There’s a great article on road sign legibility in the New York Times magazine today. The bulk of the article is about Don Meeker, a fine arts graduate of the University of Oregon, who developed a new typeface that increases sign legibility by 300 feet. Anyone who’s had me give them directions from the passenger seat knows that extra two seconds makes a huge difference.

The Road To Clarity (New York Times Magazine, 08/12/2007)

Along with the main article there is a slide show of the Clearview typeface evolution and its applications. This slide show really illustrates the design process and gives you an idea of where improvements were made in this new typeface over the previous Highway Gothic which has been a standard of the American road since the Eisenhower administration.

Below is the slide showing Highway Gothic (Series-E) at the top, the various drafts of Clearview in the middle, and then a direct comparison between the two.