36 GLYPHS WITH GLYMPH
FOREWARD
This is essentially just a spin on the 36 days of type challenge—where for 36 days, you design a letter and post it online for the world (or your 100-something followers) to see. The basic idea is to go from A to Z and then 0 to 9—totaling 36 unique letters/numbers.
For mine, rather than pulling out ideas from the vacuum of my brain, I opted to find sources of hand-painted signage and digitize/resurrect them—just like what I did for Autolete. And I figured, what better place to explore than my hometown—Anderson.
Oh and just in case you were still wondering about the title:
glyph /glif/ noun
a hieroglyphic character or symbol; fancy-talk for a letter or icon.
glymph /glimf/ noun(?)
me :)
PROCESS
Normally I would make a whole separate page for this, but I figured it’d be nice to just explain each letter as we go along on this page—basically like a more detailed version of my Instagram posts.
As for the specifics of how I found each letter, I literally just took multiple driving sessions in my former Chevy HHR (love you, Henry) in the span of about 2 months. Some trips were planned, some were spontaneous, but every time, I got deep into the veins of my town and explored some nooks and crannies that most probably wouldn’t want to go to after 7pm. Fortunately, my brain wasn’t focused on the atmosphere—only the letters.
After my sessions, I compiled my findings and tried to organize them into what I thought were the strongest candidates for each letter. I whittled it down overtime and mapped out specific areas, as to plan out the best route for going back and taking up-close pictures, as most of the preliminary pictures were taken from the inside of my car from far away.
A
A is taken from the former Dawson Radiator Service building on the backside of Downtown Anderson. As you’ll see, a good many of my letters came from downtown. Once you’re off the beaten path of Main Street, you’ll find at least one abandoned building on basically every block.
The Dawson building is especially interesting to me because of the layers of painted lettering beneath the surface that have been slowly revealed over time.
B
Like I said, a good bit of these are downtown. Though, this one actually is on Main Street—just not the part that anybody actually walks to.
What captivated me about this one isn’t necessarily the form of the B, but its source material. I can’t read a single word in this giant block, and the fact that this giant faded square is just slapped onto this otherwise barren brick wall just raises even more questions. I love it.
C
This one was taken from Dexter Grocery, right across the street from Dawson Radiator. On this particular street, there seems to be this giant hub of abandoned buildings—old factories, mills, and stores.
I’m definitely a fan of the condensed lettering they went with here—the C by itself just looks like a staple. There’s something almost modern-looking about this building’s lettering, and it makes me wonder what it would’ve been like to shop there in its heyday.
D
Back at Dawson Radiator, I also noticed this wood sign sitting out front, with a completely different treatment for the letters—opting for some elegant script rather than the sturdy-looking ones from the side of the building.
The blatantly different tone of this sign compared to the building is hilarious to me, and just raises even more questions.
Also, in the weeks after I took these pictures, I drove back around to the site and the sign was seemingly stolen…don’t look at me.
E
This backwards 3 made of toothpaste was taken from a rinky-dink radiator shop on Whitner Street. There’s a lot of things to love on this sign, especially those numbers on the bottom.
I would’ve gotten a closer picture, but the immediate area this sign is in is pretty notorious, and some dudes were giving me the stink eye just for existing in this area. Maybe next time.
F
For this letter, I revisited the same sign that I’ve already made a whole typeface from—Autolete. But this time I studied the other prominent feature, the wild cursive on the bottom half.
I’ve got a whole section on my Autolete process page about this sign, so if that interests you, feel free to check it out.
G
Here we have a very steamy G—taken from an abandoned gardening shop in Starr. The amount of items left in the building is super intriguing to me. It’s like whoever this shop belonged to just vanished one day.
Also, if you decide to visit here, beware of stray dogs. I got barked at while I took this pic. I was also on top of a stepladder while that happened, so it was just an unfortunate situation.
H
So for this letter, I was honestly stuck between three options.
Obviously they’re very similar options, but I ultimately opted for the sort of blocky and sharp H from the Body Shop sign. Something about this H reminds me of an early 1900’s hotel, or just the art deco style in general.
But overall, if I learned anything from that sign, it’s that there’s a body shop to the left.
I
And the award for thickest I goes to: this one. The letters of “Thrift” are so marshmallow-y, yet rigid at the same time. I could honestly see this style being used for a gym, or maybe even a wrestling match.
I should also mention the giant R and E from what I’m guessing said “store.” The little spikes on the edges really make it super distinct.
Also, props to Ray Jones, who I’m guessing was the original artist, given that his name is painted in the corner.
J
This one was taken from John’s Welding, Inc. in Homeland Park. Even though I recreated one of the cursive letters, I’m still a big fan of the look of the W and G in “Welding.”
