The post below is a great typography article, written by a former colleague of mine, Kendrick Hang. I would like to add that ClearviewHwy is a font software package indentical to the font Clearview, but includes kerning data in addition to approved letterspacing. ClearviewHwy and Clearview were both designed by Meeker & Associates.
Even prior to the invention of the printing press, page design and lettering were important in the production of books. When monks were producing books by hand, the quality of the lettering was a huge issue. Letters had to be consistent in form, spaced evenly, and each line on the page was fully justified, by hand! Soon after the Gutenberg brought us the the printing press in 1450, typeface design, page design, and typesetting (setting the wooden or metal blocks of type for each page) became an art and a very important skilled trade that lasted until around the 1970s when computer-based printing appeared on the scene. These days, we’ve forgotten a lot about typography and how quality books used to be, especially when we think that the horrendous output that our word processors produce looks just fine. Fonts (lots of horrible ones) are available a dime a dozen, but I feel that most people underestimate how important typography is—mainly because the human visual system is so sensitive to minor details. Just as an example, facial expressions are millimeter differences on a person’s face, but we can notice a change in facial expression just as fast as it changes.
In recent news, albeit news only I and a couple other geeks read about, the Federal Highway Administration approved of a new highway sign font, the first time this has happened in 30 years. No big deal to the general public, but it’s a huge deal for people who are interested in typography. So, without further delay, I’ll introduce this new typeface with a few samples and comparisons.
Introducing ClearviewHwy:
Clearview is intended to replace the in-house Federal Highway Adminstration (FHWA) letterforms. Here is FHWA standard first, then ClearviewHwy below it:
The difference is obvious with this example, again FHWA standard first, ClearviewHwy after:
If you’re approaching these signs from a distance, three design elements in the new sign will help, (1) the better shape of the letterforms, (2) the use of mixed-case letters, (3) providing a consistent background. With all capital lettering, each letter looks like a block from a distance. Mixed case lettering provides more shape cues (varying letter heights and widths) to our visual system. Also in the new sign, using one background relaxes our visual system from having to jump between nine background shapes (WEST, EAST, TO / US-23, US-23, US-40 / up arrow, right arrow, right arrow). If you don’t believe me about the letter forms, take a look at this example of less than ideal driving conditions where contrast is reduced:
Although the difference appears to be relatively minor,
the increased effectiveness is measurable. Based on studies conducted at the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, they found that changing the font from FHWA to ClearviewHwy, nighttime sign reading distance improved by 16 percent, or 80 extra feet, or 1.2 extra seconds at 45mph. By changing signs that were in all-caps to mixed-case, they found a 29 percent increase in nighttime recognition, especially with older drivers.
Font, Signs, Type