To complete our group task, we were each allocated different tasks. Josh Douglas decided to research road signs, and photographed every road sign that he passed on his journey from Morrison's (in Leeds) home to his Student accommodation. Here are some of the images he research for Graphic Design on Road Signs;
These images show the variety of road signs and Graphic symbols that we interact with each and every day and also shows how we communicate and translate their meaning with reading visual language as such. These symbols will be understood by countries all around the world, and that is the beauty of visual communication through image and type. The most powerful thing that stands out is the shapes and colours. For example; RED is a warning etc.
Triangular signs
Triangular signs are used as warnings - junctions ahead, road conditions, hazards ahead and so on. A black symbol appears on a white equilateral triangle (pointing upwards) with a thick red border. The usual warning that a road does not have priority at a junction reads "Give Way" and is an inverted triangle.
Sometimes referred to as "roundels", circular signs give orders. White circles with thick red borders and black symbols give negative instructions - things you must NOT do. Blue circles with thin white borders and white symbols give positive instructions - things you MUST do.
Written information is relayed using rectangular signs. These come in many different colours and sizes.
What font is used?
There are two alphabets used on all road signs, which are "Transport Medium" and "Transport Heavy". These are differently weighted versions of the same typeface; "Transport Medium" has a thinner stroke width and is used for light text on a dark background, while "Transport Heavy" has a thicker stroke width and is used for dark text on light backgrounds. Both were adapted from an existing typeface by graphic artist Jock Kinneir in the early 1960s.
Kinneir actually designed a third typeface to complete the set, called Transport Light, which was intended for use on internally lit signs. It was never adopted.
How does the colour coding work?
Directional signs on different classes of road use different background colours to allow motorists to easily tell between different types of road and information.
Blue signs with white text and white borders are found on motorways, where all direction signing uses this colour scheme.
On non-motorway roads, the same colour scheme is occasionally used for signs bearing miscellaneous written information (such as advance warnings of weight restrictions). They are also used for direction signs for pedestrians and cyclists (which are always accompanied by a pedestrian or cycle symbol).
Primary A-roads use green-backed signs, with white borders and text, and route numbers highlighted in gold. Green signs with white text but yellow borders are occasionally seen marking emergency services access points to places like airports and stadiums.
Signs with a white background are used on non-primary roads, with black text and black borders. Until 1994 there was an additional set that used black text and blue borders for 'local' directions, but these are now being phased out.
White signs also exist with other colour combinations. Those with black text and red borders, for example, are used for directions to Ministry of Defence sites.
Devonshire County Council has a unique system to signpost its minor routes. White signs with no border and all-capitals black text indicate the most minor routes suitable for local traffic; white signs with brown borders and mixed-case black text indicate roads suitable for light traffic; white signs with blue borders and mixed-case black text (the same as those phased out elsewhere since 1994) indicate roads suitable for general traffic.
Temporary signs, such as diversion routes or direction signs through roadworks, have black text on a yellow background. Recently black-on-yellow signs have been erected in a small number of locations on motorways to draw attention to unusual junction layouts, but this is not standard practice and technically is not permitted.
Brown signs
Tourist attractions are signed using brown-backed signs with white text and borders. Most also include a small pictogram to represent the attraction (a silhouette of an elephant for directions to a zoo, or of a football for directions to a stadium, for example).
Directions for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) appear in white on black, usually with a pictogram of a lorry to make clear who the sign applies to.
