Changing the Highway Typeface

Environmental graphic designer Don Meeker and type designer James Montalbano set out to fix the highway font problem by making “signs easier to read from a distance and reduced the distracting nighttime blur of halation.” Like what a British designer Graham Clifford says, “Type on the roadway is very much like the corporate identity of a country.” Joshua Yaffa’s “The Road to Clarity” in the New York Times Magazine details the process and the reason for replacing Highway Gothic to Clearview on highway signage.