The Best of Road Signs

[Central Avenue]

Unisign in the City of Fairfax, Virginia:

As a friend of mine put it: "No Turn on Japan"

[Alps]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I understand the value behind standardization. There's a need to give drivers a certain expectation of what they should see, and if everyone who posted a sign just made up their own rules we'd quickly get an inconsistent and confusing mess.

But when I look at an individual sign, I try to judge it on its own merits. After all, the standard is only one way of doing things, and just because it's the accepted standard doesn't mean it's the only good way of doing things, or that other ways of doing things are inherently inferior. That's why I, personally, will criticize signs for being ugly or unclear or other such faults, but not merely for not conforming to the standard.

Of course, you're free to disagree, but that's my take on it.

So, Ms Central, how would you judge this sign?  Definitely not standard....

Looks like a standard California curve warning sign from the 1960s, at least from the curve directions indicated by the arrow.

Connecticut. I recognize that any day.

[formulanone]

As a friend of mine put it: "No Turn on Japan"

What if you're listening to Turning Japanese?

[cpzilliacus]

As a friend of mine put it: "No Turn on Japan"

Just excellent. 

Best part - I snapped that image to get the unisign, not the "No Turn on Japan."

[yakra]

As a friend of mine put it: "No Turn on Japan"

HA! Oh man. That was so funny I had to (gleefully) say it out loud several times!

[cpzilliacus]

As a friend of mine put it: "No Turn on Japan"

What if you're listening to Turning Japanese?

Ah yes, the Vapors.  Brings back thoughts of younger days.

[Alex]

A subtle sign, but the shield shape is great:



Interstate 95 south at Exit 8 in Virginia.

[agentsteel53]

wow - '61 spec US shields are actually quite rare in Virginia.  their staple cutout, since the late 50s or so, has been a slightly different shape - 16 1/2 by 16 1/2, as opposed to the standard 16 1/2 by 16. 

the last standard '61 spec (really, '26 spec) shield from Virginia was made in the early 50s, with the embossed border.

[Kacie Jane]

I agree that the shield is pretty, but shouldn't "exit tab is wider than the sign itself" automatically disqualify it from Best Of?

[bassoon1986]

that makes me wonder...do we have a thread on smallest exit signs?

[spmkam]

Being a CT native and daily traveler of the Merritt I always thought the exit signs look really neat

http://www.flickr.com/photos/therealkurumi/7769289520/lightbox/

[CanesFan27]

IMG_7184 by Adam's Journey, on Flickr

[Ian]

Being a CT native and daily traveler of the Merritt I always thought the exit signs look really neat

http://www.flickr.com/photos/therealkurumi/7769289520/lightbox/

Even though the font sucks, I agree.

[spmkam]

what's so bad about it?
Post Merge: February 09, 2013, 02:11:41 AM
Oh wait the zero in 108 looks funny

[Scott5114]

Although it's not a legitimate road sign font, as a font, it's not that bad. I'd rather see that up there than Arial, for instance.

[agentsteel53]

Although it's not a legitimate road sign font, as a font, it's not that bad. I'd rather see that up there than Arial, for instance.

I wonder why they selected that font.  the original sawtoothed exit signs from the 1930s didn't have it, that's for sure.  they used something that, for 1938, looked astonishingly like 1945 Highway Gothic.

[Ian]

Although it's not a legitimate road sign font, as a font, it's not that bad. I'd rather see that up there than Arial, for instance.

I do agree that there are plenty of other fonts that are way worse, but I still dislike the font choice for the signs.

[kurumi]

Although it's not a legitimate road sign font, as a font, it's not that bad. I'd rather see that up there than Arial, for instance.

I wonder why they selected that font.  the original sawtoothed exit signs from the 1930s didn't have it, that's for sure.  they used something that, for 1938, looked astonishingly like 1945 Highway Gothic.

It's ITC Stone Sans demibold. A commenter for that photo notes that the designer was born in 1945, years after the highway was completed.

[Michael]

While looking through Doug's Flickr set for NY 5, I came across this neat sign photo from 2004:

Click here for the original photo page

I found the location of the photo in Street View, but the sign has been removed.  Note the post holes in the brick pavers in the center of the Street View image.

[Ian]

Took this just a few hours ago. One of the two Pennsylvania state-named I-676 shields I know of in existence. This one is at the base of the I-95 southbound exit 22 ramp, while the other one is mounted on a BGS near the Convention Center.

[vtk]

That green sign on the top has some minor issues...

[Billy F 1988]

Those issues including: Vertical kern spacing between each line, and too small of a direction arrow. That BGS alone would vie for Signs with Design Errors, not the shield assemblies below that.

[Ian]

That green sign on the top has some minor issues...

The green sign does leave something to be desired, but I didn't post the image because of it...

[PHLBOS]

Took this just a few hours ago. One of the two Pennsylvania state-named I-676 shields I know of in existence. This one is at the base of the I-95 southbound exit 22 ramp, while the other one is mounted on a BGS near the Convention Center.

That green sign on the top has some minor issues…

The green sign does leave something to be desired, but I didn't post the image because of it...

Something tells me that particular assembly has been knocked down once or twice over the last 20+ years (by an errant vehicle) w/the I-676 shield, the direction arrow below it and the LGS likley being the original signs given their condition (the faded red on the shield, the LGS appearing slightly warped and the graffiti-laden blue direction arrow) with all the other signage being newer.

[bjrush]

Beautiful sign in Southwest City, Mo. Found this while turning around after photographing the AR 43/OK 20 dual state concurrency

What a day