Metal shutters in front of shop windows are hardly ever pretty. Especially not when the shop seems to be closed forever. I have no idea whether these three letters have any meaning, but they were purpose-designed for the site, with their horizontal shading painted into the grooves of the corrugated shutters. Apocryphal design at its best.
These big shutter letters are done by a grafitti artist called Eine, you can see them all on this website:
http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/Graffiti/eine_graffiti.htm
Living near Shoreditch, an area with dozens of these shutters, they are as much a part of the identity of the area as the people and shops.
Although as a typographer i’m constantly annoyed by the backwards M:
http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/Graffiti/graffiti_text_eine_letter_m.htm
Thanks, Matt, very useful links. I wondered who was behind these – certainly not Hackney Council. Eine may have a limited typographic repertoire, but his letters still brighten up the place, even the wrong way round.
There is also a fairly large mural that says SCARY that is on Rivington St. I believe that was done by Eine. Here is a photo from the last time I was on holiday in London: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffsb/2330884828/