Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with signage

Figure out this font?

wolfsleepy — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:00:55 -0800

I'm asking on behalf of a friend who wants to print up some more materials for her salon, but hasn't had any luck finding the same font used for the sign. Any ideas? Already tried identifont.com without success. The sign in question is here.

Displaying Feeds on a TV

yeahyeahyeahwhoo — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 07:40:40 -0800

Whats the best solution for displaying text and/or rss feed crawls, etc on a TV via a wired or wireless network connection? I'd like to know the options for setting up an in house TV channel for a school, I'd really like a hardware solution that does this without requiring a PC, maybe like Sandisk's TakeTV?

Where to find old commercial

electric_counterpoint — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:15:17 -0800

What happens to letters from demolished buildings? What happens to old lettering on commercial buildings in general? Of course, the real question is, can I get my hands on them? Just occurred to me as I was changing my desktop wallpaper and saw several good looking images I'd snatched off Flickr from people who went on Tobias Frere-Jones' typography tour of New York a few months ago. Wouldn't it be cool to have a few old specimens up on a wall or something? Well, I thought it would.

So, what's the line on something like this? I'm not interested in buying some new letters custom-made, and my budget for the next few years will probably rule this out no matter what the cost. But on the off chance that the market for old signage is small, well, that would be good to know.

I should clarify that I'm not particularly thinking about actual signs or displays or marquees or .... I'm just thinking about actual letters, like so.

I think the "V" and "||" might be Roman numerals...?

Lucinda — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 20:00:39 -0800

What do these particular signs mean? On the back window of our bank, there's a round sign that's probably 6" in diameter, white with a red edge. In the circle, in red lettering, is this:

V
R

About ten miles away, above the entrance to a Bed Bath & Beyond in a strip mall, are several similar signs, (white circle, red edge, red lettering) that say:

||
R

Any idea what these might represent?

(I can take a picture of the one at the bank tomorrow morning and will post it onto flickr, and comment with a link.)

Gas station signs

punkfloyd — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 10:14:55 -0800

Why do (most?) American gas stations use physical, numerical signage that require manual adjustment when prices change? Wouldn't electronic signage make life easier and maybe more profitable? Is there some regulation that requires non-electronic signage?

Where do photo journalists hide their stash?

odinsdream — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 22:10:01 -0800

Some people on the media platform took photos or video of me and the sign I was holding at D.C. on Saturday in the Ellipse. Where can I look for this picture/video? Generally, how does this work? I would assume the people on the platform work for a media company, like C-SPAN. Should I write to C-SPAN and ask for footage? All of it, or be specific? Or, perhaps they're freelancers, in which case, where do they file their media for it to be searched and indexed by organizations looking to buy the images for reproduction?

flip-flip-flip: auto-mechanical train schedule?

nobody — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 21:50:33 -0800

I would like to obtain one of those auto-mechanical flip-flip-flip-flip train schedule signs (or leader boards). Where can I buy one?

My google searches and ebay searches have not gone well. I imagine that a leader board (same technology as the train schedule board, used for displaying rankings at tournaments) would be less expensive and less difficult to transport.

A related question: How are these boards controlled? (I assume I would be able to figure something out if I got my hands on one).

Construction site signage help

Kololo — Thu, 19 May 2005 06:44:01 -0800

I do marketing for a company that manufactures and installs windows/doors/gates in Uganda (East Africa). I want to create signage to put up at construction sites to advertise that the windows (etc) are by us. Problem: as opposed to the north american constructions sites i am familiar with, site hoardings (the barrier around the site) are usually corrugated metal sheets instead of the flat, nailable/gluable wood we use at home, and lawn-type areas around construction sites are non-existent, so you can't just stick something into the ground. SO.. how to display the sign? Most likely i'll be needing an answer that helps me come up with a design that allows me to afix the sign to the hoarding somehow; or alternatively, a more 'outside the box' solution i haven't thought of yet.

Oh, and displaying the sign should be a pretty easy process: complicated setup = not set-up at all.

Question number 14027

Heatwole — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 14:37:51 -0800

While in St. Martin years ago, there were roadsigns that featured an exclmation point inside of a diamond shaped sign (?) or triangle (?). I often saw it on backroads and areas where there seemed to be no reason for concern. What does this sign mean, what is it called and where can I find images of it?