All 250,000 of New York City’s street signs will get a ‘typeface-lift’ to feature a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters in the font ‘Clearview (ClearviewHwy)’, on reflective surfaces.
The typeface Clearview was created by designers Donald Meeker and James Montalbano in 1990s, together with Thomas D Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute and Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
“With its crisp, clean design, Clearview represents exactly what its name suggests,” Janette Sadik-Khan, NYC’s transportation commissioner, said in a statement. “Whether through our signs, markings or sidewalks, we’re bringing clarity and simplicity to street design.”
Clearview’s aim is to improve the legibility of the alphabet used for traffic signs.
Currently, 11,000 street signs have been changed to meet national standards in typography and surface reflectivity—the other 239,000 signs will soon be changed as well.
What do you think of the typographic update?
[via New York Times]