Greenlit this? Must be a slow news day.

I blame Obama.

/I blame aliens...

Helvetica, that is all.

Isn't the image used in the article more of an example of mixed font and not mixed case?

I blame Vincent Gray

Wᴀsʜɪɴɢᴛᴏɴ Dc NEEDs tᴏ work oN ɪts ᴍɪXEᴅ-ᴄAsE sᴛʀEᴇᴛ sɪGɴs

Ws-Dc-NEEDs-t-work-oN-ts-XE-AsE-sE-sGs

What is this I don't even

At least the street signs have proper spelling.

degenerate-afro: Isn't the image used in the article more of an example of mixed font and not mixed case?

The mixed case is new...they used to be all upper-case. In the implementation of mixed case signs, apparently some mixed fonts have also crept in, due to incompetence and a general devil-may-care attitude.

I feel like there was absolutely nothing wrong with the old signs.

There is a standard for sign typefaces. (new window)

There has been a recent change across the U.S. to mixed-case signs because of readability studies.

/The more you know^TM

"New Hapmshire Ave Nw" is a lot to fit on a street sign.

It looks like the software laying out the sign knocked the "hapmshire" letters down a size or two so they would fit on the sign. I guess it could have changed "new" to match, but maybe they err on putting as much of the sign at proper size for readability as they can. Should someone have noticed and changed it? I'm not sure. Notice that the writer doesn't suggest a better alternative. He may not like the mixed case signs, but they're easier to read.


But, of course, we have to put this up to oppressive government or incompetent workers, bad educational systems, Obama (or Bush, if you prefer). . . .

special20: My guess is that some boob bought a sign making machine and the software in it has no way to control the kerning or size of font in the space given. Also, in gubment... it's obvious that the same boob is getting a kickback from the sales person that supplied the whack sign making system.

get out of my head

Good thing they didn't use Wingdings for 911 signs in Washington!

At least they have usable signs. Atlanta and Fulton County loves to have the small sized street sign posted on one corner of a major intersection. If you don't know where you are going you better have a GPS.

Data entry is the new burger-flipping.

And what's wrong with all caps again? It's perfectly legible and clear.

I, for one, don't mean to cast aspersions on the hard workers at the DDOT sign shop

I do.

Signs that are a product of not only typographical illiteracy but also of basic, written English illiteracy.

It is never, ever appropriate to abbreviate "Northwest" as "Nw". Anybody who let that make it onto a signpost needs to be kept away from preparing textual materials of any kind.

Send for Eric Gill.

I'll be happy to help.

Sincerely,
TheDavid™

sinanju: [imgs.xkcd.com image 357x258]

No one made me learn CrApTeX... I learned it on my own and yes, seeing print (especially technical papers) like that gets me a little cranky.

Text (and particularly math) can look so beautiful and proper with a little effort, or you could do it in Word and defend mediocrity for our posterity.

The One True TheDavid: I'll be happy to help.

Sincerely,
TheDavid™

By the way, can a Fark login name have special characters? Or will I have to keep on being 'The One True TheDavid' here?

Flakeloaf: And what's wrong with all caps again? It's perfectly legible and clear.

They can look like old LED characters on signs with compressed borders (such as street markers).

Believe it or not, the Medieval world gave us something amazing with the introduction of uncials, the grandparents of lower-case letters. There are greater distinctions when you vary the heights of characters. You recognize the words faster and are less likely to be distracted.

This is most easy perceived when you're lost and driving. When the back of your mind parses the words on the street sign, you can get back to fuming and saying "I passed Crackhead Alley! Dang! Now I gotta pull a U-ie and turn left on Spastic Ave."

/not to be confused with a UFIA
//or a Ufia
///or the ufizzi, speaking of driving to Firenze

By the way, I found a page on HTML Character Codes (new window).

Now you kids can lay off your The Simpson's crap.

TheGreatGazoo: At least they have usable signs. Atlanta and Fulton County loves to have the small sized street sign posted on one corner of a major intersection. If you don't know where you are going you better have a GPS.

