Dabbling with Road Signs

In London, almost every other tree seems to have a ‘low trees’ sign. The other day, I was driving along wondering what bus drivers did, not so long ago, before these ridiculously obtrusive signs were erected…

Then I thought of an amusing challenge for fellow Dabblers: How about dabbling in a spot of DIY road sign design? Which signs would you do away with, or perhaps make a few arty amendments to? Here are some ideas, to get the creative juices flowing (with designer signs courtesy of Whitelines):

Share This Post

About Author Profile: Susan Muncey

Trend consultant Susan Muncey, is Editor of Visuology Magazine. In 2008, she founded online curiosity shop, ShopCurious.com. She writes on style and trends for several blogs, including Visuology.com, ShopCuriousMag.com and The Dabbler. She previously owned cult West London boutique, Fashion Gallery, one of the first concept stores in the world. Susan graduated in geography from Cambridge University and is also an Associate Member of the CFA Institute. She lives in London with her husband.

11 thoughts on “Dabbling with Road Signs

  1. finalcurtain@gmail.com'
    mahlerman
    November 12, 2011 at 08:52

    Not much chance of it ever happening here, but trust the progressive Dutch to give it a go. In Drachten they abolished not just street signs and road markings but also traffic lights, replacing the latter with roundabouts. Counter intuitively they discovered that traffic actually slowed when drivers were not ‘told what to do’, and accidents fell away dramatically as a result. And we all know about the visual pollution that comes with the clutter of messages that drivers are expected to act upon, often in a split second. Don’t get me started on this, just don’t get me started….

    • philipwilk@googlemail.com'
      November 12, 2011 at 08:58

      I tried to suggest this ‘no signs’ idea in our town, but got shouted down – above all by the people most aware of the visual pollution. It was really odd. They just didn’t get it at all.

    • jgslang@gmail.com'
      November 12, 2011 at 09:20

      Start, Mahlerman. Start and if feasible, finish. Then I can vent upon the ceaseless nannying verbosity of the London tube where the concept of letting ‘a customer’ journey quietly from A-B or even stand silently upon a platform has become an alien, apparently threatening concept. Frank Pick’s peerless map worked for decades. Why this eternal, invasive instruction? It cannot be for tourists – who probably have inadequate English. The Paris metro is virtually silent, so too the New York subway. Are we deemed so stupid?

  2. philipwilk@googlemail.com'
    November 12, 2011 at 09:01

    Round here, this being the sticks, wildlife seems to exercise people. We have a sign not far from here saying ‘For fox sake slow down’, and a few years ago someone stuck a red nose on one of those prancing stag wild animals warning signs. It looked so good that the sign was eventually stolen. I blame drunken young farmers.

  3. info@shopcurious.com'
    November 12, 2011 at 10:52

    Mahlerman, Philip, Jonathon – Top Gear have compiled a photo album of ‘pointless and useless’ road signs on Facebook. Seems they are a problem the world over…

  4. mcrean@snowpetrel.net'
    Mark
    November 12, 2011 at 12:39

    Jonathon Green could have included this sign in his article on Thursday.

  5. andrewnixon@blueyonder.co.uk'
    November 12, 2011 at 15:18

    Actually we could use some of those “low tree” signs in Bristol…

  6. rosie@rosiebell.co.uk'
    November 12, 2011 at 16:57

    The “Niagara Plumbing” sign across the road had the “N” changed to a “V”.

    • info@shopcurious.com'
      November 15, 2011 at 09:09

      Thanks, Hey Skipper – and what about parking outside those hours?!

      • alasguinns@me.com'
        Hey Skipper
        November 16, 2011 at 03:10

        There is no restriction.

        If there was one, a correct sign would have said “[No Parking | Some number of hours parking ] between 5 pm and 8 am”.

        As it is, the sign says you can park only for the entire 9 hour period between 8 and 5, then as much as you like otherwise.

        I think, in the All World Outdoor Freestyle Pointless Signs Competition, I win.

Comments are closed.