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This is Signal vs. Noise, a weblog by 37signals about entrepreneurship, design, experience, simplicity, constraints, pop culture, our products, products we like, and more. Established 1999 in Chicago.

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Mittelschrift and Engschrift: type you can’t change Jason 22 Nov 2005

In 1995, the German government introduced a new typeface for German car registration plates — a somewhat bizarre, assymetrical design resulting from the collaboration between psychologists, a numberplate manufacturer, and a type designer with the goal to make it “virtually impossible” to manually change letterforms or numerals (e.g. changing “L” into “E” or “3” into “8”).

How’s that for embracing a constraint?