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The Clearview thread

Started by BigMattFromTexas, August 03, 2009, 05:35:25 PM

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Which do you think is better: Highway Gothic or Clearview?

Highway Gothic
Clearview

joseph1723

Quote from: cu2010 on April 30, 2010, 08:54:11 PM
Wow...that third sign is hard to read with the sun shining on it thanks to the reflective sheeting...

Yeah, part of me thinks that the halation issues are caused more by the newer high reflectance reflective sheeting being used instead of problems with the FHWA fonts. I for one like how Ontario does their signs with a EG grade background and High Intensity legend. The newer signs especially the high reflectance type seem too reflective and even blinding to me especially when viewed in direct sunlight.


The Premier

Quote from: exit322 on April 30, 2010, 11:02:20 PM
Most of the people I talk to that go from here towards Akron on 77 (most of 77 south of Akron in Summit County has converted to Clearview) like it more than the signs that were there (which unlike on 76 weren't all that old and still reasonably reflective).

Keep in mind that the new Clearview signs are from the Central Interchange to 1 mile before Arlington Rd. (Exit 120)

Needless to point out, there is not a lot of button copy signs left in the Akron-Canton area, apart from I-76 between Gilcrest Rd (Exit 27) and the Central Interchange.
Alex P. Dent

KEK Inc.

I took these photos yesterday while running some errands in Portland, OR.  I didn't notice the Clearview, but this sign has been here for about a year, I believe. 

I don't really see many new Oregon signs, but with OR-569, I believe all of the new signs still use Highway Gothic.  This may be something Portland did since it's on a city street. 



Take the road less traveled.

Crazy Volvo Guy

Quote from: joseph1723 on April 30, 2010, 11:49:09 PMYeah, part of me thinks that the halation issues are caused more by the newer high reflectance reflective sheeting being used instead of problems with the FHWA fonts. I for one like how Ontario does their signs with a EG grade background and High Intensity legend. The newer signs especially the high reflectance type seem too reflective and even blinding to me especially when viewed in direct sunlight.

This, pretty much.   Reflective sheeting wasn't around when they came up with highway gothic - and the only reflective part of the lettering was the buttons.  As long as the b/c lettering was maintained, there was no problem reading it.

Just part of why b/c never should have gone away.
I hate Clearview, because it looks like a cheap Chinese ripoff.

I'm for the Red Sox and whoever's playing against the Yankees.

codyg1985

Quote from: US-43|72 on May 11, 2010, 09:20:34 AM
Quote from: joseph1723 on April 30, 2010, 11:49:09 PMYeah, part of me thinks that the halation issues are caused more by the newer high reflectance reflective sheeting being used instead of problems with the FHWA fonts. I for one like how Ontario does their signs with a EG grade background and High Intensity legend. The newer signs especially the high reflectance type seem too reflective and even blinding to me especially when viewed in direct sunlight.

This, pretty much.   Reflective sheeting wasn't around when they came up with highway gothic - and the only reflective part of the lettering was the buttons.  As long as the b/c lettering was maintained, there was no problem reading it.

Just part of why b/c never should have gone away.

I see that you are from Florence. I spotted a Clearview sign on AL 20/US 72 Alt going west at the intersection with US 43 in Muscle Shoals. It was a sign indicating the direction of US 72 at that intersection. Have you seen anymore instances of Clearview up there?
Cody Goodman
Huntsville, AL, United States

NJRoadfan


BigMattFromTexas

If people are gonna put ClearView all over, then I have a request for a new overhead sign in Angelo. It might as well be the same thing, they're both ugly...

BigMatt

agentsteel53

bwahahaha - now where did I put my sign drawing done in Wingdings?
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

Crazy Volvo Guy

TBH..If some signature features of Highway Gothic had been retained (like the slanted tops of b, h, i, k, and so forth...as well as the numerals remained unchanged) I wouldn't mind it nearly as much as I do.
I hate Clearview, because it looks like a cheap Chinese ripoff.

I'm for the Red Sox and whoever's playing against the Yankees.

vdeane

IMO clearview itself is fine; the problem is that it's usually out of proportion with the rest of the sign.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

codyg1985

Here is some more Clearview in Louisiana. This is probably close to the pic that Andy Jung took a while back.



Cody Goodman
Huntsville, AL, United States

national highway 1

#361
Clearview from Hawaii (courtesy of http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/hi/i-h201/ )


"Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take." Jeremiah 31:21

Android

I just did a 3000 mile road trip and saw some CV here and there.  I guess I'm getting used to it now - don't have the instant gag-reflex I once had.  But I still hate the numbers.   That's why this sign just a couple of miles from here doesn't bother me that much, (for now) they kept the old number tab at the top.  The rest of the sign though, is it me or are the letters sized just a little bit too large for the sign?

-Andy T. Not much of a fan of Clearview

bugo

#363
Quote from: Android on May 23, 2010, 11:57:35 AM
[image]

God that is ugly.  The letters are way too big for that sign.  Death to Clearview, long live the FHWA font.

The Premier

#364
Quote from: bugo on May 23, 2010, 03:14:14 PM
Quote from: Android on May 23, 2010, 11:57:35 AM
[image]

God that is ugly.

Agreed. Maybe Wyoming DOT should scale down on the font size.
Alex P. Dent

Scott5114

That sign is just badly designed all around. It'd look just as terrible in FHWA Series fonts.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

roadfro

Terrible spacing makes any sign look bad, regardless of font...
Roadfro - AARoads Pacific Southwest moderator since 2010, Nevada roadgeek since 1983.

