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SubArcticTundra @lemmy.ml

5mo ago

Highway fonts in different countries

30 comments

Cool map, but it's missing the key. I am aware that the yellow labels use Transport; although in Ireland and Great Britain, signs on motorways use Motorway; but I'm not so sure about the others.
- DIN for Germany/Czechia. Distributed by Microsoft as Bahnschrift.
  
  Ahh a fellow Czech road nerd
  Edit: you'll like this - this was the old pre-2001 font (I've forgotten the name tho)
  
  Found it one Wikipedia for Germany under DIN 1451 Mittelschrift. You can download and use it legally even under the OFL license for free.

It's really pissing me off that this map doesn't include the typeface names
Anyway, here are the specs of the Finnish one in a pdf. It doesn't seem to be named other than "typeface for road signs" or available as a font file
- It's really pissing me off that this map doesn't include the typeface names
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_public_signage_typefaces
- As I understood it the typeface is distributed this way because the roadsign makers will handle the letters as graphic elements, not text.
  And I think someone actually unofficially adapted it as a font at some point.
- It looks quite similar to DIN 1451 tbh
  
  The capital letters seem to be quite similar, but the small letters look different to me.

Switzerland uses a variant of Frutiger typeface called ASTRA-Frutiger.
Switzerland likes to use for official purpose it's nationaly developed typefaces.
It may be interesting to note that ASTRA-Frutiger replaced SNV typeface. But, SNV is still in use in other European countries like Belgium. SNV stand for Swiss Norm Association.
- You would think they'd use Helvetica!
  
  It's used for a more sustainable transport type. SBB, the railway company uses Helvetica half bold for the station signs.

What are you trying to implicate with the colors?
- Same colour (in adjacent counties) = same font
  
  Gray is the exception. That was not obvious to me. Now, after you have mentioned it, I can see it, too.

IIRC the Netherlands uses the American one
- Comic sans?
  
  Highway Gothic

This made me realize how dumb it is for sweden specifically to opt for all capitals, since we use so many letters with diacritics and it just ends up looking a bit silly

Although not my favourite, there is something I quite like about the Polish one

I really like the far right purple one! This is a really neat post ☺️
- Thanks! I don't actually know the name of that one tbh

30 comments