Euroface - Anyone hear of this?

Russell McGorman21 September 2007 · 20:35

http://www.peterb.sk/content_items/euroface.html

“ In 1994, the members of European Parliament urged the creation of a new comprehensive road typeface system, the development of a ‘general high recognition and perception font’, and recommended adoption of uniform design practices. Now, after five years of extensive research, the European Committee for Uniformity of Type Design and Type Safety completed the research and presented legible-for-all-purposes-suitable-typeface. The typeface, named Euroface, was developed and studied through extensive design exercises, laboratory investigation and road tests. The result is convincing: Euroface is 42% more legible than Helvetica”

42% More legible than Helvetica? Oh my.

I’d like to find a sample of it.

That may not be so easy though.

http://www.a-g-i.org/magazine/news_detail.php?id=252&cat=

“A German attempt to create one ’Euroface’ for the European road signs scored astonishingly high in legibility tests. However, until today the typeface has remained hidden in bureaucratic drawers despite its supposedly magical qualities.”

Russ

Tim Ahrens22 September 2007 · 02:31

Wow, a typeface that gets easier to read the faster you drive! No wonder they had to invent a new “International Standard Recognition Unit” for it ;)
(google for “International Standard Recognition Unit” -euroface)

Must have been invented by the same guy that made the VCR that actually improved the quality when copying video cassettes.

Typography.Guru22 September 2007 · 04:31

I’d like to find a sample of it.

The samples are the images with the jaggy font, which is supposed to become clearer the faster you drive.

Must be some kind of joke or »art project«.

eomine22 September 2007 · 06:07

Read this. There are other links at the bottom of the page. LOL!

— omine.net

Michel Boyer22 September 2007 · 06:28

I must confess that I am skeptic but I found Euroface as part of Lecture 7 of this Typography & Composition Course Outline. Euroface is also mentioned on page 132 (page 27 of the pdf file) of this issue of the Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors (whose existence I did not know). I liked footnote 121.

James Montalbano22 September 2007 · 06:32

Aw come on guys, ITS A JOKE!

Russell McGorman22 September 2007 · 07:10

Gee, thanks, I had no idea >;¬)

Russell McGorman22 September 2007 · 08:36

obviously, you just don’t get the miracle of science. >:¬)

Those samples look suspiciously like Helvetica at 100 KMH.

Funny how it’s 42% better. Because the answer to life, the Universe and everything is also 42.

Butseriously, folks... IF this was a real study, there must be a copy of it and some specimens out there... Surly no government organization would EVER be so secretive about a typeface? (cough)

.... Unless the Fontographer’s Union is behind it.

Michel Boyer22 September 2007 · 10:48

> .... Unless the Fontographer’s Union is behind it.

No, it seems to be Garcia Fonts + Co. Look at their catalogue.

For those that read spanish, here is an article on the Typerware and Garcia Fonts project.

Michel

Russell McGorman22 September 2007 · 14:54

Yeah- I saw the site - . I like the humour of some of the typefaces there.

I was kidding about there being a big international union of type designers who would of course want to suppress a typeface that would be so good there’ it would put them out of business - and of course, if there were such a union, it would be powerful enough to influence governments.

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