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New design for national road signs proposed


A Killaloe-based designer will exhibit his work in a prestigious national exhibition after his recent study on the clarity of road signs revealed interesting results.

Garrett Reil, who has lived in Killaloe for the past four years, will participate in the Institute of Designers in Ireland’s forthcoming Generation: Best of Young Irish Design exhibition, which will open at the Crafts Council Gallery in Kilkenny on October 31.
He was selected after the recent publication of his research entitled, Ireland’s Dual-language Road Signs – Where to Next? The designer will present a visual display of his proposed design for a new national road sign.
The study, conducted by the National College of Art and Design, has highlighted a number of design weaknesses in the current road signs and resulted in the designer being invited last month to the Dáil to address the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
“The study highlighted that 77% of Irish language speakers chose an alternative design for greater clarity, in preference to Ireland’s current sign design. I welcomed the opportunity to demonstrate to the Oireachtas how the functionality of Ireland’s road signs could be greatly improved by utilising an alternative colour-differentiated design, similar to that used in other countries,” says Mr Reil, who has in the past designed a new typeface for London Transport.
Commenting on the study’s findings, a spokesman for the National Roads Authority said that the NRA understood that signage and signage safety was the key component of the national roads signage programme.
“The NRA will continue to uphold best practiced standards,” he said.
Currently, signs use italics for Irish and uppercase for English. According to Mr Reil, neither is optimal for use in road signs. He has created a prototype typeface, Turas, which optimises letter and word shapes without the need for uppercase or italic letters.
The proposed sign design would also utilise colour differentiation so that the driver, having seen the sign, discerns the colour of the chosen language and thereafter disregards messages in the opposing colour.
Another significant finding of the study was that 58% of English speakers also selected the alternative design in tests for clarity, despite familiarity with the existing road sign design. This confirms that the proposed design would increase road sign functionality and performance for all drivers.
The study also highlights the serious implications that road sign design has for an aging population, such as Ireland, where it is predicted that by 2026 the country’s over 65 population will have more than doubled, from the current level of 11% to 25%. One of these implications is the negative effect of ‘halation’ or blurring that occurs when headlights hit the highly reflective material currently used in Irish road signs, making them more difficult to read, the study claims.
Maximum legibility and clarity of design are key requirements for addressing the effects of both halation and increased car speeds, issues that have become more urgent with the introduction of new motorways throughout Ireland, the study stated.
The study concludes that the implementation of the new design solution will dramatically increase the legibility and clarity of Ireland’s road signs. The fact that these benefits can be achieved without increasing sign size would also ensure a reduction in signage costs for the State.

 

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