Why the US has two different highway fonts
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 29. 04. 2021
- The typefaces on highway signs, deconstructed.
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When you head out on the highway in the United States, youâre probably paying attention to the signs above your car and on the side of the road - the ones that direct you to your destination. If youâre looking for an exit or a rest stop, chances are youâll see the typeface Highway Gothic. It became the highway standard in the 1950s, born out of an initiative from the California Department of Transportation to develop a clearer and more flexible standard for highway signs.
But for the past decade, a new typeface has been trying to take its place: Clearview. This new typeface boasts wider spaces inside of letters and less chunky letterforms, and tries to solve some of Highway Gothicâs readability issues. Learn more in the video above.
More from typeface designer Tobias Frere-Jones, who designed the typeface Interstate as an homage to Highway Gothic:
www.moma.org/collection/works...
More information on how the FHWA decided to grant Clearview an interim approval:
mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/...
mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/SHSe/Alpha...
More on research behind Clearviewâs legibility:
d2dtl5nnlpfr0r.cloudfront.net...
trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=713768
More on the differences between Highway Gothic and Clearview:
qz.com/605695/font-designers-...
www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...
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This is the type of video you watch when you're procrastinating your assignments
Literally me
Lol
I am doing just that
đ€Łđđ€Łđđ€Łđđ€Łđđ€Łđ€Łđ€Łđ€Łđ€Łđ€Ł I've turned my body AWAY from my desk to watch
Doing this right now
Vox finds the weirdest, most abstract seemingly basic topics you could think of and forces you to be interested in it
I was actually wondering about that
It makes sense though. For a state as poor in South carolina, to think that they have newer font signs then North Carolina, that shock.
Idk if you're already aware of them but Half as Interesting and Wendover Productions make similar videos.
@@albiesnyder412 Nooooooooooo, really?
This is further proof to me that I really need to get into production of these types of CZcams videos. I wonder about things like road sign typefaces, and just recently ended up researching this exact topic!
Im planning on doing a cross country journey that takes 48 hours of driving, I better pack my single orange!
Lol
I think that was a mandarin.
Even better is driving around the perimeter of the country
Remember
@@_Atzin No, it was a tangerine.
Gonna crash off the highway trying to figure out which font Iâm looking at on every sign I pass now
Good to
that sounds really dangerous.
Lol same tho
With me just one glance and it's wicked obvious: the typeface that looks like ad copy is definitely Clearview
@@JP-br4mx itâs a joke
I have never been so interested in something I care so little about
yes.!!!!!!!!
You will care once your phone stop working and you found yourself out of nowhere at night.
Shows that you can be fed mindless unentertaining content as long as its put together professionally by a million dollar Corp. How sad. Read a book
@@ToyotaNutjob it was a joke but ok buddy
SAME
I find it a bit of an oversight to interview Tobias Frere-Jones without actually acknowledging that he designed an updated and more legible version of the Highway Gothic typeface called Interstate. It improves on the original, but without pushing it into Clearview territory.
I don't think it's an oversight at all, it's just not particularly relevant since Interstate is a commercial/retail typeface and not used on actual highways. Still a great improvement, though.
That's true honestly I agree
God, I thought I was a nerd!! đ€
Because I'm not famous like other singers that's why no one see my singing videos. Just see onceâ€.......
And Interstate font is used on Soundcloud!
Time for my regular dose of knowledge I'll only ever use because I'm my friend group's "wanna hear something interesting" guy
By contrast
same AHAHAHAHA
this is me!
we're basically nerdsđ
Literally SHeldon Cooper at thi point
Some GeoGuessr pro out there has probably devised a way to use roadsign typeface to further determine with pinpoint accuracy where they are in the US
When having the highway number, distance, and the exit doesn't give you a perfect score
I've done that, but by memorizing each and every 50 states standards for highway maintenance and road numbering. Welcome up the world of roadgeeks, we're a very, very niche community that does weird stuff like that
Not necessarily fonts, but some states such as Texas do have distinctive road pavements. Although usually it's hard to tell without state highway signs, which are almost always unique.
Another tip: if the speed limit is 85, you're in Texas.
lol, i play way too much geoguessr and set my system font to highway gothic months ago. it makes things so much easier to read. i love it.
This feels like it should have been a "half as interesting" vid
True ngl
but with less basic stock media footage.
spare me the stock footage dump tho
I am convinced that the American joke was written by the Hai guy only.
More like Cheddar
Thanks for posting this, it was a burning issue for me.
