List of public signage typefaces

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Typefaces used for signage in public areas, such as roads and airports, often share characteristics of, or are chosen for, their readability.

Typefaces[edit]

Typeface Used by Notes Image
Achemine [fr] SNCF, France Created in 2008 to improve station accessibility
Alfabeto Normale [it] and Alfabeto Stretto Italy Alfabeto Normale is a bolder variant of the British Transport typeface.[1] Alfabeto Stretto is a condensed version of Alfabeto Normale. Carretera convencional, used in Spain, is almost identical to Alfabeto Normale.[2] Both of these two fonts have their own positive and negative versions, based on the text's background.
Antique Olive California Department of Transportation Some regulatory signs
Arial
Austria Austria Being phased out since 2013
Avenir Macau Light Rapid Transit
Dublin Airport
Minneapolis–Saint Paul Metro Transit[4]
Bembo Smithsonian signage in Washington D.C.
Brusseline Brussels's public transport company
Calvert Tyne & Wear Metro, United Kingdom.[5][6]
Caractères France Used for road signs in France and in some countries in Africa. In France it is used in four variants known as L1, L2, L4, L5. Its usage is mandated by the Interministerial Instruction on Road Signs and Signals (Instruction Interministérielle sur la Signalisation Routière)[7]
Carretera convencional Directorate-General for Traffic
Road signs in Spain		 Proprietary typeface commissioned for this purpose, used on intracity road signs. Derived from the Transport typeface.
Casey Singapore MRT (since 2019)
 Used by Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation until its merger with MTR in 2007. Being gradually replaced by Myriad, which is used by MTR on its networks.
Cast[8] Most Taiwanese urban rail systems (since 2022) Designed by Dominique Kerber
Circular Transport for West Midlands (since 2018)[9]
Kereta Api Indonesia (since 2020)[10]
Clarendon U.S. National Park Service road signs[11] Used by Public Transport Company in Poznań as the typeface for its fleet vehicles numbering
Clearview
Developed to replace U.S. FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) typefaces[11]
Dansk Vejtavleskrift Road signs in Denmark[12] Derived from the Transport typeface
Deutsche Bahn WLS Deutsche Bahn station signage[13] Developed in close reference to Helvetica
DIN 1451 Road signs in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties
Road signs in Germany
Road signs in the Czech Republic
Road signs in Latvia
SADC road signs
Road signs in Singapore
Road signs in Brunei
Road signs in Syria
Bengaluru Metro (Namma Metro) signage
Kansai International Airport (KIX) (since 2022) 		The DIN typeface was commissioned for use at Regulatory and Warning Signs in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties.

Also used in the Greek motorway network
The DIN typeface for the Namma Metro is in English and Kannada.

The DIN typeface is currently in the process of gradually replacing the Frutiger typeface for Kansai Airport during its renovations in preparation for Expo 2025.

Drogowskaz Polish road signage typeface One of a few digitalisations; officially the typeface used in Polish road signs has no defined name.
Esseltub previously used in Stockholm Metro
FIP signage typeface Government of Canada A modified version of Helvetica Medium used by the Government of Canada[14]
FF Fago ADIF Used as official font for signage system of all Spanish railway stations owned by the state-owned administrator, ADIF
FF Meta Stockholm Metro
Caltrans
Birmingham Airport
TransLink (British Columbia)		 Some mile marker signs
FF Transit
Developed by MetaDesign for Berlin's public transport company BVG and later adopted by other transport systems. Contains many pictograms for signage. Based on Frutiger.[15]
FF Scala Sans Los Angeles Metro
FHWA Series typeface (Highway Gothic)[11] Road signs in the Americas, Australasia, China, India, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey Developed for U.S. road signage
Formerly used on Spanish motorways
Turkey uses two typefaces on road signs based on this typeface – O-Serisi for motorways and E-Serisi for all other roads.
Freight Sans Kempegowda International Airport
Frutiger
The Frutiger typeface was commissioned for use at Regulatory and Warning Signs in Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, and Yolo Counties. The Frutiger typeface was commissioned for use at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in 1975.
Futura BSK Italian railways[25]
Giaothong1 and Giaothong2[26] Vietnam Modification of DIN 1451 typeface with Vietnamese extension
Gill Sans British Railways (until 1965)
Transperth		 Also the official font for all the signage system of the Spanish Government. Modified variant of Gill Sans Bold Condensed used on road signs in former East Germany until 1990.[27][28]
Goudy Old Style Used on Victoria PTC railway station signs in the 1990s, replacing the green The Met signs. The blue Metlink signs replaced these signs in 2003 after a short trial of Connex signs (using Verdana) at Mitcham and Rosanna stations.
Hangil Road signs in South Korea A Hangul typeface designed by Sandoll Communications in 2008, being used on traffic signs throughout the entire South Korea except for some part of Seoul, along with Panno.
Helvetica
Formerly used the Hong Kong MTR, Stockholm Metro, ÖBB,[29] Deutsche Bundesbahn[29] portions of the LACMTA system and the Melbourne MTA, and some Toronto subway station signage.
Less commonly, the typeface is used on street signs in the United States, including in some suburbs of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, parts of Pennsylvania, and by the Contra Costa County Transportation Authority.
Previously used on road signs in Japan and South Korea.
Helvetica Neue

