# What's that "British" font?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-british-font/41448
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 16, 2000, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-british-font/41448 "2000-11-16T13:44:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2000, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-british-font/41448/1 "2000-11-16T13:44:00Z")
IOW, does anyone happen to know the name of, and a source for, the distinctive sans-serif typeface used on public signage (such as street signs and railway notices) in the UK?
Just wondering whether this exists as a True Type font.
TIA,
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### Author:  [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2000, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-british-font/41448/2 "2000-11-16T13:51:27Z")
WAG, there’s a calligraphy style called **Foundation** that strikes me as distinctively British – if you remember the TV show _The Prisoner_ this was used as the font for the on-screen lettering. It usually has serifs, but maybe it’s been modified for sign use?
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### Author:  [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2000, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-british-font/41448/3 "2000-11-16T14:29:14Z")
The typeface used in The Prisoner is, according to ‘The Official Prisoner Companion’, Albrecht (also sometimes known as Albertus). It was designed in Germany in the 1930s.
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### Author:  [@matttay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matttay)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2000, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-british-font/41448/4 "2000-11-16T15:11:41Z")
Lucida sans bold is very similar, but I dont know if this is the actual font used.
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### Author:  [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2000, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-british-font/41448/5 "2000-11-16T16:03:50Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Arken \*
> \*\*The typeface used in The Prisoner is, according to ‘The Official Prisoner Companion’, Albrecht (also sometimes known as Albertus). It was designed in Germany in the 1930s. \*\*
Thanks **Arken** – I stand corrected. **Foundation** is very similar, though, and certainly “British”: It was designed by the Englishman Edward Johnston, the father of modern calligraphy. I couldn’t find a website that shows Foundation in its modern form, alas. Do you have any links to Albrecht?
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### Author:  [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2000, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-british-font/41448/6 "2000-11-16T16:23:11Z")
Well, Microsoft 97’s version of Albertus (2 actually: Albertus W1 and Albertus Xb W)) didn’t really look much like those distinctive ‘Prisoner Fonts’ [which actually reminded me more of a typeface called ‘Gill-Sans’].
Also, didn’t British Rail [70s-mid 90s period]simply use a Helvetica/Arial kind of typeface?
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### Author:  [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2000, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-british-font/41448/7 "2000-11-16T16:46:37Z")
I don’t know about Microsoft’s ‘Albertus’…
Here is Adobe’s version of ‘Albertus’
> **[FAQs about fonts | Adobe Type](https://www.adobe.com/products/type/fonts-by-adobe.html)**
>
> Information on where to get Adobe Type fonts and other frequently asked questions.
Here is a page with the text logo from ‘The Prisoner’
[http://www.the-prisoner-6.freeserve.co.uk/](http://www.the-prisoner-6.freeserve.co.uk/)
You will notice that the two are extremely similar, the main difference being the open lower-case E which was, according to the Official Prisoner Companion (again) a change made for the show itself to give the type a unique look.
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### Author:  [@MinkMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MinkMan)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2000, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-british-font/41448/8 "2000-11-16T17:10:57Z")
I think the font you’re looking for is “New Johnston”. It is the font that is used on London Underground signs (the circle with a bar through it with the name of the station) The orginal fort was called “Johnston” after it’s creator Edward Johnston who first designed it in 1916. It was revised a few years back, thus the “New”. New Johnston is copyrighted, I’m not sure if it can be purchased or not. The original Johnston (also known as “London Underground”) can be bought online [here](http://www.p22.com/products/london.html). Or a free, look-a-like font, “London Tube”, can be found at [http://www.fontfreak.com/fonts/londontube.zip](http://www.fontfreak.com/fonts/londontube.zip)
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### Author:  [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2000, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-british-font/41448/9 "2000-11-16T17:14:06Z")
You are right about Adobe, of course, and yet Microsoft’s Albertus looks nothing like it [more like a thin Arial typeface]. I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised about that [maybe W1 stands for ‘Windows’]
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### Author:  [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2000, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-british-font/41448/10 "2000-11-16T17:28:53Z")
Bless you MinkMan; been looking for that thing, on and off, for months.
Once more, the Teeming Millyuns come through.
Cheers,
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### Author:  [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2000, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-british-font/41448/11 "2000-11-16T18:41:16Z")
Quoth SirRay:
> [@](#):
>
> You are right about Adobe, of course, and yet Microsoft’s Albertus looks nothing like it [more like a thin Arial typeface]. I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised about that [maybe W1 stands for ‘Windows’]
Makes me wonder if that really IS Times New Roman.
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### Author:  [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2000, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-british-font/41448/12 "2000-11-16T18:54:28Z")
I’ve gotten the impression that Gill Sans comes pretty close to approximating the New Johnston font.