đđđ
Yup, they should've replaced it with sarcasm font.
Highway Gothic needs to be the title of a TV show.
And, later, a spinoff series called Clearview. Almost no one will know why it's called that.
American Highway Gothic. It's like Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets American Horror Story, but Buffy's on a road trip
@@alexv3357 yeah but when you add American to the title it's, paradoxically, redundant and overly limiting.
@@blueconversechucks There's way more than one American nation...
Even If it was 'U.S. Highway Gothic' I still don't see how that's limiting rather than descriptive.
@@jimurrata6785 why don't you do the show and you can call it whatever you want.
I love this kind of unnecessary yet entertaining discourse on Americana!!! PLEASE talk about that 'state green" and "reserve land brown" paint shade that is definitely Pantone patented!!
From the
@@Student0Toucher You seem confused about what the topic of discussion is
Or, about the exact shade of yellow school buses have and its history.
Important note: it's not just older people who struggle with halation. It happens to everyone with astigmatism, which is about 20% of the population. I have a fairly extreme version of it, and let me tell you that halation is *everywhere.* I'm glad that people are at least trying to find a solution for this on the highways!
Agreed, and same. I have a handful of sight issues, Clearview is much, much easier to read for me.
Bethlehem âš That's my town in the thumbnail! Yay small town, we made it in a Vox video!
See you in 22 traffic! đ
Ring out the bells tonight! đđBethlehem! Bethlehem!
cool
I grew up near Bethlehem too!
TL;DR: I Theorize the LHV will become gentrified, overpriced and too crowded soon enough.
Enjoy it while it's "small"
The LHV is in the perfect spot for commuters that live in NY and Philly. You have the turnpike straight into Philly and 78 which is basically a straight shot to NY..
Hopefully companies force employees back to their offices after the pandemic is over. If not, and companies realize how much money they can save on electricity, building costs/rentals, custodial staff, etc by having all employees work from home after the pandemic, what's the closest, cheapest place to move to? NJ has high property taxes...
"Oh the LHV is only an hour/hour and half away? That's perfect, if they do need me to come into the office just twice a week rather than 5 straight days I can handle that commute"
My whole undergrad thesis was based on the usage of Highway gothic typeface as itâs used in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Also the Netherlands! Weâre also switching to clearview slowly.
i needed this video for some odd reason
OH HELLO BILLY
Let me guess, deadline is at 12 am
?
NJ: Surrounded by states that use Clearview
Also NJ: I'm just built different
The "on the road" segments were filmed in NJ as well. They did some test signs with Clearview and then proceeded to toss the idea of ever using the font again.
Tbh I clicked on this video because I immediately recognized the highway sign. Itâs exit 67 off I-78 in Pennsylvania.
They also used a lot of footage of 78 in North Jersey
SAME
Same
Thatâs my exist to get home. What a small world. Lol
Vox: here's a question literally no one asks.
Me: hmm...interesting.
Inch resting
My friend and I were actually staring at signs in Idaho wondering why they used different font faces about a week ago. Now I can inform him of the answer.
whoa I use an updated version of Highway Gothic (Interstate) in my projects! It's cool to see where the font really originated from
That's right, Cary! Research your fonts, you may never know what you may find
Iâm a big fan of you
I used Highway for video title cards in 2010, mostly picked for the unique letterforms, then when I visited the USA it was weird seeing it everywhere haha
The curved lowercase L is the best thing about ClearviewHwy. There are different spacings/weights that can help with dark text on a bright background as well. Would've been nice to point out that one of the newer studies (or maybe it was the FHWA report) pointed out that a lot of the initial "improvements" in legibility vs. Highway Gothic was because the signs were decades old and they were compared against brand new ClearviewHwy signs.
Highway Gothic is very American to me. Whenever I see a Clearview sign, I feel like I'm in Europe.
British Columbia is weird. Our highway signs installed since 2006 are in Clearview, but our street signs outside of municipalities are in Highway Gothic, and our BC Parks signs seem to use Helvetica from what I can tell. It's like we can't decide what standard to use.
Philippines is one of the countries decided to use Clearview and Highway Gothic as a font depending on districts
Ironically, Netherlands uses Highway Gothic as their font also. I heard there is a change but haven't seen it yet. A lot of countries use the US MUTCD designs on their highways - a lot of Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand.
What I can't stand is the Swedish highway font. Just looks too odd.
