20 Facts
I found this more difficult than I initially thought, I used the internet a lot as a source, but I also read books such as the high way code, to look into the colours and shapes of signs. I think that signs are interesting as they have a lot of history and graphic design background.
20 Facts
1) Transport is a
sans serif typeface first designed for road signs in the United Kingdom.
2) Motorway typeface made
specifically for the motorway, limited character set - only the
numbers "0" to "9", the letters "M",
"A", "B", "N","E" "S",
"W", the symbols "(", ")" and "&",
and the word "Toll"
3) Margaret Calvert
designed
many of the road signs used throughout the United Kingdom, as well as the
Transport font
4) Margaret also
designed
Rail
Alphabet font used on the British railway system and an early version of the
signs used in airports
5) Kinneir’s
signs
were installed on the very first motorway, the Preston bypass in 1958
6) On 5
December 1958
Britians
first motorway was opened
7) Henry Beck, was an English
technical draftsman best known for creating the present London Underground Tube
map in 1931
8) Edward Johnston, CBE was a
British craftsman who is regarded, with Rudolf Koch, as the father of modern
calligraphy. Most famous for designing the
sans-serif Johnston typeface that was used throughout the London Underground
system until it was re-designed in the 1980s.
9) The first
ever road markings that were seen in the UK were in 1918 and the first ever was
the famous white line.
10) Signs on motorways - blue
backgrounds
11)Signs on primary routes -
green backgrounds
12) Signs with blue circles but
no red border mostly give positive instruction.
13) Warning signs Mostly
triangular
14) The sign might say, “Las
Vegas,” but it isn’t actually inside the city limits.
15) The sign,
originally intended to last only a year, was declared a historical landmark in
1973
16) In the
beginning of the nineteenth century, road signs were made from wood and used
the dull lead based paint
17) Stop sign is the only octangualal
sign
18) A thousand
road signs are to be have been taken
down in a south Wales county because they are considered
"unnecessary".
19) Bicycles outsold cars
in most EU countries in 2012
20) Although some organisations have posted signs along the Route 66, they
are not prevalent enough to be able to count on
20 opinions
For the opinions part of my research I cjose to do it on Facebook as people could answer my questions in their own lesure.
This is what I asked
Hellooo,
I’m doing a research brief for uni about ‘way marking’ and I am
researching into signs within travel, and I need to get a few opinions.
Where is it you find signs most
useful? Eg.
On a car journey, round a shopping center, new city ect.
In you opinion how can signs be
improved so you can find your way around easier?
Do you think some roads are far
too cluttered with signs and it makes things confusing?
Do you think that by now
technology should have been improved to provide more up to date news while
traveling/as you are traveling?
What’s your overall opinion of
signs when you travel? Whether it be walking, cycling, driving ect.
I
would be grateful if you could answer them in as much depth as possible and
give your overall opinion of signs when you travel (:
thanks a lot!
I asked long questions as I wanted more descriptive answers, here are the opintions I got back.
Where is it you find signs most useful? Eg. On a car journey, round a shopping center, new city ect.
1)Driving in a new place/ area
2) I find traffic/driving signs
the most useful in a new place
3) Personally, I find signs most useful
when travelling in new areas. Having recently moved to a new area I find myself
relying on road signs far more than in the familiar territory of home. As well
as this it is when holidaying that I rely on road signs most; therefore
identifying tourists as a majority who rely upon signs.
4) I find them quite useful on
car journeys but most of the time I just use a SatNav if I dont know where im going. I use them a lot in
big shopping centres too and places like
schools and hospitals.
5) definitely find signs most useful in a
new place, sometimes when driving but not when using a satnav, not really
useful in shopping centres, but they're always useful
for like toilets and exits.
In you opinion how can signs be improved so you can find your way
around easier?
1)Fewer signs,
up to date event signs (temporary signs removed when no longer current)
2)they could
be improved by being made really simple and clear with good colours
3)I do
this some signs are too cluttered and confusing, to improve signs I believe
they have to be clear and easy understand but the placement is also important!
4)Sign posts
a more maps in new places
They might be improved by
illuminating signs on smaller roadsides as they tend to be lit on motorways and
main roads but not in smaller villages or country lanes.
5) Sings need
to be updated regularly with simple, easy to follow but accurate details.
Do you think some roads are far too cluttered with signs and it makes things confusing?
1)Yes
overcrowding
mainly causing confusion
2) yeah road
signs are really cluttered, makes it difficult to read in the time you've
got
3) By now
I would of thought everything would be digital, the signs should be more technical
4) Motorways can
be way too confusing, too much is put on one sign
5) Yes,
particularly in the region of Wales as there is of course the necessary
requirement of two sets of signs in English and Welsh. This can become
cluttered and make it difficult to follow correct signs or know the road
requirements, which may endanger those travelling.
