The Worst of Road Signs

[Quillz]

I've seen a few shields that use Series E quite nicely by turning wide shields into "standard" shields. For example, South Carolina has one shield that looks something like this (although the real one lacks the black inner border):



I think if a shield is going to use Series E numerals or wider, than wider shields really ought to be used. In the case above, I think that's a really good way to use larger numerals: by appropriately increasing the surrounding white space, it still remains readable from a good distance. The numbers look less like a crammed black/white blob.

[Ian]

Hell, series F can look good sometimes (though some might not find this appealing)...

[relaxok]

Strongly dislike the shield + numbers on those signs.  They look stretched or something, and somehow old-timey.

The control cities look fine though.

[Jim]

Strongly dislike the shield + numbers on those signs.  They look stretched or something, and somehow old-timey.

The control cities look fine though.

That's what you get in NY when there's a 3-digit state route on a BGS.

[Ian]

I guess to each his own. I like them.

[hbelkins]

That Kentucky example just used to have a KY 620 marker, much larger, on it. The text was added a few years ago. It's Cherry Blossom Way because it's the road that leads to the Toyota factory. I may have a photo of one of the old signs on my page somewhere if someone wants to go digging for it.

[Scott5114]

I was reminded of this:


(Also I hate it when I can't get a shot of a sign without a pole or something in the way, bluh)

Upon closer inspection the S's in "Blossom" appear to have been applied to the sign upside down. Bluh indeed.

[Central Avenue]

Upon closer inspection the S's in "Blossom" appear to have been applied to the sign upside down. Bluh indeed.

...Somehow I hadn't noticed that before, but now I can't stop staring at it.

[ctsignguy]

These signs were definitely beaten with ugly sticks...

[codyg1985]

Strongly dislike the shield + numbers on those signs.  They look stretched or something, and somehow old-timey.

The control cities look fine though.

That's what you get in NY when there's a 3-digit state route on a BGS.

And South Carolina. At first I didn't care for it, but it is starting to grow on me.

[Android]

Hell, series F can look good sometimes (though some might not find this appealing)...

Those Series F 378 signs certainly work as far as imparting the information, and are visible at a glance, so they work, but they just look odd to me.  Whenever I see Series F or other series stretched to that width, it just looks, off.  I feel the same about this exit/gore sign, it works, looks OK, but just doesn't seem right. 

[yakra]

ctsignguy:
Wow! I seriously made YECCH!ing sounds out loud when I saw that SL 35.
I find the CT66 the least offensive of the bunch. Can someone better than me with such things gimme a font ID?

[Duke87]

I find the CT66 the least offensive of the bunch. Can someone better than me with such things gimme a font ID?

Like 99% of road signs set in a nonstandard font, it's Arial.

[Scott5114]

I find the CT66 the least offensive of the bunch. Can someone better than me with such things gimme a font ID?

Like 99% of road signs set in a nonstandard font, it's Arial.

Negative. That's Helvetica, as are all the digits in that post.

[1995hoo]

Ugly shields in Annandale, Virginia (northbound Ravensworth Road at VA-236). I suppose, to be fair, that the numbers ARE quite easy to read from a distance. But these are hideous, and the crooked numbers on the center shield don't help either. (The black stuff around the center arrow is graffiti.)

[Takumi]

This was briefly used on I-95 a few months ago when the ramp from northbound I-95 to I-85 was closed. Originally they had put it in the wrong location. It was supposed to be on I-95 at exit 53 while a regular Detour sign was supposed to be here. The covered-up banner was a Detour banner.

[agentsteel53]

Ugly shields in Annandale, Virginia (northbound Ravensworth Road at VA-236). I suppose, to be fair, that the numbers ARE quite easy to read from a distance. But these are hideous, and the crooked numbers on the center shield don't help either. (The black stuff around the center arrow is graffiti.)

I wonder who devised that font.  It looks essentially like a thinner-stroke Series D.  I've seen it in Kentucky, and I just saw it in - of all places - the Netherlands, which uses Highway Gothic in general.

[Alex]

Interstate 57 northbound in Illinois.



