What is Digg?92 Comments
- bitt3n, on 10/10/2007, -2/+36does your realdoll really care how long you last
- ChzPlz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+32To clarify this comment - The author of this paper is Joe Clark the graphic design / accessibility consultant, not Joe Clark the former Prime Minister of Canada.
- NSMike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+29LACK of detail? Could you put together a massive document solely focused on subway signage?
- DeathJux, on 10/10/2007, -4/+29And the rampant retardation that most Americans are known for, and the bad teeth that most British are known for, and the hateful fundamentalism of most Muslims...
Stereotypes: fun and true!
GTFO - modernman, on 10/10/2007, -0/+17This is one of the little things that seems trivial but adds up. I live in New York and am sad to see Toronto is using New York's ugly signs.
- gfindlay, on 10/10/2007, -0/+16An amazingly detailed article with a very interesting view on history of typography. It amazes me to read articles like this. There was a documentary called "Style Wars" about graffiti and culture in New York in the 1980s that I found equally interesting. Here it is: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5065949310221269915
- cygnus2112, on 10/10/2007, -2/+14You know, if the TTC didn't pay 400+ unionized workers (including bus drivers) salaries over $100,000 ... maybe they'd be able to afford some font standardization.. or wouldn't be running in the red with operating costs which makes Mayor David Miller cry about people's cars.
http://www.atu113.org/100000club.html - KayinAngel, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11i'm in toronto, and this is kinda neat, in a dorky font loving kinda way.
never really paid this much attention to the fonts used in the subway.
now i'll probably think of this every time i see them. - johnnykwest, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10If you're going to write a snotty post, at least get your punctuation and grammar correct. Your post is also unclear. Are you trying to tell me London, Ontario is a breath of fresh air? Myself, I prefer St. Thomas. ;)
- 10001110101, on 10/10/2007, -3/+12FYI: It's not politician.
Very cool to see the TTC dissected this way. - apetrie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Joe Clark spoke about this issue at Transit Camp (http://toronto.transitcamp.org/ttc/) and while at first I have to admit I thought "Who cares as long as people can read the signs?" after listening for a while I realized that is exactly the problem. Sometimes people CAN'T read the signs, and these seemingly nitpicky things actually greatly affect accessibility. Non-standardization and failing to take into account special needs hurts the flow of people on the system as well as their experience. I've lived in Toronto all my life and the simple fact that there is no consistency in where to find information or look for signs on the system is something you get used to, but shouldn't be the case.
- FoxOrian, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9I love this sort of stuff. Public transportation signage and typography is an odd interest of mine. Nice to see how another subway system looks and has their centralized sort of planned out in areas. I'm over in Boston, and the T subway over here has little signage and other things -- the stations are typically small. The design integrity of the T stations here are not very uniform. One of the only stations here that's really comparable to most modern stations in other cities is the Aquarium stop. But Boston is the first subway in america, so I guess you can't expect things to be spic n' span.
Nice to see though. - TacoTycoon, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10I'm getting on the TTC in about an hour... Possibly a more interesting ride today? Maybe.
- xtremesniper, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9What honestly bothers me (aside from the TTC going on mad spending sprees and then saying "oops, we have no money to run the service anymore... i can has more money plz?") is that this guy keeps saying the Sheppard subway line and other stations like Downsview are "in the middle of nowhere". I'm sorry but last I checked, the middle of nowhere is well above Major Mackenzie Drive in York Region. Anything south of Steeles can hardly be considered under-populated by any means of the word.
The end stations in the TTC are so mindblowingly over-crowded (especially Finch) that it's almost impossible to understand how he thinks that they are in the middle of nowhere. On top of that, the TTC seems to have a bright idea that they need to extend the Spadina line past Downsview all the way past York University. Wow. Great idea guys.
Meanwhile, people at Finch station line up for 20 minutes to get a parking spot in a hydro corridor that's full by 8:15am. Give me a break. Nobody knows what to make a priority anymore in this city. - Dissonance, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8I think Toronto is one of the most exciting cities in North America. I mean it is definitely not a New York or Los Angeles, that wouldn't be a fair comparison. But as compared to Boston, San Francisco, and other "2nd tier" type cities, Toronto is easily one of the best. And not having to worry about crime when walking about at night or in the subway is a real plus.
- chronichyjinx, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Lack of detail? You must be Canadian (As am I) cause your comment is lacking in detail also.
- Scottamus, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9Be still my beating heart.
- FRANKeB, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6That depends on the part of the city you lived in. I grew up in the downtown core and yeah, it was ***** awesome.
- directive0, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6yeah I have to agree with Frank, I ride the rocket almost daily and I never really thought about this stuff but its pretty cool!
- tyler71, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6I'm not going to be able to stop thinking about this. Everytime I see a TTC sign I'll think about it for 20 minutes and miss my stop.