The thing about this site that intrigues me most is how relatively new the painted letters look, despite the inside of the building being very much defunct. Looks like John won’t be welding for us any time soon.
K
This one is a good example of one of the aspects I had to keep in mind when re-creating these letters.
This sign, located on Sayre Street, has the same art on both sides, but the K’s are pretty distinct from each other, so I basically tried to get into the mind of the original artist and find the best way to summarize the general idea of the letter.
Also, I just wanted to say, that & is crazy. It’s quite literally a backwards 3 with a dot above and below it. Wild.
L
The letters of this sign give off strong lava lamp energy. Definitely seems like the kind of letters you would find in a Mellow Mushroom.
Even though I went with the L from this sign, the A, R, and U are all super groovy as well, and I can definitely see myself revisiting this sign one day.
I also briefly considered Larry’s general store as a source, but ultimately wanted every letter to be hand-painted, so I opted for the paper supply.
M
For day 13, I decided to do the unthinkable—make two of the same letter. Here we have Spaghetti M and Shoulder Pads M.
This billboard next to the Jockey Lot is hugely fascinating to me—with its multiple faded layers and broken signage.
So, it’s rather fitting that it happens to have two very distinct M’s that I really love. Also, shoutout to the long-nosed fella in the back layer (you can just barely spot him below the WA on the far left).
N
The wall that I took this N from is honestly full of great stuff. The lettering of “805 S Main” is particularly fancy in my opinion.
But there’s something so charming about this obese N. I mean it’s literally just a rectangle with two notches cut out, and it sort of makes me ponder what a letter even is. They’re all just carefully drawn shapes that can communicate infinite ideas.
Regardless though, this wall is definitely a highlight of vintage painted walls in downtown.
O
Who ever said O’s need to be circular? This one is taken from a quaint little gardening shop that’s actually on the same street as my elementary school, so I guess I’ve really come full circle (pun unfortunately intended).
The faint yellow lettering underneath the main layer is also extremely charming to me. If you couldn’t tell by now, I very much love layers of old signage.
P
It’s crazy to me that the “D.O.T.” looks so normal—like any neutral sans-serif. Meanwhile, the letters that make up “inspection” are so distinct. Aside from the P, the N, S, and E are all stand-outs for me.
Fun fact: I was going to get out and take a closer picture, but there were some very cool stray dogs that definitely would’ve bitten me, so I decided not to get rabies this time around.
Q
This one’s for all my Q enjoyers out there. Located right across the street from the jockey lot, this one is just a tall oval with an awkward little tail, and that’s what sells it for me.
None of the other letters on this roof really did anything for me, but imagine if there were an & in this style. That would be pretty stellar in my opinion.
R
So, I found this board on a backroad near my old neighborhood, and I didn’t even see the R until I had brought all my first round of pictures home and looked closely at this one. It’s definitely a strange anomaly on this board, and it sort of makes me wish I could’ve seen what this sign originally looked like.
Also, I really like this one because—say it with me—layers.
S
Here we have quite the faded sign. At first I thought both sides were identical prints, but when compared side by side, they actually have the slightest of differences. So this was another case of me trying to summarize the two S’s.
Something about the curvature of this one and the gradually skinny-ing of the stroke at the top really makes this a quite the dapper S.
T
This building definitely got my curiosity piqued, as it’s completely fenced off with barbed wire. It’s also in a part of town that a lot people would not recommend walking in, so naturally, I got out and walked over to it to take some up close pics.
As far as I can tell, this used to say “Thrasher’s” and is definitely some of the ghostliest type I found along the way.
U
On the back of what is now Grace Church (and Grocucho’s), we’ve got the letter U. Apparently this used to be the cheapest furniture house in South Carolina. Quite the accolade.
The differing thicknesses of the U stems really stuck out to me and gave it a very sturdy and solid look. I also greatly appreciate how squished “South Carolina” looks, as if they were trying desperately to make everything fit on the wall.
V
Even though I chose the V, this wall is obviously chock full of unique and admirable letters.
The X of Lexington is insane, the y of Clayton is bonkers, and O’s of Hooker really stood out to me as well. And that’s all not to mention the iconic R of “Rogers” or the oddly modern-looking “furniture.” Definitely worth a revisit in the future.
W
This one is most certainly a double U. I believe this used to say “Webb Electric” and just like the other buildings in this area—Dawson Radiator and Dexter Grocery—this one is defunct.
Pulling out a letter from what’s basically some blotches of white paint on old brick was definitely a highlight for me, as it really made it feel like I was resurrecting the dead letters of the world.