Metlink/Public Transport Victoria
Swiss Federal Railways
Street Signs in Pinole
Japan Railways (English signage)

Being phased out on the Victorian public transport network in favour of Network Sans, but still commonly seen.
SBB uses its own version of Neue Helvetica named SBB[30] and named "Helvetica Semi-Bold Corrected" by its designer Josef Müller-Brockmann[29] in the SBB Design Manual.
Hiragino NEXCO East Japan
NEXCO Central Japan
NEXCO West Japan		 Japan Highway Public Corporation (divided into three NEXCO group companies in 2005) used its own JH Standard Text until 2010. Since 2010, Hiragino is used for Japanese text, Frutiger for numbers, and Vialog for English text.[31]
Johnston Transport for London Some Citybus and New World First Bus route displays in Hong Kong
LLM Lettering Road signs in Malaysia. Based on the Italian Alfabeto Normale and Alfabeto Stretto
Temporary sign to JKPP.jpg
Mark Pro Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality[32]
LTA Identity Typeface Singapore MRT[33]
Metrolis Lisbon Metro Custom font for the 1995 rebranding, designed by the Foundry (Freda Sack and David Quay)
Metron Prague Metro Created in 1973 by Jiří Rathouský
Moscow Sans Public transport and wayfinding in Moscow since 2015 Custom font family by Scott Williams and Henrik Kubel (A2-TYPE) in collaboration with Ilya Ruderman (CSTM Fonts)
Motorway Motorway route numbers in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The numerals are used for exit numbers and route numbers in Portugal.
Myriad Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway
Korail (for English signage)
Seoul Metro (for English signage)
Signage at Istanbul Airport
Myriad Pro PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe[34] and PKP Intercity[35]
Neris Manila MRT signage (since 2016)
Network Sans[36] Transport for Victoria
Public Transport Victoria 		Replaced Helvetica Neue
New Frank Transport for New South Wales, Australia Used for all transport signage around Sydney and New South Wales.
New Rubrik Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila, Philippines Replacement for Helvetica on airport signage
News Gothic NYC Subway (Mid 20th Century)
Aena airports in Spain 		Used on the NYC Subway in the mid 20th century
Nimbus Sans Used for Digital PIDS on the Washington Metro
Noorda [it] Milan Metro[37] Variation of Akzidenz-Grotesk with shorter ascenders and descenders
NPS Rawlinson United States National Park Service Developed as a replacement for Clarendon[11]
NR Brunel United Kingdom railway stations
Iarnród Éireann station signage 		Primarily major stations managed by Network Rail in Britain, introduced in the mid-1990s
NS Sans Nederlandse Spoorwegen[38] Based on Frutiger typeface
Panno Road signs in South Korea A Latin typeface being used on traffic signs throughout the entire South Korea except for some part of Seoul, along with Hangil.
Parisine Paris Métro
Osaka Metro
Pragmatica Saint Petersburg Metro (since 2002) Currently (2010–11) being replaced by Freeset, Cyrillic variation of Frutiger
PT Sans Public transport in Jakarta (Jak Lingko) since 2021: TransJakarta, Jakarta MRT, Jakarta LRT
Rail Alphabet British Rail[29]
British Airports Authority
DSB[29]
NHS
Road signs in Iran		 Designed for British Rail in 1964. Still in use on parts of the UK rail network, but mostly superseded elsewhere.
Rail Alphabet 2 United Kingdom railway stations An evolution of Rail Alphabet commissioned by Network Rail and planned for use on new station signage projects from 2020 onwards
Rodoviária Road signs in Portugal (prior to 1998) Typeface very similar to the Transport typeface, combined with FHWA Series
Road UA [uk] Ukraine Used in road signage across the country. Created by Andriy Konstantinov.[39][40]
Roadgeek 2000 Argentina[41] Based on the FHWA Series typeface (B, C, D and E only)
Rotis Semi Sans Metro Bilbao Used by its own creator, Otl Aicher, for the corporate design of Metro Bilbao
Rotis Semi Serif Station signs of Sound Transit[42]
Rotis Serif Street signposts in Singapore
Ruta CL Road signs in Chile[43]
Seoul Type Seoul Metropolitan Government Developed by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 2008 for usage in official Seoul Metropolitan Government documents and institutions, signage and public transport within Seoul. The structure was designed to resemble the gradual curves of a traditional hanok roof.
Sispos and Sisneg Sweden Designed by Bo Berndal – old Swedish standard (SIS 030011, 1973) for public road signs, displays, etc.
SL Gothic Stockholm transit system [44][45]
SNV Belgium
Bulgaria
Luxembourg
Romania
Countries of the former Yugoslavia
Switzerland (until 2003)
Standard (also known as Akzidenz-Grotesk) New York City subway signs Sometimes seen on older New York City subway signs. Was sometimes used in place of Helvetica.[46]
Tern Road signs in Austria
Road signs in Slovakia 		Developed by the International Institute for Information Design with the aim of unifying the road signage in all of the European Union.[47]