Android

#367
Quote from: The Premier on May 23, 2010, 04:06:04 PM
Quote from: bugo on May 23, 2010, 03:14:14 PM
Quote from: Android on May 23, 2010, 11:57:35 AM

God that is ugly.
Agreed. Maybe Wyoming DOT should scale down on the font size.

LOL, I found I had a photo of another one that WYDOT did that may even be worse:



And going back to that Exit 140 Douglas Gillette sign - above I mentioned that I was glad the tag number stayed FHWA?  well I very seldom actually drive past that sign - I usually exit before I get there and there's only just that one sign that changed.  And it was one of the first Clearview signs put up actually, 2007 date code.  Well after I posted that photo, I went and drove by it again and saw that I must have been lucky to get that photo of the old number tag on it, becuase it's got a Clearview one now with a 2007 date on it.   :banghead:  I was trying to find my original unedited photo of that sign but wasn't having any luck, I was wondering when I took it.  I did snap a fresh photo today though:



I agree with the previous comment that poor sign layout is part of why those are bad. 

Back in 2001 WYDOT was trying out some oddball typeface - similar to some I've seen in other states, sort of a modified-mixed-case, but was pretty weird.  There's not a whole lot of these signs up around Wyoming though.   I only post this example here because at  Exit 57, it has the arrow sign in that oddball lettering, but the 1-mile sign has been changed to Clearview (and they did a bit better with this sign than those examples above):



And that brings me full circle back to 2007 - going the other direction on the interstate you find this sign, FHWA and typeset with a much more appropriate font size than that Douglas-Gillette sign above!:


-Andy T. Not much of a fan of Clearview

hbelkins

These Pennsylvania signs on US 22 seem to have a larger Clearview font than many:







Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

national highway 1

#369
Quote from: hbelkins on May 24, 2010, 10:29:21 PM
These Pennsylvania signs on US 22 seem to have a larger Clearview font than many:
[snip]

Hmm...These don't look bad after all!!!

[Removed images in quotes. Please take the time to do this yourself; we don't need to see the same images three times in a row. -S.]
"Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take." Jeremiah 31:21

LeftyJR

#370
Quote from: ausinterkid on May 25, 2010, 12:32:37 AM
Quote from: hbelkins on May 24, 2010, 10:29:21 PM
These Pennsylvania signs on US 22 seem to have a larger Clearview font than many:
[snip]

Hmm...These don't look bad after all!!!


The Cresson/Summit looks great.  The Gallitzin sign looks a little tall.

Most of the newer Clearview in Central PA is pretty clean and properly proportioned, especially in District 2.

roadfro

Quote from: Android on May 24, 2010, 07:45:59 PM
Back in 2001 WYDOT was trying out some oddball typeface - similar to some I've seen in other states, sort of a modified-mixed-case, but was pretty weird.  There's not a whole lot of these signs up around Wyoming though.   I only post this example here because at  Exit 57, it has the arrow sign in that oddball lettering, but the 1-mile sign has been changed to Clearview (and they did a bit better with this sign than those examples above):


The pic on the left almost seems like it was created with two separate type faces. The left and right sides look like FHWA, and the middle seems like a bastardized version of Clearview...horrendous!
Roadfro - AARoads Pacific Southwest moderator since 2010, Nevada roadgeek since 1983.

bugo

Quote from: roadfro on May 26, 2010, 01:09:42 AM
Quote from: Android on May 24, 2010, 07:45:59 PM
Back in 2001 WYDOT was trying out some oddball typeface - similar to some I've seen in other states, sort of a modified-mixed-case, but was pretty weird.  There's not a whole lot of these signs up around Wyoming though.   I only post this example here because at  Exit 57, it has the arrow sign in that oddball lettering, but the 1-mile sign has been changed to Clearview (and they did a bit better with this sign than those examples above):


The pic on the left almost seems like it was created with two separate type faces. The left and right sides look like FHWA, and the middle seems like a bastardized version of Clearview...horrendous!
And it's still more attractive than the pure Clearview sign.

Brandon

Quote from: roadfro on May 26, 2010, 01:09:42 AM
The pic on the left almost seems like it was created with two separate type faces. The left and right sides look like FHWA, and the middle seems like a bastardized version of Clearview...horrendous!

The sign on the left appear to have two different green colors on the sign, as if it is made from three different panels.  It would appear that the middle panel is gone, and an older typeface and green color is exposed.  Did Wyoming use a non-FHWA font at one time?
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

Android

You know, you're right about that sign, it's definitely got missing sections there, it was only because of that halfway-decent looking new Clearview sign that I even pulled that one up for comparison. 

This is king of getting off of the Clearview topic.... but since you asked, I don't know the history about that weird mixed-case typeface.  Ever since 1987 I think Wyoming has used an easy-to-spot date code at the bottom left of all their WYDOT-erected signs. (not easy to see in my low-bandwidth samples though)  The newest ones I've seen it on are from 2001, which is when I moved up here.  I really didn't start to pay much attention to the signage beyond noticing the dates until around 2003 or so, and I didn't get any digital cameras until 2005. 

That Chugwater sign though, it's that left FHWA section that has the date on it, 2001, so unless that left section falls off before WYDOT replaces it I guess I'll never know how old it is.  But you are definitely right, I was digging in my road-sign folders looking for another example of that funky mixed-case and found an older picture of that Chugwater sign where it only has ONE missing panel. 



And then I found this photo of another oddball mixed-case sign, however the lowercase g is not handled the same was as it was in that Chugwater sign. 


-Andy T. Not much of a fan of Clearview



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