After adopting the Clearview font in 2004, ending the Highway Gothic in use since the 1960s, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration reversed course in January and will again require the older font. This small change matter a great deal.
"In a notice posted in the Federal Register on Monday, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration announced a small change that has huge implications for the nation," according to an article by Kriston Capps.
The matter of national interest, in this case, is the question of the typeface used on highway signs. "By ending its 'Interim Approval for Use of Clearview Font for Positive Contrast Legends on Guide Signs,' the FHWA reversed its position on Clearview, a font developed to improve highway-sign legibility on the roads," explains Capps. Clearview was adopted in 2004, "based on studies that appeared to demonstrate its superiority, especially in nighttime driving tests."
In 2016, however, the FHWA has decided to return to Highway Gothic as the font required for U.S. highways.
Capps's coverage of the big change includes the unhappy response of Donald Meeker, one of the designers who created Clearview, as well as an explanation of the thinking behind the FHWA's decision to reverse course on the two fonts in question.
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