This weekend the Clare Champion ran a piece entitled “New Design for National Road Signs Proposed”. I note with interest the response of the NRA spokesman, that they ‘will continue to uphold best practice standards’. I can understand the unnamed spokesman’s reservations in commenting beyond that. Let me state for the record, that I don’t have an issue with the National Roads Authority (NRA), it is my understanding that they are in the business of implementing standards already established and I’m sure they are very good at doing that.

Not ‘designed’ and not tested

It’s these untested design standards that were created by the Department of the Environment’s officials in the late sixties and early seventies that I take issue with – these are not following international best practise and no qualified design input was sought in their making. Worse still, the typeface imported from the UK was used directly contrary to its purpose. Unfortunately the NRA does not have a published and publicly available standard to consult and compare with international standards, we can only view and compare the resultant signs and draw conclusions.

Tags: News

With the ‘Best of’ Design exhibition due to open in Kilkenny at the end of next week, regional radio news in Limerick (my birthplace and alma mater) has picked up on the story of my research in road signs. Their prime focus here was on the road safety aspect. But they also mention the dual language findings.

Click to hear the clip as an mp3

As a Podcast, or visit the Live95FM website

Tags: News