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Three independent laid-out paragraphs, the second one - contradicted by the third reading, in part: "Some of the most pervasive typographical messages have never really been designed, and neither have the typefaces they are set in. Some engineer, administrator, or accountant in some government department had to decide what the signs on our roads and freeways should look like. This person probably formed a committee made up of other engineers, administrators, and accountants who in turn went to a panel of experts that would have included manufacturers of signs, road safety experts, lobbyists from auto- mobile associations plus more engi- neers, administrators, and accountants. You can bet there wasn’t one typographer or graphic designer in the group, so the outcome shows no indi- cation of any thought toward legibility, let alone commu- nication or beauty. Nevertheless we’re stuck with our road signs. They dominate our open spaces, forming a large part of a country’s visual culture." Page 29 of https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/fonts.google.com/en//knowledge/stop_stealing_sheep.pdf

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Three independent laid-out paragraphs, the second one - contradicted by the third reading, in part: "Some of the most pervasive typographical messages have never really been designed, and neither have the typefaces they are set in. Some engineer, administrator, or accountant in some government department had to decide what the signs on our roads and freeways should look like. This person probably formed a committee made up of other engineers, administrators, and accountants who in turn went to a panel of experts that would have included manufacturers of signs, road safety experts, lobbyists from auto- mobile associations plus more engi- neers, administrators, and accountants. You can bet there wasn’t one typographer or graphic designer in the group, so the outcome shows no indi- cation of any thought toward legibility, let alone commu- nication or beauty. Nevertheless we’re stuck with our road signs. They dominate our open spaces, forming a large part of a country’s visual culture." Page 29 of https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/fonts.google.com/en//knowledge/stop_stealing_sheep.pdf
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mhoye (mhoye@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 13-Nov-2024 06:14:06 JST mhoye
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There are many infuriating passages in this book, where the author chooses to fully embody so many of the worst qualities of the soi-disant "designer", but this is one high-water mark.
"... so the outcome shows no indication of any thought toward legibility..."
This is the exact opposite of true. No type has been studied more thoroughly, or more carefully, or at greater expense than that of road signage, because _bad road signage decisions kill people_.
But our guy thinks it's ugly, so.

In conversation about 12 days ago from mastodon.social permalink