(x) Russian post office - ZIPcode {Justin (self)}
0-9, printed on the flap of a certain kind of Russian envelop. 18pts or so from the bottom of a numeral to its top. While I'm sure it's some sort of in-house identification system (I've received several letters from Russia and all have had these marks) I can't find anything on it. I'm thinking of expanding it into a typeface but would like to know if something similar already exists. Anyone know what this is, or seen anything like it?
22.Nov.2003 6.02pm
It won't unstuff for you because it's a PC font, Justin.
It does appear to be what you seek, though.
Oh, and for the record, that "elsewhere" was RF on
the MyFonts ID forum. A rare case of MyFonts beating
Typophile to the punch!
22.Nov.2003 6.07pm
Oh, and there is a connecting top bar in the font,
although it would have to be kerned tighter than
as-is to actually join up.
23.Nov.2003 12.39pm
Justin its time to register, this site rocks
22.Nov.2003 11.47am
Clotilde Olyff has done some strict geometric stuff
for 2Rebels. Maybe you should first check her work.
22.Nov.2003 5.28pm
Thanks guys. Nothing at 2rebels. Nice site though. Paratype seems to be out of sorts, lots of server errors. On a tip from elsewhere though, I've found the face, named ZIPcode, located here. I've had no luck unstuffing the file. So close, oh well. Thanks again.
22.Nov.2003 7.06pm
Thanks Mike. Right, .zip, of course, PC.
Yes, credit where it's due to myfonts. But forum-schmorum; as long as we all share.
22.Nov.2003 11.39am
This is the russian equivalent of the zip code/postal code. The standard envelopes (from the former USSR) came printed with the template of those faint dots on the front of the envelope where you would write the zip code numbers, based on the way shown in the example you posted (this was printed on the back flap of the envelope as instructions on writing the numerals). I'm not sure if there was a system of OCR in the Russian postal system, but this sure looks like an attempt at one.
There are similar typefaces that are based on a grid, mainly they're based on the way old Liquid Crystal Dispays in calculators were designed. But those had an extra 2 diagonals in the grid.
I'm not sure there is a typeface based on this exact grid system. You might search Paratype foundry for something similar.