Interstate 94 eastbound in Michigan.

[Duke87]

I find the CT66 the least offensive of the bunch. Can someone better than me with such things gimme a font ID?

Like 99% of road signs set in a nonstandard font, it's Arial.

Negative. That's Helvetica, as are all the digits in that post.

You sure about that?

Compare to the 6 in this photo. It's different.

[Android]

To my eyes, the subway photo is Helvetica Medium.  The 66 sign above, that looks like Helvetica Medium Condensed.  Related, but different typefaces.

[Duke87]

Hmm... now that I look at it again it does look like a narrower, thinner version of the subway 6.

At any rate, Arial and Helvetica are very similar. To the point where differences between different versions of each can exceed differences between similar weight versions of the two. Quite frustrating attempting to tell the two apart given that.

What I don't get is this. Arial is the default of defaults on every computer program in existence, so I can understand how it could end up on a sign if someone neglects to bother to change the font from the default. But why does Helvetica show up on signs? It is by no means a common default... hell, I don't even have Helvetica on my computer. I couldn't use it intentionally let alone by accident! The only place I know of where it is a standard is on New York City Transit (and MNRR/LIRR) signage, and signage for a few other transit agencies that also admired the graphic design teachings of Massimo Vignelli. Is there something I'm missing?

[Lightning Strike]

Just got back from a trip to the UP of Michigan and I am upset I didn't see the sign sooner, else I would've gotten a shot; but if someone who lives in the area has photos to back me up please do!!

I'd have to qualify the I-196/US-31 signs south of Grand Rapids. The I-196 are considerably larger than US-31 shields as if the US-31 shields were an afterthought haphazardly applied to the sign post to remind drivers that US-31 is concurrent with I-196. The signs are terribly small, such that I had to take a double look just to make sure it was a US sign.

[Alex]

Just got back from a trip to the UP of Michigan and I am upset I didn't see the sign sooner, else I would've gotten a shot; but if someone who lives in the area has photos to back me up please do!!

I'd have to qualify the I-196/US-31 signs south of Grand Rapids. The I-196 are considerably larger than US-31 shields as if the US-31 shields were an afterthought haphazardly applied to the sign post to remind drivers that US-31 is concurrent with I-196. The signs are terribly small, such that I had to take a double look just to make sure it was a US sign.

They are like that in both directions and also like that for the I-75/US 23 overlap and the I-94/US 127 overlap. MDOT standard?
There were PA-31 shields posted on two assemblies of the same size as well.

[vtk]

What I don't get is this. Arial is the default of defaults on every computer program in existence, ... hell, I don't even have Helvetica on my computer. I couldn't use it intentionally let alone by accident! ... Is there something I'm missing?

It's not the default in every program.  Some programs default to Times (New Roman).  New versions of MS Office default to some of those newer Windows 7 fonts whose names all start with a C.

Anyway, it should be noted that Arial is Microsoft's imitation of Helvetica.  Some of the differences were engineered to improve readability when rendered at a low resolution (like 8 pixels high) on a computer screen.  Arial has shipped with Windows beginning with version 3.1, which was the first to support TrueType fonts (which surprisingly is an Apple technology).  So what I'm getting at is that, outside of Microsoft Windows, there's no reason to expect Arial to be present versus Helvetica.  Besides, since designers generally consider Helvetica to be the superior font, expensive workstations used to design road signs may very well default to Helvetica (or a better imitation than Arial, anyway) even if that workstation is Windows-based.

[Brandon]

Just got back from a trip to the UP of Michigan and I am upset I didn't see the sign sooner, else I would've gotten a shot; but if someone who lives in the area has photos to back me up please do!!

I'd have to qualify the I-196/US-31 signs south of Grand Rapids. The I-196 are considerably larger than US-31 shields as if the US-31 shields were an afterthought haphazardly applied to the sign post to remind drivers that US-31 is concurrent with I-196. The signs are terribly small, such that I had to take a double look just to make sure it was a US sign.

That's common to do in some states.  The secondary route that follows the primary route has a smaller shield below the primary route.  IIRC, Colorado and a few other western states do it as well.