What is the font of Los angeles freeway signs?

[bob2131]

hi, the font of california road signs, in particular of los angeles.

Anybody know what font this is?

Or are there diff ones?

thanks.

 

[iMacZealot]

The US. Federal Highway System designed a universal font for all highway signage in the 1940's. Tobias-Frere Jones designed an updated variation for commercial use.

I agree that it's a pretty font, too.

 

[Blue Velvet]

The lower case 's' doesn't quite match but the truncated descender on the 'g' makes me think of the info on this page. At the bottom, you'll find some links.

1949-50, as part of a research program into freeway signing carried out by the California Department of Transportation, Series E Modified was developed from Series E by thickening the stroke width to accommodate button reflectors for ground-mounted signs, while a lowercase alphabet was developed to allow mixed-case legend (consisting initially of Series D and lowercase letters) to be used on externally illuminated overhead signs.[

There's also a Larabie font called Blue Highway which might do the trick.

Edit: Tip to iMacZealot for getting there first.

 

[bob2131]

i love this board i love this board i love this board

thankyou soooooo much for a speedy reply..

so FHWA is the "official" correct typeface.
Tobias Interstate is an off-shoot of the the above, with a bit of variation.
And blue highway....is a free.... very similar typeface?

So any of these would do?