Redesigning the Stop Sign

Here's what happens when you let the Marketing department have everything they want. The email address for more information about stopping is a nice touch.

Speaking as a graphic designer...

[waffledoodle]

My God. This is my life. Every. Single. Day.

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[micahfk]

I hear you completely!

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[Kenshin]

This is why I gave up on professional graphic design. Now it's just a thing I do on the side.

I found a Market!

[droopycom]

I have been told they do not have Stop signs in Taiwan!

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[xiaomai]

It's true, instead they have traffic lights almost everywhere. In the couple years I lived there, I only saw one or two stop signs, and those were privately made ones in parking lots.

In the real world...

[xaxa]

I saw a TV programme about the construction of the British motorways, and they hired designers to make consistent signs for all the roads -- and they came up with a special typeface, chose the best colours, the pictograms etc, and it was so good it's hardly been changed since.

http://www.designmuseum.org/design/jock-kinneir-margaret-calvert [designmuseum.org]

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[SigNuZX728]

The ones in the US are pretty good too. They're not ambiguous (unless there are errors in content) and they're easy to read. I know they've changed the fonts on the green freeway exit signs down here in Houston, but I don't know of any changes other than that.

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[xaxa]

The main difference between American and European road signs -- apart from the obvious colour and shape differences -- is the number of words. An American sign might say "Speed limit 40 mph" but the European one is just "40" in a circle. "Railroad crossing" is just a picture of a train in a triangle. "Trucks use left lane" here would be a picture of the multi-lane road, with crossed-out trucks in the non-left lanes. "Warning Slow Down" would be the single word "Slow". I prefer the European system (it was ob

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[Leto-II]

You've got the odd/even thing backwards. North/South routes are odd, and East/West routes are even.

For more info... [santacruzpl.org]

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[YttriumOxide]

As some one who moved to Germany about a year ago, I have to say I'm loving the roads here. Of course, there's the basic idea of not using words unless absolutely necessary, so almost everything is pictographic. That makes it very quick once you get used to it, since a single symbol can mean something that would take several words to write in most languages (and, as my German is still a little sub-par, if it were written in German, it would take me longer!). But, beyond that, I really like the major road

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[YttriumOxide]

Oops... yeh, I meant "Bundesstrasse"... just wasn't thinking!

Arrrrggggghhhhh!!!

[SmoothTom]

I spent a quarter century as an engineer and engineering manager battling marketing droids in the old Bell System.

It really is a wonder I didn't kill any.

--Tomas

...Starring Chicago improvisers

[Kelsevinal]

A great video starring a bunch of talented Chicago improvisers, including the wonderful Al Samuels. Yay iO (formerly improvOlympic)!