My post today poses the question about how important the use of certain fonts, CAPS, and textual styles relate to our processing ability especially on the short term side of memory. The article I've included refers to New York City receiving federal money to replace over a quarter-million street signs within the city limits. The signs will be replaced by using lower case letters with one capital letter and therefore making it easier to read. That's right 250,000 signs, even ones in great shape, to be replaced. Why? because these street signs use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, and in doing so create more of a hazard for motorists reading the signs to take longer in processing the information. Readability is the key element here and the idea is to reduce traffic accidents through this.
Please read the short article here = NYC to Spend $27.5 on Changing Street Signs (opens in new tab)
- Aside from the political implications, what do you think about this?
- Is it worth changing all of those signs just for readability?
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Check out this graphic from despair.com.
Another reason for not using the caps lock
Woman Fired for USING ALL CAPS...
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Finally, considering fonts, have you ever thought about what fonts are used most commonly and why? Many, many documents, corporations, signs, and other things use the Helvetica font. Why? It is a very plain and very clear font that is one of the easiest to read. Everything from Target to street signs uses Helvetica as part of their font choice.
The following link from Wikipedia provides some more information of vendors and commercial enterprises who use this font too.
Who uses Helvetica Font?
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In all, using text is quite a deliberate choice by many as illustrated by the NYC street sign change. What is your take on this idea?
This is an interesting find Eric. I've heard of this, but never really read into it. I think the money could be used elsewhere for a better cause, especially in New York City (thinking about all the parks, REC centers, run down buildings, etc. that could be fixed with that money) and really any city or location in general.
ReplyDeleteI think the change in these signs will cause more traffic or havoc, seeing as how people can be uneasy with change, but also because it was so familiar and consistent for so long and then all of a sudden no longer looks the same. I also thought, would people really even notice? How much do people pay attention to the signs when driving in a city? I guess I do unconsciously...and well, when I'm unfamiliar with the area.
I can understand why (to some extent) why they would say it would help reduce traffic (or at least hope to) because people might be able to see it better, that is if they are even paying attention to begin with. I also think all caps is better to begin with on street signs because it's bolder and bigger.
To be honest, I am overwhelmed by fonts. I use Times New Roman for everything (because that's what APA requires) and am always at a loss when choosing a different font for design work.
ReplyDeleteI can't see why reading all caps is any more difficult than reading lower case letters, but if the research is there saying it takes longer to process then by all means, spend the money to have the signs changed. If this change is able to free up some of the congestion the money spent will be well worth it. I'll be interested to see how it works out.
I think that this is rather interesting. I can see how the use of one capital letter can aid in distinguishing where one word ends and another begins, however the amount of funding that will be used is outrageous.
ReplyDeleteI always find determining the font that I will use for design titles to be as much of a task as the designing of the material itself. @Steven I can say that the font choice used in titles does portray an underlying meaning beyond what is read on the surface level. A was recently reading a design book that addressed that font choice should correspond with the product. This link gives some pretty funny examples of how the fonts don’t correspond with the message.
http://bonfx.com/23-really-bad-font-choices/
Great Post Eric!!!
This is a very interesting topic of discussion! I think that signs are definitely worth changing. Although seemingly expensive, I do think it is important for the safety and overall logistics of a city to have adequate signs. As far as using certain types of fonts, I think it is important for there to be some sort of standardization. As long as you have typefonts that work, its beneficial to have similarity across the board. Just like with APA formatting, you find a font that works, and streamline it as a requirement for all documents. Not all industries or work rely on showcasing their work in a different manner (like having creative typefonts or having an individualized one). The important thing in many industries is that you have a type font that allows a message to be passed in an efficient way, so it makes sense that many organizations will use similar fonts.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who lived in NYC for a year, I think any effort to improve the driving conditions should be welcome. However, I personally have not had a problem reading signs that were unobstructed.
ReplyDeleteAs typing in all caps is on of my pet peeves, I sympathize with the company who fired the woman but hardly think that alone should be grounds for dismissal.
What a neat concept to discuss Eric...I will be honest I never realized how much text matters! I sorta had to laugh at this post because I am often referred to as the FONT nazi at school. Anytime someone sends me something to share with my students I have to adjust fonts before sending it to the printer. They laugh and tell me it's a control issue but now I think I will start answering them back with comments such as "I am trying to make things more readable for my kids." haha!
ReplyDeleteAs for the signs being changed in NY...it seems like such a waste of money...I understand trying to make things more readable but it just seems like a lot of money!! Aren't we in a recession?
Stephen-I HATE TIMES NEW ROMAN!! and yes that was in all caps!! haha!
What an interesting post! I honestly think that it is quite ridiculous to spend so much money on making these changes. For one do they know that only capitalizing the initial letter will improve traffic accidents and other traffic issues? In my mind I would think all caps would be easier to read. Maybe I am just missing the point. It does however, make you think about the textual implications text really does matter. I do believe all caps creates more alarm. Thanks for sharing this.
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