Best/Worst Signage WITHIN an airport facility...

[thenetwork]

Most airports I have seen use their own highway signage rules/designs -- in most cases it is different than what is seen on state-owned highways.

What airports have/had the best or worst signage system or designs?

One of the worst I have ever seen was the signage at Honolulu International Airport -- All of the overhead signs used day-glo colors (Yellow, blue, and I believe pink as well).  Just plain ugly and too damn bright!!! 

One of my favorites is Akron/Canton Airport, mainly because they use blue backlit signs. 

Others???   

[corco]

Sky Harbor is annoying to me because parking isn't very clearly marked- the other day I was looking for short term parking for Terminal 2, and while I eventually found it there was no clear indicator that I would, or that it even exists. Signage to the freeways is also not so clear sometimes regarding what lane to be in.

I like DIA, though. The initial airport signage is way out in advance on Pena for airlines and what not, and then everything is clearly marked. I do wish they'd put a sign on Pena when the Pikes Peak lot is full, so you don't have to get off at the Pikes Peak exit only to find you need to drive a couple more miles down the frontage road to get to Mt Elbert, but that's a minor quibble. Navigation around the terminal is intuitive and well marked.

[agentsteel53]

inside DIA, there are no signs for the east economy lot when you come out of the security area in the east terminal.  I had to ask an employee, who told me that the shuttle is on the second floor of the expensive garage.  Other than that, DIA is well-signed.

[realjd]

I'm a big fan of the signage installed in the new terminal in Indianapolis. They didn't try to do anything fancy with diagrams or colors; they stuck with clear, easy-to-read blue overhead signs.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=ind&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=35.631106,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Indianapolis+International+Airport,+Indianapolis,+Marion,+Indiana+46241&ll=39.704281,-86.30825&spn=0.067619,0.154324&z=13&layer=c&cbll=39.704192,-86.308284&panoid=fyouv0lMgIjeiZrpqR4PDw&cbp=12,79.26,,0,-2.21

[SSOWorld]

I'm a big fan of the signage installed in the new terminal in Indianapolis. They didn't try to do anything fancy with diagrams or colors; they stuck with clear, easy-to-read blue overhead signs.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=ind&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=35.631106,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Indianapolis+International+Airport,+Indianapolis,+Marion,+Indiana+46241&ll=39.704281,-86.30825&spn=0.067619,0.154324&z=13&layer=c&cbll=39.704192,-86.308284&panoid=fyouv0lMgIjeiZrpqR4PDw&cbp=12,79.26,,0,-2.21

Oh yes they did - they used Clearview

[tdindy88]

I'm a big fan of the signage installed in the new terminal in Indianapolis. They didn't try to do anything fancy with diagrams or colors; they stuck with clear, easy-to-read blue overhead signs.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=ind&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=35.631106,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Indianapolis+International+Airport,+Indianapolis,+Marion,+Indiana+46241&ll=39.704281,-86.30825&spn=0.067619,0.154324&z=13&layer=c&cbll=39.704192,-86.308284&panoid=fyouv0lMgIjeiZrpqR4PDw&cbp=12,79.26,,0,-2.21

Oh yes they did - they used Clearview

Enjoy it, that's the only Clearview you'll get in Indiana.

[Kacie Jane]

Not Clearview, doesn't have the tails at the bottom of the lower case l's.  Looks more like it's just some randomly selected font off a computer.

[corco]

Looks like Helvetica to me

[The Premier]

Cleveland Hopkins Airport at one time had red signage. Guess they didn't like it

[agentsteel53]

I do not know what it is, but it is closer to Clearview than to Helvetica, or even Arial.

[Kacie Jane]

It's a font I recognize - the left stroke of the A is thinner than the right, and the P is unjoined - but apparently it's not a font that came with Windows 7 on my new computer, so I can't pinpoint it.

This right here is pretty much my biggest problem with airport signage.  They think that just because they're the port authority or whatever private agency and not the DOT, they can choose whatever font they want for their signs.  It's also the biggest problem I have with Clearview.  I think Clearview is great as a font, and I think it generally is easier to read.  But it's not the FHWA font, and when you get into situations where you have two BGS's on the same gantry with two different fonts, it's just plain distracting.

In other words, I find airport/Clearview signs harder to read not because the fonts themselves harder to read, but because - to paraphrase Lewis Black - I see it, and the left side of my brain looks at the right side and says, "I'm going to take a nap."

[bulldog1979]

Stone Sans... Walmart uses the same font for their corporate signage.

[agentsteel53]

Mexico has the same problem; sometimes you gotta wonder just where on earth they came up with a particular font.  I've seen a single sign that combines Helvetica, Highway Gothic, and a 1960s official Mexican block font.

[agentsteel53]

Stone Sans... Walmart uses the same font for their corporate signage.

is the asymmetrical capital-W part of the font, or is that something Walmart added?  (Note the half-rounded bottom of the W)

[bulldog1979]

Stone Sans... Walmart uses the same font for their corporate signage.

is the asymmetrical capital-W part of the font, or is that something Walmart added?  (Note the half-rounded bottom of the W)

I think the logo is a different font, or they might have changed fonts. In 2007, they were using Stone Sans though, because that's what I used when I redrew a store's evacuation map, and I wanted to make the department labels match the navigation signs hanging from the ceiling. The current logo is newer than that though, and Stone Sans doesn't have the same "W"