Typefaces used for signage in public areas, such as roads and airports, often share characteristics of, or are chosen for, their readability.
Typefaces Typeface Used by Notes Image SNCF, France Created in 2008 to improve station accessibility and Road signs in Italy, San Marino and Vatican CityRoad signs in Albania Alfabeto Normale is a bolder variant of the British Transport typeface. Alfabeto Stretto is a condensed version of Alfabeto Normale. Both fonts have their own positive (for dark-coloured text on light backgrounds) and negative (for light-coloured text on dark backgrounds) versions. Antique Olive California Department of Transportation Some regulatory signs ANWB-UuANWB-managed wayfinding signage in non-motorways of the Netherlands until 2014. Succeeded by RWS.The ANWB are officially responsible for those signage until 2014. The Uu humanist typeface are designed by Gerard Unger for the 1998 Redesign.Low-res specimen. Arial Venezuelan road signs mostly use Arial Black, a variant or Arial, for legibility. Austria Austria Being phased out since 2013 Avant Garde KAI Commuter rail network in Indonesia (before 2021) Now gradually replaced with Circular in 2021, with remaining old signages still in place. Avenir Macau Light Rapid TransitDublin AirportMinneapolis–Saint Paul Metro Transit Japanese and English signage: Hisatsu Orange RailwayJapanese signage: Seibu Railway Bembo Smithsonian signage in Washington D.C. Bodoni English signage: Yokohama Minatomirai Railway (Minatomirai Line) Bashamichi Station Boutros Advertisers Naskh Road signs in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and YemenBeirut International Airport Formerly used in Dubai International Airport and Riyadh International Airport Brusseline Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company Calibri English signage: Tōyō Rapid Railway Calvert Tyne & Wear Metro, United Kingdom. Caractères France Used for road signs in France and in some countries in Africa. In France it is used in four variants known as L1, L2, L4, L5. Its usage is mandated by the Interministerial Instruction on Road Signs and Signals () Directorate-General for TrafficRoad signs in Spain Proprietary typeface commissioned for this purpose, used on intracity road signs. Derived from the Transport typeface. Casey Singapore MRT (since 2019)Changi Airport (since 2022) Used by Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation until its merger with MTR in 2007. Being gradually replaced by Myriad, which is used by MTR on its networks. CastMost Taiwanese urban rail systems (since 2022)Designed by Dominique Kerber Century Gothic English signage: Kōbe New Transit, Nagaragawa Railway Japanese signage: Iyo Railway (Iyotetsu) Circular Transport for West Midlands (since 2018)Kereta Api Indonesia (since 2020) Clarendon U.S. National Park Service road signs Used by Public Transport Company in Poznań as the typeface for its fleet vehicles numbering Clearview Developed to replace U.S. FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) typefaces Dansk Vejtavleskrift Road signs in Denmark Derived from the Transport typeface Deutsche Bahn WLSDeutsche Bahn station signageDeveloped in close reference to Helvetica Japanese signage: Chikuhō Electric Railroad (Chikutetsu) Japanese signage: Tsugaru Railway Japanese and English signage: Aizu Railway, Noto RailwayEnglish signage: Gakunan Electric Train, Izuhakone Railway Japanese and English signage: Fuji Kyūkō (Fujikjyū), Odakyū Hakone (Hakone Tozan Railway)Japanese signage: Heisei Chikuhō Railway (Mojikō Retro Scenic Line) DIN 1451 Road signs in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo CountiesRoad signs in Germany Road signs in the Czech Republic Road signs in Latvia Road signs in the Southern African Development CommunityRoad signs in BruneiRoad signs in SingaporeRoad signs in SyriaBengaluru Metro (Namma Metro) signageKansai International Airport (KIX) (since 2022) Minneapolis–Saint Paul International AirportEnglish signage: Keisei Electric RailwayThe DIN typeface was used for regulatory and warning Signs in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties. Also used in the Greek motorway networkThe DIN typeface for the Namma Metro is in English and Kannada.
The DIN typeface is currently in the process of gradually replacing the Frutiger typeface for Kansai Airport during its renovations in preparation for Expo 2025. Drogowskaz Polish road signage typeface One of a few digitalisations; officially the typeface used in Polish road signs has no defined name. Esseltub Previously used in Stockholm Metro FIP signage typeface Government of Canada A modified version of Helvetica Medium used by the Government of Canada FF Fago ADIF Used as official font for signage system of all Spanish railway stations owned by the state-owned administrator, ADIF FF Meta Stockholm MetroCaltrans Birmingham Airport TransLink (British Columbia) Some mile marker signs FF TransitDeveloped by MetaDesign for Berlin's public transport company BVG and later adopted by other transport systems. Contains many pictograms for signage. Based on Frutiger. FF Scala Sans Los Angeles Metro FHWA series (Highway Gothic) Road signs in the Americas, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey Developed for U.S. road signage.Formerly used on Spanish motorways. The Dutch Rijkswaterstaat maintains a localised version (RWS: Cc, CCx, Dd, Ddx, Ee, Eex series) with ligature and stroke adjustments for visibility improvement on blue backgrounds.