment lettered in gold capitals, a window reading Ground by Coco, a Roasting Party sign with figures riding a car, and Ottolenghi’s teal sign with a red brushed ring above red letters and a turquoise awning.
Ottolenghi’s red letters above a turquoise awning, beside a deeply moulded white plaster panel lettered 117 Sloane Street in narrow hand-cut capitals.
Pavilion Road strung with rows of Union Jack bunting between brick terraces, shopfronts for David Mellor, Heidi Klein and the Village Butcher below, and people among the flower stalls.
End card of the carousel: Follow for more set in large white serif on orange, with the handle london.street.type beneath it.

Cecil Court

Cecil Court feels untouched — a sequence of traditional storefronts where hand-painted signs, gilded lettering, and classic serif type take you back in time. It's my favourite street in my favourite city.

Title card of the carousel: Cecil Court set in large pale serif over a bookshop window, Alice Through the Looking-Glass lettered in gold on a dark blue fascia behind it.
Storey’s Ltd, original prints, engravings and maps, lettered in gold on a deep pink shopfront, with David Brass antiquarian books in gold on green beside it and a woman looking into the window.
A view along Cecil Court past the red front of Storey’s Ltd, hanging signs for Mark Sullivan Antiques receding down the row, and a man in a cap walking through the frame.
Liberty Joy Archive lettered in heavy white capitals across a bright orange fascia, with a small illustrated card hanging beneath it, and signs for Watkins Books and the Friends Meeting House further along the court.
A blue Côte awning, the Marchpane shopfront with Alice Through the Looking-Glass in gold across the glass, and a row of hanging signs including Darnley Fine Art and a rabbit emblem.
Panter & Hall Gallery in cut capitals, Tenderbooks in gold on green, a stack of yellow and green signs reading coins, banknotes and medals, and The Witch Ball written in gold script on a green shutter.
The length of Cecil Court, hanging signs down both sides, a lamp post in the middle of the row and people walking between the shopfronts.
End card of the carousel: Follow for more set in large white serif on orange, with the handle london.street.type beneath it.

Covent Garden

A market full with surprises. Some you can eat, others you can only look at and admire. I only brought photos of the latter, I hope you like some eye candy.

Title card of the carousel: Covent Garden set in large pale serif over a bronze relief of a market porter carrying a loaded basket on his head, Covent Garden Market lettered in an arc above him.
3HenriettaSt. spelled in black letters across white render, a hanging sign repeating it over a drawing of a doorway, a rusted Notto Pasta Bar sign, and an A-board for Pivot listing breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The Apple Market arch lettered in cream on black under the market’s green ironwork, a small cast plate reading smoke outlet from basement storage, and Strathberry spelled in thin capitals across yellow brick.
Three cut and cast inscriptions: Bedford 1830 carved into weathered stone, the Covent Garden Market bronze relief with its fan of lettering, and a white plaque reading Peabody Trust Wild Street Estate.
WatchHouse lettered in white serif across the curved fascia of a deep red corner building, with Maiden Lane and Southampton Street WC2 plates on the brick above and a second WatchHouse sign projecting from the wall.
Barnaby handmade chocolate bars: the name in gold script on a brown fascia, again on the edge of a yellow awning, and twice more on the shop window; beside it the dark green oval and awning of Bella Italia.
Olea Social lettered in a pale rounded serif across a deep green fascia, with people blurred as they pass the open doors and olive trees either side.
End card of the carousel: Follow for more set in large white serif on orange, with the handle london.street.type beneath it.

The dream

To have this published as a coffee table book: a mix of design, branding, architecture, photography and city guide.

Alongside the photo spreads — in collage style and as full spreads — the book will carry short essays on the special places and moments experienced while being immersed in the discovery of the city.

If you are a publisher interested in collaborating on this topic, please reach out on .

The cover mockup standing on a ribbed fabric armchair: The Exquisite Typography of London set in overlapping grey and black serif letters on red, subtitled London as the design capitol of the world.

The account

The archive lives on Instagram, posted a find at a time.

@london.street.type

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