Times New Roman Station signage for MARTA
Tipografía México Road signs in Mexico[48][49] Replaced former typeface based on FHWA Series that was used on Mexican road signs before 2023.
Toronto Subway Toronto Transit Commission Used in maps, publications, and most stations of the Toronto subway[50]
Trafikkalfabetet Road signs in Norway Used for Norwegian road signs and motor vehicle registration plates (until 2006)
Transport
Also used in Portugal, Greece (for non-motorways) and other countries.
An oblique variant is used in Ireland for Irish-language text.
Tratex Road signs in Sweden
TS Info and TS Mapa Transantiago Created by the DET (Departamento de Estudios Tipográficos, Universidad Católica de Chile) for the Transantiago, the public transport network in Santiago de Chile.
Univers
Also used for the Walt Disney World road system (route numbers are in Highway Gothic).
Formerly used by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen,[29] on the destination rolls of Comeng trains in Melbourne prior to refurbishment, as well as Hitachi trains which had their original destination rolls replaced in the 1980s with the Comeng type.
Universal Grotesk Road signs in Czechoslovakia Previously used on road signs in Slovakia until 2015.
Vialog Renfe
English text on Japanese expressway directional signage		 Used in signage and all corporate communications of the state-owned Spanish Railway Operator in a custom-made variant called Renfe Vialog.
Wayfinding Sans Metro Rio
El Dorado International Airport
Santa Cruz
Kereta Api Indonesia (December 2016–20)		 Used in signage for Rio de Janeiro's metro system Metro Rio, El Dorado International Airport, the city of Santa Cruz, California and Indonesian Railway Company.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Traffic Sign Typefaces: Italy".
  2. ^ "Traffic Type Spain D - Desktop font « MyFonts". Myfonts.com. February 22, 1999. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
  3. ^ Estonian Centre for Standardisation and Accreditation (October 2, 2023). "EVS 613:2023". EVS standard evs.ee. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
  4. ^ "Metro Transit Brand Identity and Style Guide" (PDF). Metro Transit. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  5. ^ Meechan, Simon (October 16, 2016). "How the Tyne and Wear Metro was made – we go back 36 years to the very beginning". chroniclelive.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  6. ^ White Chloe, Simon (July 12, 2021). "40 years after creating its iconic logo, graphic designer Margaret Calvert visits Tyne & Wear Metro". railadvent.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  7. ^ "Journal officiel de la République française - N° 159 du 10 juillet 2021" (PDF). equipementsdelaroute.cerema.fr. January 22, 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-06.
  8. ^ "Cast typeface". serpentype.com. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  9. ^ "Transport for West Midlands Brand Guidelines". wmca.assetbank-server.com. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  10. ^ Subekti, R. (December 11, 2020). "Jelang Libur Akhir Tahun, KAI Modernisasi Signage" (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  11. ^ a b c d Joshua Yaffa (August 12, 2007). "The Road to Clarity". The New York Times.
  12. ^ "Q&A by the Danish road authority" (in Danish). Archived from the original on 2008-11-15.
  13. ^ "Schrift in der Wegeleitung" [Fontface in route guidance]. Deutsche Bahn AG Marketingportal (in German). Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  14. ^ "4.5 Signage Typeface. FIP Manual". Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. August 17, 2011.
  15. ^ a b "FF Transit fonts from the FontFont Library". www.fontfont.com. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  16. ^ "Handbuch VBB-Richtlinien Fahrgastinformation" [VBB guideline for passenger information] (PDF) (in German). Verkehrsverbund Berlin Brandenburg. November 2017. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  17. ^ "The STM rolls out new signage in métro stations". Société de transport de Montréal. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  18. ^ a b c "A Brief History of Fonts in Transit" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  19. ^ "BAA: Printed Literature". Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  20. ^ "NHS Identity Guidelines".
