New Street Signs!

Some of you may have read in a recent New Yorker about the new font, Clearview, that is going to be replacing the Gothic all-caps font that is predominantly used for street signs in New York City. You may have already noticed (or not) that highway signs have been changing over to this new font since it was first approved by the federal government in 2004.

While Clearview doesn’t seem to have the fame of a font like, Helvetica, it has gotten some praise in the design community. This signage change is being required by the federal government and is not without significant costs, but hopefully the increased legibility and resulting increase in road safety will be worth it.

This is not to be confused with the historic, mixed-case font seen near 34th Street, where the local Business Improvement District has done some great work with street signage, including the mixed-case street signs, park signs, way-finding signs, and parking signage.