Statement of Process and Thesis ~ Scott Carlson

My project deals with the readability and reduction of confusion on road signage. Currently, our highway wayfinding has 16 fonts (8 fonts are being re-introduced) while almost every other country has two fonts, one medium and one regular. Our color scheme is varied depending on the state and the time of up-keep. Most directional signs are green with white, but as of 2005, some are blue with white font, or white with black font. This is very confusing because there is no real color coding, except for brown/white indicating state forests. Another issue is that multiple companies are making these and other signs for federal, state and local governments, resulting in different variations on signage pushing the already lax regulations and charging high amounts for the manufacturing. By simplifying the signage and making one universal symbol for something, travelers will know what each sign means despite their location. As a "melting pot" of the world, we do have foreigners her that vacation, work, and live in the U.S. Despite some who say that "we are American, we speak American," I fell that if we removed wording from all signage, except directional and street name signage, this would not only simplify our wayfinding, but would welcome more guests and workers, all contributing to a better society. Lastly, I will address readability on signage. If you ever visit a city or town that you have never visited before, you will know that trying to find, and get, to your exit can be impossible in heavier traffic. I want to install a system of early warning signage for exits and towns so that we can reduce panicked lane changing, continuous blinkers, and car accidents.

My first step was to identify what our current system is. I found that we used up to 16 different color combinations and 18 fonts. I then decided to see what other industrialized countries were doing. I found that all English speaking countries used Transport font.They also used a universal symbol for a warning sign.

Step two involved choosing highway directional sign colors to identify Interstate, Highway, and local roads. I then chose to use the Transport font to keep things simple and universal

Once I chose the color schemes, I went on to design icons that would be used instead of wording to minimize the amount of text on these signs. I also began working on how to remove all wording on street and warning signs.

The fourth step involved researching. Researching, researching, researching. I studied the process of making a sign, who made them, what reflective material is used, who can be effected by certain color schemes, how are placements decided, highway sign structure, and what stuffy old person can I upset the most with these ideas.

Once I figured out that the research really has no scientific or medical data to back up the current findings, I set about setting up my own raw data. Asking people of various ages what it is they wanted to see.

I then began rough 3-D concepts for these designs. Mostly highway signage placement as well as speed limit, warning and directional.

As of right now my final form is as seen here. I do plan to place the overhead signage onto actual photos of local highways and streets to help visualize the signage. Blue backgrounds will indicate Interstates, Green will indicate state highways, and white will indicate local streets. Speed Limits will be bordered in red with colored backgrounds to help indicate what the driver is on in between signage. Black will indicate night driving, if necessary. All overhead signage will have something over each lane and the exits will have the proper color coding.