From what I remember, the FHWA actually disallowed Clearview from being used in 2016 after they determined that the creators of Clearview mostly cheated to "prove" that their font was superior, such as using larger Clearview fonts on brand new signs and compared them with old, smaller font Highway Gothic signs. The only reason it is still allowed to be used today is because lobbyists and congressmen from Texas, where those who stand to profit from Clearview's use are (Clearview costs governments money to license while Highway Gothic is free), had a rider attached to a federal bill in 2018 that forced the FHWA to reinstate Clearview even though they had already determined that Clearview is, in fact, inferior.
follow the money!
That is correct.
Absolutely correct.
Also, Clearview didn't have the same letter spacing requirements. Narrower letters overall so the legibility would be obliterated by sign-printers cramming too many Clearview letters into a given width. Take a roadtrip through a Clearview state and it's not hard to find an example of a smashed-together letter sandwich. That was much more rare to see with Highway Gothic.
I find Clearview so much easier to read. I was very glad my state was an early adopter. One thing Vox doesn't mention is the Federal Highway Administration banned Clearview in January 2016, only for Congress to reinstate Clearview two months later. There are a few signs in my state put up during that period that had to go back to Highway Gothic.
OMG last night I was googling the different font types of road signs in different countries. Good timing!!!
Weâre probably over 90 percent Clearview here in British Columbia & Iâd say it has been an improvement. Particularly on smaller signs. My only criticisms are that they made lane arrows point up instead of down & that when there is an âexit onlyâ lane, they got rid of the visible yellow bar over the lane.
Vox could make a video on how to wash dishes and STILL be interesting
voc: write that down, WRITE THAT DOWN
honestly iâve trained ppl at restaurants and they do need to make a video on washing dishes cause some ppl rlly donât know how đ
Did you know people wash dishes differently in different countries? Brits don't rinse off their dishes in clean water, instead they save water by putting dishes with a bit of soapy water still on them directly into the drying rack. In Finland every home has a drying cupboard, meaning the drying racks are built into the cupboard above the sink. There's also the eternal question about using a sponge or a brush. Which do you prefer?
Vox is the place I come to when I want to learn about the most random subject I wouldâve never googled in the first place
In the UK we use a typeface called Transport - there was once a feature on Top Gear about it and all the road signs we use
Transport looks so nice.
Ah yes, my favorite travel companion. A single tomato
that was a clementine bud
Mine is a carrot
Bro that's an orange tf
that was a plastic explosive bud
That's a tangerine
The thumbnail was taken in Eastern Pennsylvania. I've seen that exact sign many times
same that my local exit
Anyone wanna climb the steel stacks with me
@@davidkaro9774 nah, I'm good lol
Palmer (Easton) representing here.
Vox: "Highway Gothic is carefully composed to guide you to your destination, without distracting you."
USA: *puts giant billboards next to highways*
When I moved from NC to VA, one of the first things I noticed was the speed limit signs looked a bit "off." Well this video explains it all.
On a side note, I consult with an aircraft manufacturer and we use Highway Gothic for cockpit signage whereas that role is traditionally filled by MS33558, DIN1451 or Futura. I personally find Highway Gothic to be the best.
Futura seems like a poor choice for cockpit signage. While I the character of its single-storey lowercase A and the fact its lowercase A is easy enough to tell apart from its lowercase O, its capital I and lowercase L look excessively similar, as do its lowercase I and J.
I can hear my undergrad design professor saying âITâS TYPEFACE NOT FONTâ đ
Why am I suddenly interested in such an insignificantly abstract topic such as the font on freeway signs
Just think--next time you're at a party, and the conversation bogs down . . .
It seems some form of Highway Gothic Light might be a good blend. The Illinois example suggests that blending these two (and reducing the luminosity and therefore blurring/glare) might be useful.
Improving on Highway Gothic is probably the best option. Whereas Clearview requires licensing from its foundry, Highway Gothic is public domain.
My local font is Highway Gothic even though some of the highway is from newer times
On road trips to Florida I commonly see Clearview across the Mid Atlantic
Shame none of these states are cool enough to use Comic Sans
Shouldnât you be busy implementing the United Statesâ founding principles in your own nation? Iâm really looking forward to that.
@@JohnAlbertRigali Hum. Does Comic Sans MS display Korean characters?
I was doing out-of-town work in Youngstown, Ohio (from the west) and for a while I was confused by a sign for the next major road to "Sharon Pa". Because of the capitalization, I didnt know that Sharon was a town in Pennsylvania, or if there was a town in Ohio called Sharon Pa. The confusion was I think due in part to what seemed to be an inconsistent use of capitalization.