6) Sometimes they are cluttered and
can be confusing, particularly on motorways, when you only have a few seconds
to look while you drive past.
Do you think that by now technology should have been improved to
provide more up to date news while traveling/as you are traveling?
1)yeah the
updated signs would be more useful like on the motorway when there will be
queues ahead and stuff. think that carparks
need to have signs that tell you where free spaces are
2) Some signs
don't catch my eye whilst driving which means I sometimes miss a turn off or I
can end up going the wrong way!
3) Definitely,
on sat navs
and stuff like that
4) Yes,
although Sat-navs
have provided us with directional help they fail in the area of being up to
date. While some have the capabilities of identifying traffic jams or road
works they still fail in detail, and the ongoing cost to have your sat-nav
updated hurts the consumer continuously after their apparently beneficial
purchase.
5) I do
think so yes. Technology should be able to provide you with up to date
knowledge on everything from new roads and routes to traffic alerts due to roadworks,
accidents etc. Even SatNavs
more than often take you down a road that doesnt
even exist anymore
What’s your overall opinion of signs when you travel? Whether it be walking, cycling, driving ect.
1) Generally good
but room for improvement regarding overcrowding etc
2) overall opinion
of signs is that they're good for telling you where to go...? they're useful in
airports espcially
when you're in a different country is they use symbols instead of words
3) Overall,
they're fine, I don't drive yet so I don't have much of an opinion about road
signs yet by in cities I really have to rely on them and I don't like how they
aren't that clear most of the time. I like it in places like Birmingham when
you have the big maps signs
4) Signs are,
of course, very beneficial when travelling in unfamiliar places, but there are
still areas for improvement. Vandalised
signs take far too long to be replaced after a report has been made, affecting
the individual tourist and the image of the region, town or village where the
vandalism occurred. However, this is a minor complaint in comparison to the
good they provide throughout the country. Besides helping people find their
way, speed signs save lives by acting as reminders to drivers, and signs
themselves promote tourism to less known areas; be it in the car, train, bus or
even walking.
5) Overall I
do find signs pretty helpful when I travel by car, even with the latest
technology like SatNavs
that aren't always accurate.
I am really pleased with the answers that I received, I think it was a weird questionare to give and I'm surpsised at the amount of replies I got.
20 words
Here I have complied some words that I assosiate with way marking, I pciked out words while I was researching.
1) Motorway
2) Symbol
3) Type
4) Familiar
5) Recognizable
6) Worldwide
7) Useful
8) Landmarks
9) Information
10) Direction
11) Guide
12) Travel
13)Multi-lingual
14) History
15) Tourists
16)Cycle
17)Walk
18)Bike
19)Train
20)Plane
20 Statistics
I found this the most difficult one, I seem to have based it more on travel rather than signs, as I am looking into signs within travel, I used the internet the most for this part.
BBC Servey
1) Some 67% of the 2,500 people
polled did not recognise "no through
road" signs
2) one-third could not identify
the sign for "no motor vehicles”
3) Fewer than 33% knew what a
"no cycling" sign looked like
4) One-third were confused by
height restriction signs
5) n London alone 8,000
repeater signs and 4,000 poles installed on the capital’s roads in the early
1990s have been ripped out
Unnecessary signs
6) In Hampshire 200 traffic
signs have been taken away along a 12 mile stretch
7) Somerset has also done away
with a further 1,000 signs
London
8) 1,229 million Tube passengers
each year
9) 26 million visit London
in year
10) tourists in the city hit a
record £10.5billion for the city
Worldwide
11) The longest train journey
without changing is the twice monthly through-coach Moscow - Pyongyang via Khasan, Tumangan = 10,175 km in 210 h 20
min.
12) Shanghai has the
most cyclists, over 60% of people cycle in Shanghai with 9,430,000 million bicycles
and 19,213,200 people
13) Route 66 is 2448 miles long linking Chicago to Los Angeles
14) The Great Wall
of China is 13,170 miles long
15) 8 million miles
of road signs in the US
16) Only 5% of Americans use public
transport
17) 61% of americans have never used public tansport
General Travel
18) 32m in the us alone and
about 2000 die per day using the bus
19) In the UK alone
over 643,500 people use the train per year
20) 1.5 billion people travel by
plane each year
20 Photos
I these photos on different journeys that I took while on Christmas break, I took journeys by train, bike, foot and car. It is interesting to see all the signs that are necessary.
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