The reproduction of the Herald Sun’s signage has not been without its own scandals.

Heralding in New Type | An incidental glimpse of huge type inside a Collingwood workshop turned out to be very rewarding indeed. These massive sans serifs hoisted onto scaffold were in fact the reconstruction of the iconic signage of the Herald Newspaper. As the original metal letterforms had been badly weathered by the decades, new letterforms were commissioned to replace them. Since the Herald Building on Flinders Street, was converted to boutique apartments in the late 1990’s, the huge signage overlooking the Yarra River was considered to be an intrinsic part not only of the building but of the Melbourne skyline. So much so that they are protected by the National Trust. But obviously not protected enough. According to signage manager Robert Ingelsberger six of the original nine letters were stolen from the factory carpark – nothing odd about that except that the culprits would have needed a crane and a few semi-trailer trucks to move them. The police are currently investigating and are on the lookout for individuals who may have recently acquired these rather conspicuous two and a half metre tall letters. In the meantime, we look forward to the installation of the new letterforms and see those beautiful neon inlines lighting up the Melbourne night sky once again (see image bottom left).

Postscript On Thursday July 14th in the pouring rain of a Melbourne winter afternoon, the newborn letters were hoisted up onto the Herald Sun building. Never one to miss an opportunity, we were there to capture the moment.

Workshop Photography: Andrew Budge. Permission courtesy of NTA Signs. Thanks to Robert Ingelsberger.