I love that Vox manages to make seemingly obscure topics interesting, loved it!
I'm from Germany, and I really like the design of our road signs. In our neighbor countries, icons often feel off-center or off-balance. And our font is nice. It's in MS Word as "Bahnschrift" (Train font)
Good old DIN 1451.
It is pretty good. The Danish one is better though ;P
They have two fonts because theyâre changing out the old font for a more readable version, but the change is happening slowly because itâs not worth spending billions doing a massive sign changeover, so theyâre just replacing the signs as they age naturally. The change will take decades.
Not all states use Clearview. Also FHWA rescinded the intern approval for Clearview for a few years until Texas pushed for its return. Some states do a pretty poor job of Clearview signs, using the font in applications where it is not approved for use. FHWA has a hall of shame on their site with examples, mostly from Maryland.
@@NJRoadfan link?
@@NJRoadfan Just wanna say I knew I would find you in here lol. Follow and kept up w your website for a years! Shout out to you for all your informative research!
There's something distinctally American about Highway Gothic
"It's blunt, stumbling, and loud"
I have to wonder if this was intentional.
"It's blunt, stumbling, and loud, and it enjoys fast food and commercialism."
I think the font would be easier to read if it wasn't bolded, especially as some characters' strokes aren't very obviously curved e.g. 'g' might be mistaken as 'q' while '6' might look more like 'b' from far
Itâs a bit disrespectful for how great of a font it really was for its time.
Vox really pushin it making a video about highway fonts
đđđ
How many typeface videos have they made so far? Clearly someone at Vox has a degree in typeface design.
Nah this is youtube, there needs to be a video on every imaginable topic.
And the "Johnston" typeface used by Transport for London shares quite the similar story
Johnston is also regarded as the first humanist sans serif typeface if I remember correctly.
âThere is something very distinctly... American. It is a bit... blunt, and stumbling, and loud.â
Iâve heard no better description of what it is to be âdistinctly Americanâ. đ đ€Ł
I feel like by that description, itâs fitting we use Highway Gothic in Australia too
@@Toothily It's used in the Netherlands too đłđ±
Things are getting heated in the Roadsign Typeface fandom
I'm just glad it's not written in Comic Sans
anything but comic sans
I'm glad it's not in webdings
Worst font ever!
There is a 3rd font. The font used on the Extraterrestrial Highway sign on State Route 375, called Westminster. It's also the one used on cheques.
America - blunt, stumbling and loud
And can't agree on anything
Cool
Whenever I see a sign again, I will silently thank it for being there and guiding me through the highway. This video made me realize how important these things are.
I literally was driving down the road in mexico the other day wondering why the fonts were so different there vs the US in roadsigns and then this video. Itâs like the internet can read minds now.
Hello which countryside do you base LBP has a special offer stay at home and earn up to $5500
Here's there WhatsApp number
+1.3.2.3.3.2.0.6.3.3.8
This is some unnecessary information I absolutely needed.
When the federal interstate system came into existence in 1956, there was a lot of discussion and study about the standards for directional signs - not just the typeface, but the colors as well. Once the US government starting giving out huge amounts of money to build the national freeway system, all the freeways everywhere had to conform to the national requirements, thus Highway Gothic appeared everywhere.
Never even thought about the font of road signs, until now. I will now be looking at them all to differentiate which one has which font type, lol. Thanks Vox đ
Itâs interesting how similar Clearview is to the UKâs Transport, which was designed from scratch in the 60s for legibility on signage.
Transport is used in Ireland, but with a few tweaks, such as a single storey A in Irish names, but a double storey A in English names. So Athlone has a double storey, but Ath Luain has a single storey.
@@qwertyTRiG Single storey "A" can be confusing at larger distances, it can confuse people with a lower case "O"
In the UK, their highway font (called Transport) became so widely recognized as a trustworthy, legible and British typeface that the Government now uses it everywhere - if you visit the website for 10 Downing Street, all that text is in a modified version of Transport.
It is a very nice looking font. Though you might want to increase letter spacing for highway signage (for the reasons mentioned in the video). Then you would pretty much get the Danish "Vejtavleskrift" (literally Road Sign Script).
@@Carewolf kerning is always important to legibility.
1:35 wow interstate 78 in Springfield! I live close to there and drive there all the time!
this just goes to show i will literally watch anything before doing my homework
I am currently designing a set of illustrations set against the backdrop of American road trips. Being non-American, I was super confused about the design system that the signs follow and was so glad/surprised that you uploaded this video today! Things are a bit clearer now. :)
I find fonts fascinating, user experience at the core of it.
