Central Avenue traces its origins to Birmingham's landmark 1886 exhibition of Local Manufacturers and Natural History, where it served as the cornerstone of the show's graphic identity.
Rather than mimicking the ornate Victorian styles of its era, the original hand-painted signs employed a strikingly industrial sans serif – a choice that feels remarkably contemporary even today. Our digital revival preserves the distinct personality and deliberate awkwardness of these hand-painted forms, resisting the temptation to smooth away their character. Instead of inventing lowercase letters, Central Avenue embraces its Victorian heritage through superscripted alternates that enable the creation of distinctive word marks.
The typeface is available in a single, commanding Bold weight that captures the authority of its industrial origins.
Designed by: Hamish Makgill
Year: 2011
Glyphs: 579
Encoding: Latin Extended
File Formats: OTF, WOFF, WOFF2
Version: 1.0