  21. ^ "typography".
  22. ^ "New signs at downtown SF stations part of ongoing BART wayfinding improvements". bart.gov. November 17, 2010. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  23. ^ "Metro: System informacji II linii poprowadzi za rękę do wyjścia". rynek-kolejowy.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  24. ^ "Warszawski Transport Publiczny Podręcznik Identyfikacji Wizualnej" (PDF) (in Polish). April 30, 2019. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  25. ^ "Sistema segnaletico: Manuale e strumenti di lavoro - Standard architettonici per le stazioni - RFI" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  26. ^ "National Technical Regulation on Expressway Guidance Signs" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  27. ^ TGL 12096-1 Feb 1987 (PDF) (in German). Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  28. ^ Wiegel, Peter. "TGL 12096-1". Peter Wiegel. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  29. ^ a b c d e f Müller-Brockman, Josef (2019). Passenger Information System: Design Manual for the Swiss Federal Railways by Josef Müller-Brockmann (Fahrgastinformationssystem / Passenger Information System) (1st ed.). Switzerland: Larsmüller Publishers. p. 25. ISBN 978-3-03778-610-9.
  30. ^ "SBB Schrift". company.sbb.ch (in German). Archived from the original on 2020-02-22. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  31. ^ "より視認し易い高速道路案内標識を目指した 標識レイアウトの変更について" (PDF) (in Japanese). East Nippon Expressway Company Limited (NEXCO East), Central Nippon Expressway Company Limited (NEXCO Central), and West Nippon Expressway Company Limited (NEXCO West).
  32. ^ "İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kurumsal Kimlik Klavuzu (Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Organisational Identity Guide)" (PDF). KİPTAŞ (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  33. ^ "Schriftentwicklung für Leitsystem LTA Identiy Typeface öffentliche Verkehrsmittel Singapur" (PDF).
  34. ^ "Wytyczne dla oznakowania stałego infrastruktury pasażerskiej" (PDF) (in Polish).
  35. ^ "Standaryzacja znaków PKP Intercity" (PDF) (in Polish).
  36. ^ "PTV Network Sans Typeface". The Dots. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  37. ^ "Noorda Font".
  38. ^ "NS Sans". Nederlandse Spoorwegen. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  39. ^ "Road UA". GitHub. June 6, 2022.
  40. ^ "Нова дорожня навігація — Агенти змін".
  41. ^ "Manual de Señalamiento Vertical" (PDF).
  42. ^ Two Twelve Harakawa Inc.; Maestri Design Inc.; Jon Bentz Design (September 2004). "Typography" (PDF). System-Wide Signage Design Manual, Second Edition. Sound Transit. p. DS-17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-13. Retrieved 2014-10-18.
  43. ^ "Manual de Señalización de Tránsito - Conaset" (in Spanish). CONASET, Ministerio de Transportes y Telecomunicaciones. February 2015.
  44. ^ "AB SL Grafisk profil 1.0 visuell identitet". www.slideshare.net. September 3, 2010. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  45. ^ SL:s nya visuella identitet, retrieved 2023-11-23
  46. ^ "The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and the New York City Subway". AIGA. November 18, 2008. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
  47. ^ Simlinger, Peter; Egger, Stefan; Galinski, Christian (January 2008). "Proposal on unified pictograms, keywords, bilingual verbal messages and typefaces for VMS in the TERN" (PDF) (Proposal). Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  48. ^ Manual de Señalización y Dispositivos para el Control del Tránsito en Calles y Carreteras (PDF) (in Spanish). SICT, SEDATU. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  49. ^ "Dirección General de Servicios Técnicos - Normativa - Manuales" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-02-08.
  50. ^ "Inscribed in the living tile Type in the Toronto subway". Retrieved 2023-11-22.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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