When I was in the old town section of Rome, I was going berserk because the signage for streets was so sucky. All of the names were up on the buildings themselves as opposed to posts on the corner. Smaller one-lane streets often had no signage. If the side street intersected with the main street at an acute angle, you'd have to pass it before seeing the name of the street.

Come to think of it, the OCD engineer in me started going into general meltdown as soon as I crossed from the Swiss-German side of the Alps to the Swiss-Italian side. It went full Fukushima when I entered Italy proper.

DC street names and the layout of the streets are a nightmare. L'Enfant should be disinterred and shot for treason.

Flakeloaf: And what's wrong with all caps again? It's perfectly legible and clear.

Is this a joke?

For those who might think it's a reasonable question:

Capital letters consist of most straight lines and are all the same height. Lower case letters have bits that go up or down. They show more variation. The more caps you put in a row the harder it is to read.

THIS IS HARDER TO READ than Something Like Title Case.

IFYOUHAVEABUNCHOFCAPLETTERSWITHOUTSPACESIT'SHARDERTOREADBECAUSETHERE' S LESSSHAPEVARIANCETOTHELETTERS.

partofhowwereadisbytheshapeofwords. We don't look at every letter of every word. The spaces help to reveal the shape of the words, making quick reading easier.

WhichIsWhyDomainNamesShouldCapitalizeTheFirstLetterOfEachWord. Since domain names can't have spaces or underscores the capital letters mark the beginning and end of words.

I think my home county's terrible use of all caps in a small boundary led to the Federal change.



When you look it that way, on an overcast day (or as we called them, "normal"), you see the problem.

The Irresponsible Captain:

/The more you knowTM

Speaking of which, now I see what you did there. Thanks for teaching me the superscript tag, another way of doing this:

TheDavid^TM

PS: It's too bad "blink" won't work on Fark. See?

At least they have street signs

//NC

apeiron242: THIS IS HARDER TO READ than Something Like Title Case

It's also easier to read from a distance.

apeiron242: DC street names and the layout of the streets are a nightmare. L'Enfant should be disinterred and shot for treason.

Flakeloaf: And what's wrong with all caps again? It's perfectly legible and clear.

Is this a joke?

For those who might think it's a reasonable question:

Capital letters consist of most straight lines and are all the same height. Lower case letters have bits that go up or down. They show more variation. The more caps you put in a row the harder it is to read.

THIS IS HARDER TO READ than Something Like Title Case.

To you I guess. Andyeahifyourewritingwordswithoutspacesthentheycanbehardtoreadinanycas e.

FloydA: BTing: Wᴀsʜɪɴɢᴛᴏɴ Dc NEEDs tᴏ work oN ɪts ᴍɪXEᴅ-ᴄAsE sᴛʀEᴇᴛ sɪGɴs

Ws-Dc-NEEDs-t-work-oN-ts-XE-AsE-sE-sGs
What is this I don't even

"Whiskey Dick needs to work on tits multiplied by the natural log of asses' gas."
Obviously!

????
I who where with the what tits?

They should have gone with Comic Sans.

Jument: They should have gone with Comic Sans.

In Verona, Ontario the street signs are comic sans. Bonus: one of the streets is named "Easy St."

THE GREATEST FONT OF THEM ALL!!

Mailbox. Open Mailbox.

four95: Greenlit this? Must be a slow news day.

IT'S BECAUSE IT'S A CREATIVE USE OF DIFFERENT LETTERS AND FONTS AND MUSICAL NOTES AND UPSIDE DOWN LETTERS

INSTAGREEN!!!

/really.

thE MAsteR DoEs NOt APproVe of THesE PoORly mADe sTReEt SIgnS.

JonBuck: thE MAsteR DoEs NOt APproVe of THesE PoORly mADe sTReEt SIgnS.

I expected my pizza hours ago, and now it's cold.

This is the last time I order from Torgo's.

Grew up one block from the street pictured in the article

/kicking a kick ect.

Whee! New passphrases!

FloydA: People typically do get a "kick" out of ECT (new window), although there are many alternatives to electroconvulsive therapy that don't have the same side effects, including Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, medications, etc.