BTW Tonnes of Toronto diggers !!! Woo...okay I'm done. - ccL1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4xtremesniper, the problem is, the 905 region is one of the fastest growing areas of Ontario. I think it would be wise to somehow extend the Yonge line northwards past Steeles. Then parking won't be as big a problem at Finch station. Plus, the TTC could use the huge boost in revenue that comes with it. They really need to target Brampton and Vaughn.
Honestly, I was pissed when they built the Sheppard line. I knew it would be a failure (the usage is nowhere near their originally projected values). Should've extended either the University and Yonge lines or the revamped the Scarborough RT route. Terrible planning, but what else can you expect from TTC? - Peralton, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Very interesting in a niche kind of way. I travel a fair amount and often find the instructions in some airports and train stations to be confusing. I guess this is an example of why. It's a joy when they are clear an concise, especially when you don't' speak the language in that country.
It's also interesting to note how the use of computers have hindered, not helped, the typography in public places such as this one because custom, antique or non-common fonts are 'not available' on the machines that make the signs. - xtremesniper, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Well here is the problem... First of all, I agree with extending the Yonge line up north instead of Spadina because that means more transit for the busiest road in Toronto. It also means more transit for riders from 3 different towns. Richmond Hill, Markham, and Vaughan...
Instead, the Spadina extension is serving York University students, and not much else... As for the Sheppard line, while you and me might think it's a waste of money, the people who live there think its the greatest thing to happen to them. Unfortunately, in the long term it was not a wise investment for the TTC because it cost well over $1 billion. If they just target more people from York Region, they wouldn't have to worry as much about the parking problems because people wouldn't need to drive down from York Region to park at Finch anymore. That's where all those cars are coming from anyway. If you live anywhere south of Steeles you have no reason to drive to Finch. - FRANKeB, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Ever stop to think he that maybe he's an Art History student writing/creating a thesis?
- radix33, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3It is actually more troublesome to drive and park at Finch Station. I had to deal with the traffic along Finch Ave. When winter hit, it was worse. I had done this for several months and hated it.
I am still a big supporter of the TTC in terms of service and accessibility. - MikeyMoose, on 01/30/2009, -0/+3There are those who 'get' typography, and those who are tragically ignorant.
Very cool.
s - MFF37, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3that was a comment that was not needed...
- str3ama, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I found the images to be more interesting then the explanation, mostly because I've only seen the decayed text and it's really interesting to see it when it was shiny and glossy and not stained with orange rust everywhere (every looked at the TTC's floors, the corners always have this orange crud that looks like rust but could be the cumulative waste of urine, vomit and whatever ungodly human fluids).
- Jeggoron, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2The company I work for is currently working on some Architectural renovations for two of the stations on the Bloor Line. I have a feeling that the inconsistency of the signage is probably more the Architect's fault than TTC's since TTC usually has different firms working on different stations.
- azprofessional, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Hmm is this the same as the lack of objectivity and accoutability in all American institutions?
- xtremesniper, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I'm not going to lie... Walking in Union Station towards the Sky Walk, I definitely see similarities. But that's just because Bioshock is based around the time when the TTC was still new.
- arsheroica, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I'm glad I'm not the only one who loves the retro TTC font. Everytime I'm in town to ride it I admire the unique type.
I'll actually be going into Toronto later tonight and riding the TTC, now I'm really going to pay attention! - superfusion, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3apparently nobody on digg read the toronto star in 1979.
- c0ldfusi0n, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3TL;DR.
- MatttK, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It's just you.
- xtremesniper, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2You don't pay again if you're on the wrong side. If you are at a station that does not let you go to the other side without exitting first (Dundas is one, I believe) then you take a transfer and show it to the booth operator on the other side to get in. It's actually written there too.
- radix33, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2You just reminded me of the days of TTC Bus Driver strikes. Man, the good ol' college daze.
- hils, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2nice font.. reminds me of futura/gil. I really wish the transit people would get there act together...how hard is it too make all signage one font? I see arial used all over the NYC subway, makes me cringe. it's depressing to me how out of control our visual environment can be. I believe what surrounds us affects...we should not be careless.
- StinkyWizlteats, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Joe Clark is *so* domitable!
- Tyr7BE, on 11/07/2007, -1/+2Buried for 'diggers'
- AROZ, on 11/19/2007, -0/+1Oh, it's the date thing.
- AROZ, on 11/19/2007, -0/+1I just found this, and I'm wondering, where are the other 82 comments?
- siruiw, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1cool!
- swabfalling, on 11/12/2007, -0/+1Wow, something I look at everyday and never really noticed.
And did you see that Egyptian thing?! I wish they would have done it, that would make going to the ROM that much better. - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1tl,dr
- Chicken2nite, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Apparently it's a different Joe Clark from Canada: http://joeclark.org/access/about/qualifications.html
- xtremesniper, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Actually I find he looks like Raffi a lot more... http://educ.ubc.ca/westcast/images/raffi.jpg
- louiemantia, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1looks a lot like Neutraface: http://www.houseind.com/index.php?page=showfont&id=18&subpage=viewfontspecimens
- Typophile, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Always great to see typography articles get dugg here.
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