Sign fonts that evoke personalities

[bandit957]

Does anyone else think certain sign font widths and the subtle differences in the way they are laid out on the sign evoke people of certain personalities?

Take the various KY 1120 shields over the years, for example. I remember the old circular shields with the very tall and skinny numerals. They evoked an uptight personality sort of like how Bert from 'Sesame Street' wears a sweater with vertical stripes. I also remember circular KY 1120 shields with smaller numbers, which evoked more of a quiet type. The KY 1120 signs with the wide shield that have been common since the '80s evoke more of a trustworthy newscaster type of personality, or maybe something like a doctor.

Stop signs are another good example. The most common type of stop sign we see today evokes sort of a firm, authoritative personality. But the old Ohio stop signs of the '70s with the skinny letters evoked a more uptight, Bert-like persona. The Dayton, Ky., stop signs of the '70s with letters that were closer together evoked the common person of the era.

[hotdogPi]

Comic Sans

[Roadgeek2500]

For me, Clearview evokes strong agita, especially in Pennsylvania.

[cl94]

Well, Akzidenz-Grotesk in all-caps bold invokes either a love or hate reaction in everyone...

[Rothman]

I don't know about fonts, but for some reason my brain assigns personalities to numbers on route shields in general.  Kind of annoying, really, since intellectually I know it makes no sense whatsoever to think of the number 65 as looking laid back.

[freebrickproductions]

I don't know about fonts, but for some reason my brain assigns personalities to numbers on route shields in general.  Kind of annoying, really, since intellectually I know it makes no sense whatsoever to think of the number 65 as looking laid back.

Well, I can honestly say that I don't see "65" as being laid back, but it is a rather nice sounding number, IMO. However, I do know that I-565 rolls off of the tongue really well.

[paulthemapguy]

I don't know about fonts, but for some reason my brain assigns personalities to numbers on route shields in general.  Kind of annoying, really, since intellectually I know it makes no sense whatsoever to think of the number 65 as looking laid back.

I had weird feelings that numbers had personalities when I was a little kid too.  I still kinda do.  All the single-digits have personalities, and the double-digit numbers are combinations of those I guess.

Clearview seems a bit more ironclad and strict compared to classic roadway fonts.  I like the old way better personally.

[TravelingBethelite]

I don't know about fonts, but for some reason my brain assigns personalities to numbers on route shields in general.  Kind of annoying, really, since intellectually I know it makes no sense whatsoever to think of the number 65 as looking laid back.

Well, I can honestly say that I don't see "65" as being laid back, but it is a rather nice sounding number, IMO. However, I do know that I-565 rolls off of the tongue really well.

Says Mr. I'm-From-Northern-Alabama.

On a related note, I've always thought certain kinds of what I called "light poles" (actually telephone poles) had emotions. I always thought this kind was 'smiling':

[Ian]

This is all I'm seeing from that telephone pole...

[SignGeek101]

I don't know about fonts, but for some reason my brain assigns personalities to numbers on route shields in general.  Kind of annoying, really, since intellectually I know it makes no sense whatsoever to think of the number 65 as looking laid back.

Well, I can honestly say that I don't see "65" as being laid back, but it is a rather nice sounding number, IMO. However, I do know that I-565 rolls off of the tongue really well.

Says Mr. I'm-From-Northern-Alabama.

On a related note, I've always thought certain kinds of what I called "light poles" (actually telephone poles) had emotions. I always thought this kind was 'smiling':

I think it's feeling kind of sad because it has all sorts of bug holes in it.

[freebrickproductions]

I know I always thought the traffic lights that are showing a green indication look like they're smiling.

I don't know about fonts, but for some reason my brain assigns personalities to numbers on route shields in general.  Kind of annoying, really, since intellectually I know it makes no sense whatsoever to think of the number 65 as looking laid back.

Well, I can honestly say that I don't see "65" as being laid back, but it is a rather nice sounding number, IMO. However, I do know that I-565 rolls off of the tongue really well.

Says Mr. I'm-From-Northern-Alabama.

To be fair, my older brother was the one who noticed that, an he isn't a road geek!