I just read this interesting NY Times article on Clearview, the new typeface that’s being used for highway signs. The article should be understandable by non typography-geeks, and perhaps of interest to those who want to understand why designers care about superficially similar typefaces so much. Oddly no mention is made of spacing between letters (kerning), which seems much more regular in Clearview.
This is an instance of typography saving lives. Clearview signs can be read 200-300 feet further away than signs of the same size set in Highway Gothic. This gives drivers extra seconds to process information and make decisions.
I’m sorta ashamed i never noticed how badly suited the old Highway Gothic is for highway use, but i guess you never get a chance to spend much time looking at the typography of the signs.
I found this quite interesting, but i have a facination with maps: worldmapper.
Basically they inflate/deflate the land area of the nations to represent various statistics. The following shows patents filed in a recent year. The purple blob on the right? …Japan.
I’m not mathematically inclined, but i find ideas about the fundamental nature of the universe fascinating. Thus my amateurish interest in quantum physics. I would like to know if physical reality is incomprehensibly weird, or if science simply has no clue about sub-atomic particles. Of course, both may be true.
There is an obscure sub-genre of books devoted to explaining the weirder aspects of science to relatively normal people. Here are two that i’ve enjoyed: Continue reading ‘Quantum Weirdness’
Well, i’ve been out of blog mode for a while. Since my last post i’ve been “memed” 4 times. It’s time to respond. Jeff Gray, started this meme, sharing how much you’ve traveled.
create your own visited country map
On the national map, please notice the 2 tiny dots near Japan, which i had to add by hand: Guam and Saipan. I really liked Siapan, even though the national food is Spam—seriously. Also i chose to be scrupulous and not count Japan, since i never left the airport terminal.
My total: 5 countries or 2% (though Siapan and Guam are under US administration)
create your own personalized map of the USA
Some observations about my stateside travel. On the east coast, i find the landscape of states further north almost universally more attractive than states to the south. Besides the ocean, Florida IMHO had the most bland and depressing landscape i’ve ever seen. The further away you get the better things look. In general i prefer the “personality” of the West half of our nation, and will probably end up over there eventually.
My total: 23 states or 45%
Now i’m supposed to chose 5 bloggers to pass this on to. Unfortunately i can’t find that many who haven’t already posted a travel meme.
Sarah (formerly Snook) Tountas
Dave Siglin
Ellen Bjerk (allready did one)
Peter Beninate (allready did one)
In spite of how obvious & straight-forward it seems, visual perception entails a lot of convoluted mental processing. The fact that we so seldom notice our perception’s “blind spots” is a testament to how well it works. But there are quite a few odd circumstances where our brains give us false readings. These optical illusions, i find fascinating. Here’s one that gives an almost nauseating sense of movement.
This works much better if you click on the image to enlarge it.
I might make a series out of this…
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