Regional Boards > International Highways
"Highway Gothic" outside the US and Canada - what other countries use it?
J N Winkler:
The Wikipedia article on the FHWA series lists countries other than the US and Canada that either use them directly or use typefaces closely patterned after them. The typeface on newer Spanish signs that looks like Series E Modified is actually Autopista and is not a 100% match (compare a, g, b, and d)--both it and Carretera Convencional (the Transport-like typeface) were introduced in 1992. Previously, Spain used the old French L1, L2, and L3 typefaces on non-motorways and straight Series E Modified on autopistas and autovías.
China also uses the FHWA series for legend that appears in Latin characters, but frequently compresses letters horizontally.
Road Hog:
https://www.myfonts.com/collections/din-1451-font-linotype
kphoger:
--- Quote from: Scott5114 on November 27, 2022, 01:16:15 PM ---
--- Quote from: Henry on November 25, 2022, 08:43:44 PM ---I believe that Mexico also uses FHWA on its signs as well.
--- End quote ---
Not quite—the letterforms are somewhat similar to FHWA Series, but it has enough differences that I would feel like I was faking it if I used FHWA Series to draw a Mexican sign.
--- End quote ---
(Large .pdf warning)
https://www.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/DireccionesGrales/DGST/Manuales/NUEVO-SENALAMIENTO/manualSenalamientoVialDispositivosSeguridad.pdf
See pages 633-671 of the document.
If you want full detailed glyphs for all series in uppercase, then see the 1986 version (also a large .pdf), beginning on page 425 of the document (page number 427).
abqtraveler:
Looking on GSV, I see that New Zealand and the Philippines both use the Highway Gothic font on their freeway signs, and the signage looks nearly identical to US freeway signage. And of course, Canada uses highway Gothic as well.
kphoger:
--- Quote from: kphoger on November 29, 2022, 02:21:08 PM ---
--- Quote from: Scott5114 on November 27, 2022, 01:16:15 PM ---
--- Quote from: Henry on November 25, 2022, 08:43:44 PM ---I believe that Mexico also uses FHWA on its signs as well.
--- End quote ---
Not quite—the letterforms are somewhat similar to FHWA Series, but it has enough differences that I would feel like I was faking it if I used FHWA Series to draw a Mexican sign.
--- End quote ---
(Large .pdf warning)
https://www.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/DireccionesGrales/DGST/Manuales/NUEVO-SENALAMIENTO/manualSenalamientoVialDispositivosSeguridad.pdf
See pages 633-671 of the document.
If you want full detailed glyphs for all series in uppercase, then see the 1986 version (also a large .pdf), beginning on page 425 of the document (page number 427).
--- End quote ---
Things I notice (I'm no font expert):
When it comes to letter width, Mexican Serie 3 is somewhere between FHWA Series C and Series D.
C — FHWA has the open ends cut off on the horizontal, SCT has the open ends cut off on the diagonal.
G — As with C, horizontal versus diagonal cutoff on the open end.
M — FHWA has the middle point reach the baseline, SCT does not.
R — FHWA has the loop take up slightly less than half the letter height, SCT does not.
S — As with S, horizontal versus diagonal cutoff for top-right end (both cut off the bottom-left end on the horizontal).
W — FHWA has three equally sized in-between triangles, SCT has a larger middle-bottom one.
2 — FHWA rounds off the top and cuts off the end on the horizontal, SCT does neither.
3 — FHWA cuts off the bottom-left end on the horizontal, SCT cuts off both ends on the diagonal.
$ — FHWA does not carry the vertical line through the S portion, SCT does.
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