If someone's vision is so poor that HUGE highway signs are partially or fully illegible, even if solely due to halation, they probably shouldn't be driving to begin with đ€·
Iâve been so curious about this very niche issue. Thank you for concisely explaining it
A fontain of knowledge. This type of video really underlines the boldness and variety of your content Vox, cheers.
Led lights with good temperature color will help a lot
As a Love Live fan, nothing could have prepared me for the whiplash of suddenly seeing "halation"
really glad to see an interview with Tobias as a risd graphic design student (where he went too). he also did Gotham, used for Spotify.
at the end of the day it is all these small details that contribute to the overall legibility of a typeface that can be very high stakes especially in the world of directional signage. once you start seeing these things it is impossible not to!
Personally thereâs a font called Interstate that would be really good to use for Highway signs.
EVERYDAY I ALWAYS LOOK UP TO THE CHANNEL WHETHER IF THIS CHANNEL WILL POST OR NOT BTW I LOVE THE STORIES VOXâ€ïžâ€ïžâ€ïž
Same
me too
I just want to know why drivers think the lines in the roads are suggestions! The color, the amount, & length of segments all mean different things and people are driving like thereâs none!!! Itâs infuriating.
Thanks for featuring the dresser drawer at @0:15. That's in my hometown of High Point, NC. So cool!
We in Austria have Clearview as a Highway font
As someone who is very interested in typefaces, this video was really nice!
when I seen this upload I had to watch, I knew it was a sign
Pun intended?
Very interesting!! Never thought about how much work goes into highway signs. Great video!!
Vox coming in clutch with the best graphic design videos love as always
this is the content I signed up for
Indonesia made the same change quite a few years ago, but here Highway Gothic is fully phased out now. Personally I think Highway Gothic is waay better than Clearview, part of it is because of road trip nostalgia joy but also Clearview looks just a little too thin.
The new typeface doesnât look as clear (heh) compared to Highway Gothic from far away when Iâm driving.
In our country,the Philippines, instead of phased out,they decided to become co-typefaces:Clearview and Highway Gothic due to demand of infrastructure projects such as expressways and roads
So happy to see road signs get more love on Vox!! Would love to see more in the future đ
I love this kind of trivia, thanks!
I had to download both fonts. They would be great for design projects since people are already familiar with them.
Another similar font family to look at is Overpass. It's based on Highway Gothic but has range of weights and a monospace version. Barlow also takes inspiration from highway signage and has a range of weights and widths as well as true italics.
Aye I pass that sign on the videos thumbnail all the time
I noticed that they changed a lot of the road signs to the Clearview Font in the Canadian province of Quebec recently as well. It was especially noticeable in the Montreal region where I have travelled many times and noticed the changed signs.
This is great! Now we're analyzing every sign as we pass it on our road trip!
The same two fonts exist in Canada too
Majority of comments: âWho am I? Why am I here?â vibes.
This may or may not be factual, but in design school I was told that one way they tested the typeface was to have one person hold up a print out and another person, in a rolling chair, would be pushed past the sign. I always found that to be creative, even if it's false :D
this is something so minuscule (in the grand scheme) and yet is something that I'm so interested in (like oxford commas) i love it
I dont even know about this but thank you.
When I saw the title I said, âWow, I really do not careâ and then immediately clicked to watch đ
I'm a trucker, and (have) routinely run routes from my home state of Michigan, to Ohio. Michigan is Clearview all the way, but Ohio likes to be in the past with its backlit highway signs. There is NOT anything wrong with that, in fact it's quite charming!
Thank you! I appreciate the ease of use that these roadsigns provide!
I KNEW THEY WERE DIFFERENT
I never wondered this but Iâm glad i know now :)đ
I never even noticed this
It's always good to hear from Tobias Frere-Jones. The man knows his stuff.
As a designer I fully appreciate this video
In the Philippines, Highway Gothic is used in DPWH highway design standards manual; unfortunately, the highway department didnât enforce itâŠ
Clearview font is increasing its grip in the country, especially on newer roads. Clearview font is also used in the same manual, but still no enforcements
This video sums up America in a nut shell. America: We see that solves a big problem, but we still aren't doing it.
It doesn't really, though. Watch the video. Clearview isn't really an improvement.
I didn't feel that there is a difference until I saw this video! Now I can't unsee it!
Vox, if you want to continue these videos on typeface, please know that I'm 100% here for it.