How Washington, D.C., ended up with the same official font as fast-food chain Shake Shack

(Image credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

last updated 31 July 2015

It's called "Neutra," and you see it every time you turn on HBO's Girls, order a SmokeShack from Shake Shack, or go to a Washington Nationals game. And now the hipster-chic, thin, mid-century font is officially the typeface of Washington, D.C.

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[Designer Andy] Cruz credits the font's "certain stylistic but non-descript feel." "I think it has that comforting authority to it," he says.[Designer Paula] Scher doesn't regard the font as neutral, saying that it harkens back to a specific moment in time — the midcentury — which makes it an odd choice for a city government. "It's a retro font," she says. What does it have to do with progress? Then again — this is Washington D.C. [Wired]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.