UniversalHub pointed out another Citizens Connect complaint about the new Clearview street signs. This one made me think though, because the person said:
The capital A is out of proportion to the lower case letters, and it is visually jarring.
They go on to say the all-caps signs are more pleasant, etc. Most commenters, and perhaps the author, seem to believe the complaint is about lowercase letters. Some of the commenters claim that new MUTCD rules require the capital letter followed by lowercase letters, so this sign is what research has shown to be the most legible.
What none of the commenters point out is that the complaint is accurate, the letters are out of proportion. I extract this image from wikipedia:
As you can see, at a consistent font size, the lowercase l should be taller than most capital letters. In the street sign at the top, it is smaller. This is why these signs look so messed up. I went back to a past complaint and found the same thing:
It seems the inconsistent font size is the problem, not the lowercase letters. If we look at a Clearview sign with consistent font sizes and lower case letters, we see a major difference (again, from wikipedia):
That looks much better. The lowercase letters are properly proportional to the capital letters in line with the design of the typeface, no weird changes in font size midway through words. I think these complaints would disappear if Boston would just use a single font size for the street name.
"Applied DNA Sciences, based in Stony Brook, N.Y., has a new technology that embeds botanical DNA into fibers that can then be sewn into a garment. The DNA is detectable under a specific light and can be assigned to a specific brand. It can’t be copied. The company’s clients include two European luxury brands, which it declined to name."
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Fashion Fakes Get More Sophisticated - WSJ.com
Isn’t the point of DNA that it is easily copied? PCR anyone?
wtf? I saw outbound N owl service all the time when I would crash in SF… what is the joke?
merlin:
frakintosh:
For the first time in my life I just saw an outbound N. From my window.
This is what I’d imagine seeing an albino, gold plated humpback whale feels like. I did not know they even existed.
Weather balloon.
(Source: frakintosh)
"The current streak of Boston-area films makes this town look like a pit of uneducated psychopaths who’d love nothing more than to kill someone who’s not from around here."
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Why I don’t leave my apartment….
ForEyes ads are local ads and local ads are fresh
“Researchers of Canada: pay attention. Get on this. It’s a fully funded grant opportunity in a very interesting area of research.”
—Lorna Tessier, director of public relations for Canadian Blood Services, quoted in the Montreal Gazette, on a $500,000 grant available for research investigating whether it could be safe for gay men to donate blood. In Canada, as in the United States, all men who have had sex with another man since 1977 are barred for life from giving blood, due to concerns about spreading HIV. No one has yet applied for the grant, which was created 2 years ago.
