Traffic Sign Typefaces: Italy

Posted on 09. Feb, 2009 by Ralf Herrmann in Traffic Typefaces

The main typeface used in Italy is called Alfabeto Normale and is a bolder version of the British Transport alphabet. From its use in Spain it is also known as Carreta Conventional or CCRIGE and it is available as Traffic Type Spain from URW++.

A slightly thinner version is available for white letters on dark backgrounds. But nonetheless both version are way too bold for today’s retroreflective road signs. It’s easy to imagine how the details will get lost when those letters are viewed from a greater distance or when the sign is lit by headlights. This is also true for the condensed style called Alfabeto Stretto, which is also available for positive and negative contrast.

City names are always set in uppercase letters, but I usually didn’t had trouble reading them, since Italian city names are usually short and set in large sizes.

But the overall sign design has many problems. A typical mistake is not to limit the amount of information on the sign. One sign in Italy may present dozens of targets and additional information which are impossible to read even if you would slow down.

Road numbers are usually very hard to read, since they are scaled down to fit in a rectangle the size of the capital letters.

Another typical Italian problem I encountered was the missing continuity. You might follow a road (let’s say to Venice), but then hit a roundabout where this major target just isn’t listed for any of the available directions. And when it comes to Italian motorways you don’t get a chance to easily correct your direction, since they are all toll routes with very few exits.

In the northern part of Italy the signs are usually set in German and Italian, but a typeface borrowed from the U.K. obviously doen’t have German letters …

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5 Responses to “Traffic Sign Typefaces: Italy”

  1. schoschie

    09. Feb, 2009

    “Another typical Italian problem I encountered was the missing continuity.” — seems to be a bit of a mediterranean problem (generalizing here) :) Had this same problem on Mallorca and Gran Canaria. You’re totally out of luck if you don’t know your whereabouts or have a navi.

  2. stefano picco

    10. Feb, 2009

    Photo 5 looks great, that’s pure confusion … for a driver :D

  3. Sander

    10. Feb, 2009

    I have driven a few times in Italy and the road signs are not so good. As said above there is no consistant implementation and often too much information on a sign. I like the Grotesk typeface but if it works for road signs? Maby the signs work for inhabitants but for foreigners… I lots my way a couple of times in Italy, the landscape makes up for it ;)

  4. pacamanca

    25. Feb, 2009

    I live in Italy (but I’m not Italian!!!) and this post cracked me up. I’ve never understood their road signs. “Tutte le direzioni” (“all directions”) is my favorite – but I’ve seen it in France as well – and I swear people don’t see anything wrong with it and don’t understand it when I say it doesn’t make any sense *at all*. Another common feature of their system is two signs for the same place pointing at different directions. Like I always say, Italy is a VERY funny country.

    As a side note: I actually met my (Italian) husband partly thanks to the lack of continuity thingie. We were going to the Youth Hostel in Assisi but at a certain point the signs just disappeared, as usual. My friend and I kept walking but had no idea how far we had to go or even if we were going the right way, and looked completely at a loss (not to mention pathetic) with our huge suitcases, lumbering along a narrow road across these fields, the wind blowing madly and a light drizzle falling on our heads. My husband-to-be took pity on us and gave us a ride to the hostel, apologizing for the lack of signs and, well, for most of what I had already experienced in Italy and that doesn’t make any sense to reasonable people… And here I am, 7 years later :)

  5. Kevin Flynn

    20. Mai, 2009

    Just for info re: >> From its use in Spain it is also known as Carreta Conventional or CCRIGE <<

    In Spain CCRIGE stands for Carretera Convencional (Conventional Highway) + Red de Interés General del Estado (State General Interest Network).

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