Saturday, August 11, 2007

American highway signage

American highway signage is changing:

Highway Gothic conjures the awe of Interstate travel and the promise of midcentury futurism; Clearview's aesthetic is decidedly more subdued. "It's like being a good umpire," [highway engineer Martin] Pietrucha says, suggesting that one of Clearview's largest triumphs will be how quietly it replaces Highway Gothic sign by sign in the coming years. "It will completely change the look of the American highway, but not so much that anyone will notice."
Driving east in Pennsylvania last week, I noticed the Trebuchet-like curl in the lower-case l (i.e., el), but I didn't realize that the change was more than local.

Read all about it:
The Road to Clarity (New York Times)

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