Narrow Button Copy

[vtk]

Here's a thread for showcasing D-Modified and C-Modified button copy photos.  Did B-Modified ever exist?  Probably not, but if a picture ever turns up, post it here!



D-Modified is relatively easy to find in Ohio – or at least, it was a few years ago.  Sign replacement programs are ongoing, and button copy is becoming endangered.  I have said before that D-Modified can be found in Ohio on surviving 3-digit Interstate shields, and occasionally, on really old guide signs.  Here are some photos I've found in my archive:

	Nov 2007, Easton Way approaching I-270.  The numbers in the I-270 shields are D-Modified.  Also, every white capital letter in this display, including in the destinations, is D-Modified!  (Actually, I can't tell if the lowercase letters are DM or EM...)  These signs date from the 90's; I had no idea DM had been used this way so recently, until I took a close look at this picture!
	Aug 2010, US 33F eastbound.  The numbers in the I-670 shield are D-Modified.  Also, the word "EXIT" in the Grandview Ave exit tab is DM.  This sign was installed in 2002, the last year ODOT District 6 used button copy.
	Aug 2011, US 23 northbound approaching I-270 (south side).  The numbers in both Interstate shields are D-Modified.  Also, the word "TO" is DM.  Age of sign unknown.
	Google Street View, US 23 NB in Marion County.  Most exit gore signs along US 23 in Marion County set the word "EXIT" in D-Modified.

Observed, not photographed:

• US 33, Sugar Grove signage, Fairfield County.  I believe the button copy version of this sign (which has been replaced) used DM uppercase letters with EM lowercase letters.  [Google Street View]
• Many older Specific Service Signs use DM text above the logos.

[Quillz]

An old one in California, but I don't think it's around anymore:



And while not button copy, many California route shields use D(M), as well:



The "880" is D(M), the "980" is not. You can see the difference quite easily by looking at the 8 and 0 numerals.

[J N Winkler]

What Arizona DOT and Minnesota DOT called "Series D Modified" is basically the same as plain-jane Series D in the Caltrans Alphabets.  In guide signing contexts (G-series sign spec sheets, for example), Caltrans sometimes called D Modified "CAPS" ("U.C." and "L.C." being reserved for mixed-case Series E Modified).

Minor state highways in California used to have (as of 2002), and may still have, comedy text-only warning signs with random characters in regular Series D and Series D Modified.  These don't have button reflectorization.

[Alps]

I hate to say it but I think all of your Ohio examples are E Modified, with a reduced text height...

[vtk]

I hate to say it but I think all of your Ohio examples are E Modified, with a reduced text height...

I compared each example against D, E, and EM text at the appropriate size in my image editor.  The parts I say are DM match much more closely to D in proportions and angles than to E or EM.  There are also noticeable contrasts between DM and EM in my photos — for example, compare the A of New Albany in the first photo (DM) with the As in Airport and Ave in the second photo (EM); or in just the second photo, compare the E in EAST (EM) to the E in EXIT (DM).  You can see the high-resolution versions of my photos by clicking on them, and do the comparisons yourself.  Or if you're not that great with image manipulation, I can put together some side-by-side comparisons between blown-up portions of these photos and samples in the Roadgeek fonts, so everyone can see how these specimen are closer to D than E. 

Edit: You'll have to take my word on the exit gore signs, as I don't have a high-res photo.  But I drive past a lot of those on the job (they're in a lot of places actually — seemingly every button copy exit gore sign without a number) and the angle of the strokes in the X gives away that it's not as wide as EM should be.

[Alps]

Point taken - I compared the capital A's and I'm finally starting to see what you're getting at. Cool stuff.

[vtk]

Here are some examples of C-Modified, borrowed from another thread:

[luokou]

D-modified, but still a rarity nonetheless. The only examples of C-modified I've seen were also in California, off of I-5 at the San Fernando Valley Bl. exit (since replaced) and the numerals in an I-80 shield just outside of Oakland (most likely been replaced).

[vtk]

The lowercase letters are definitely C-Modified – they're just too narrow to be D.  The upper case letters are debatable: I'd say the first example probably has D-Mod capitals, and the second example is probably all C-Mod.  (That is, of the San Bernardino legends).  Also, I think the "10"s in the Interstate shields in both examples are C-Mod.

[myosh_tino]

Regarding the first photo (quoted above), I agree with vtk.  I believe the lowercase letters are C-modified while the uppercase letters are D-modified.  Here's my attempt to draw the I-10 exit sign above...

The uppercase 'S' and 'B' I made D-modified while the lowercase letters were C-modified.  I disagree with vtk's comment that the "10" is C-modified, I think it's D-modified.  The Series C zero is too narrow.

Please keep in mind that C or D-modified fonts do not exist so I used the Roadgeek Series C and D fonts, "bolded" them and tinkered with the inter-character spacing to the extent that Photoshop allows.  If there's a way to manipulate the Roadgeek font to simulate C and D-modified, I sure would like to know.