Signage typeface Research

An important factor when design a sign that has text on is you have to consider the legibility of the type from a distance, close up and at a hight. The type must be legible to everyone and also be readable at any angle so people can navigate efficiently without having to stop and try and read the type. Keeping this in mind to make my sign design as successful as possibly i have to make sure the typeface used is appropriate, which has lead me to research which typeface is the most legible and which is the most commonly used typeface for signage.

 From looking at numerous web articles about typefaces and their legibility i found that san serif fonts where the most legible for short and large piece/lines of text and serif fonts are the most rebate fonts for bulk text such as newspaper articles and information. With this information i know that i need to be choosing a font that is sans serif if i want my design to be successful and legible.

When researching the most commonly used typeface for signage a came across a list of different typefaces that are used for different signs around the world. I thought this would be a good starting point to look at them and see which i thought was the most successful and possibly the most appropriate for my way finder design.

British railway typeface

British road signs (until 1965)

Italian railway signs

Montreal metro 

NewYork subway

Swiss road signs

All the typefaces above are sans serif in style and have already been used for signage so they are proven to be legible enough for their intended use. Rail Alphabet and Gill sans are the boldest typefaces out of them all with their dark thick strokes, then its helvetica and frutiger with slightly thinner strokes and then the other typefaces that have more of a delicate stroke. 

Out of these typefaces i think that Frutiger or Helvetica would be the most appropriate was their strokes are not overly bold but not took thin that it limits the legibility when seen at a distance.