X
Unlike W, this one is taken from a building that’s still fully in use. It’s not actually an oil company though, just a coffee shop (and a pretty great one).
And obviously, there’s a whole lot of good stuff on this wall: the oblique look of “discount,” the Pet-Sounds-y look of “Cooper” on the far left, and of course, that & in the blue rectangle. Very neat.
Y
Returning to the same location as the Autolete sign, we have the actual Rankin’s Grocery building. This Y is basically a glorified 4 and you can’t convince me otherwise.
And as for the rest of the letters, there’s a reason this spot is so popular with people that love mid-century Americana.
Z
For the last letter, we have this comedically long Z. This one was definitely a last minute addition to the 36, as it was only one of two Z’s that I managed to find in my searches.
I literally just noticed it while driving through town one day and figured it was just the right balance of stupid and awesome to serve as the last letter—but not the last glyph.
0
This goose egg was found on a smaller road near homeland park. Not much to say about this one—I just enjoy how hefty, tall, and slightly unbalanced it is. It truly does give off goose egg vibes.
I do find that lightning bolt X pretty amusing, and the fact that the phone number at the bottom is about to be wiped from existence is also pretty comical.
1
I actually found this one right behind Ed’s (where I found my E). Although, this one was slightly hidden from the main road, so I had to dive deep into the veins of this area.
It seems fitting for this to be on an auto repair shop, as I could picture this on a racecar. Those other letters also fit in quite nicely with the feeling established by the 1.
2
Another one from around homeland park, and also another one from a defunct auto service place. There’s something very distinct about the style of these letters. They’re all inconsistent from one another, yet they have this sense of cohesion that makes them all really pop—at least for me.
Also, my wife said this one looks like the top of a coat hanger and now I can’t unsee it.
3
If you go back to the source of A, this wall might look familiar. Underneath the top layer of Dawson radiator, the year 1973 can be noticed. And as you can see, only half the glyph I studied is visible, making this a tough one.
With that in mind, I tried my best to imagine what it might look like under the white paint. Maybe decades into the future when the paint wears off, we’ll see if I was close.
4
On the side of a storage facility in Watson Village I found these huge letters and numbers. It might be hard to tell from the picture but this 4 is about half my height, so I respect the work this must’ve taken.
I also really respect the consistency of the thin straight lines used for a lot of these. This 4 in particular looks like it could be made from wood planks.
5
This one’s a decently interesting case. I took the first photo during my initial session of hunting. And on a later day, when I happened to be passing by, I found that It was being repainted.
One of the coolest parts of this whole project was just observing these relics of time that most people wouldn’t notice or think about. And then every once in a while, (like with this sign, and the wooden Dawson sign from D), the source will just be changed out of nowhere, and it feels like I’m one of like five people in the world who would know about it.
6
This one messed with my brain for a good bit. The source definitely looks like a 6, but it took me a while to figure out what the top really looked like.
The paint became super obscure, and I was unable to distinguish the white from the brown from the red. So, having made multiple attempts to recreate it, this is my best guess as to what it could’ve looked like.
7
Here we have a stout but solid 7. The curves of these numbers and the abrupt rectangle serifs really give them a particular aura.
The 7 itself has a bit of an old western tinge to it. It looks like it would fit on the front of a saloon, but for now, it’s on whatever this building used to be.
8
Okay look, I know what you’re thinking. “James, this isn’t an 8—this is just two circles stacked on top of each other.”
And that’s exactly what captivated me. The simple yet janky lettering on this wall really captures the spirit of the average man—the one who knows nothing about letter anatomy and just wants to send a message.
And now, some guy on the Internet is oddly inspired from something he probably did in an afternoon.
9
The 36th glyph is taken from Strickland Grocery, out in the middle of nowhere in the backroads of Starr and Iva. I appreciate the use of bricks as a sort of grid/measuring tool when creating these.
You can also see here what the process was like for capturing these glyphs up close (yes, I did carry around a step ladder everywhere).
&
I lied. There were 37 days.
I felt pretty strongly about a lot of ampersands I found along the way, so I chose two of them to recreate.
In fact, there were probably dozens of letters, numbers, and sources I wanted to pull from but ultimately went unused, so I’ve definitely got my work cut out for me in the future—whether its whole typefaces, letter studies, or more 36-day gauntlets.
THANKS FOR READING
Seriously, I appreciate it. This project was honestly super therapeutic for me. I got to explore the lesser-travelled and under-noticed parts of my town, and getting to revive designs from the past by getting into the minds of the original artists was quite the fun and satisfying experiment.
This is definitely a condensed highlight reel of the process, but I hope you were entertained and intrigued nonetheless! Be sure to check out the pages for my other projects if you’re interested.