Unique, Odd, or Interesting Signs aka The good, the bad, and the ugly

[tolbs17]

These signs don't match. Which sign looks better?

wut

if you know what I'm taking about lol

[TBKS1]

These signs don't match. Which sign looks better?

wut

if you know what I'm taking about lol

The arrow on the right side looks to be sharpened a bit more than the arrow on the left side. That's like one of the most subtle differences between two signs I've ever seen, it took me a while to figure out the difference between the two.

[tolbs17]

These signs don't match. Which sign looks better?

wut

if you know what I'm taking about lol

The arrow on the right side looks to be sharpened a bit more than the arrow on the left side. That's like one of the most subtle differences between two signs I've ever seen, it took me a while to figure out the difference between the two.

Here's the current ones we use right now.

Do you like the old or the new sharpened arrow better?

[kphoger]

I can barely even tell the difference now that I know what it is.  This has reached a whole new level of pedantry, even for this forum.

[tolbs17]

I can barely even tell the difference now that I know what it is.  This has reached a whole new level of pedantry, even for this forum.

And this one does not match and I think the sign itself is a little smaller.

[wanderer2575]

I can barely even tell the difference now that I know what it is.  This has reached a whole new level of pedantry, even for this forum.

And this one does not match and I think the sign itself is a little smaller.

And kphoger's comment goes right over your head.  Let me try:  You really need to find something to occupy your time if you're obsessing over minutia like this, especially when motorists will see it for only a few seconds.

[tolbs17]

I can barely even tell the difference now that I know what it is.  This has reached a whole new level of pedantry, even for this forum.

And this one does not match and I think the sign itself is a little smaller.

And kphoger's comment goes right over your head.  Let me try:  You really need to find something to occupy your time if you're obsessing over minutia like this, especially when motorists will see it for only a few seconds.

That's so funny.

[Scott5114]

This has reached a whole new level of pedantry, even for this forum.

Has it?

[tolbs17]

Like, what kind of smaller arrow does this sign use?

US-64
https://maps.app.goo.gl/WAMCtG5RCghN3hUu6

[Scott5114]

Like, what kind of smaller arrow does this sign use?

US-64
https://maps.app.goo.gl/WAMCtG5RCghN3hUu6

That's a Type B arrow.

[tolbs17]

Like, what kind of smaller arrow does this sign use?

US-64
https://maps.app.goo.gl/WAMCtG5RCghN3hUu6

That's a Type B arrow.

At least it's better than this sign for sure.

[US 89]

This has reached a whole new level of pedantry, even for this forum.

Has it?

At least I can see the difference between those. I still can barely see any difference between the various arrows tolbs has posted ... and there is no way I would ever be able to identify that at speed. I honestly thought he was talking about how the left stop sign was fading at the bottom right.

[US 89]

Like, what kind of smaller arrow does this sign use?

US-64
https://maps.app.goo.gl/WAMCtG5RCghN3hUu6

That's a Type B arrow.

At least it's better than this sign for sure.

Meh. I think it looks fine. You want to see bad looking arrows, head up to Ogden UT where there are a few grossly oversized arrows on I-15/84 south just before 84 splits off.

(Also just noticed that the cardinal directions are lowercased on the second set of signs... clearly whatever contractor made these didn't proofread.)

[tolbs17]

Like, what kind of smaller arrow does this sign use?

US-64
https://maps.app.goo.gl/WAMCtG5RCghN3hUu6

That's a Type B arrow.

At least it's better than this sign for sure.

Meh. I think it looks fine. You want to see bad looking arrows, head up to Ogden UT where there are a few grossly oversized arrows on I-15/84 south just before 84 splits off.

(Also just noticed that the cardinal directions are lowercased on the second set of signs... clearly whatever contractor made these didn't proofread.)

sloppy...

[Scott5114]

Oh, are we complaining about our states' arrow usage now? Let me play!

(this wouldn't be so bad if they didn't do this on every damn sign in the metro)

[CoreySamson]

Arrows on signs are one of those things that I don't really care about (unless something about it is egregiously wrong, like the first SLC sign US 89 just posted).

Oh, are we complaining about our states' arrow usage now? Let me play!

(this wouldn't be so bad if they didn't do this on every damn sign in the metro)

The only thing I dislike about that sign is the Series F used on the 35 shield. The sign looks great otherwise.

[vdeane]

Time to start a petition for a "tolbs17 in one thread" thread?

[Rothman]

Time to start a petition for a "tolbs17 in one thread" thread?

Where do I sign?  His spamming the forum makes it more difficult to navigate and separate the wheat from the chaff.

[JoePCool14]

This has reached a whole new level of pedantry, even for this forum.

Has it?

Ah, glad I'm not the only one who noticed those weird Oklahoma arrows. They just look so... off. They make me uncomfortable. 

[Scott5114]

This has reached a whole new level of pedantry, even for this forum.

Has it?

Ah, glad I'm not the only one who noticed those weird Oklahoma arrows. They just look so... off. They make me uncomfortable. 

The blunt arrow isn't as bad as its rarer (but still non-standard) cousin, the sharp arrow. Both of them are slowly losing out to the standard (but incorrectly-used) Type D arrow.

My kingdom for a standard Type A arrow for a change!

[J N Winkler]

My arrow is bigger than your arrow.

[tolbs17]

This arrow is weird looking! And I see this sign all the time.

[tolbs17]

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.4722606,-77.6706448,3a,15y,10.03h,87.92t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sfGMveqtW9pt8U6DdXEHUmA!2e0!5s20180701T000000!7i13312!8i6656

???

[Scott5114]

My arrow is bigger than your arrow.

If I'm reading that right, that's 800 mm or about 31 inches. That's not that much bigger than the typical BGS arrow in the US, is it?

[J N Winkler]

If I'm reading that right, that's 800 mm or about 31 inches. That's not that much bigger than the typical BGS arrow in the US, is it?

I think that 800 mm measurement applies to the smaller arrow on the bottom panel.  This design was generated in CarDim (short for dimensionamiento de carteles, cartel being the peninsular Spanish term for a designable guide sign), and the measurement boxes tend to overflow onto a second or even a third page for complex designs.

It's been a while since I studied Norma 8.1-IC (the Spanish direction sign design bible), but I recall that it correlates arrow length to panel height in the 2001 edition (which would have been used to design this sign), and I think that rule has been retained in some form in the 2015 (current) edition since I still see multipanel carteles where each panel has a different-sized arrow.  The arrow in the top panel is probably around 1600 mm (63 in) in length, which makes it wildly oversized for a typical arrow on an American freeway guide sign with capital letter height of 16 in.  On this sign the altura basica ("basic height," or Hb--capital letter height of primary destination legend) is 240 mm (9.4 in), so the arrow is even more out of proportion.

In the US arrow size is typically correlated to capital letter height of primary destination legend, and I think SignCAD defaults to Type A arrow length of 35.6 in for 16 in caps.