There is considerable discrepancy in the typeface on Reykjavík’s street signs, which pokes people in the eyes to varying degrees, reports Vísir. The Department Manager of Operations and Caretaking for the City of Reykjavík says the fonts have been underlooked in the city’s coordination processes, but promises compensation and improvement.
On social media, people have been posting new signs compared with old ones.
A very clear example is at Kaplaskjólsveg, where a new sign and an old one are located side by side. Hjalti Jóhannes Guðmundsson, Department Manager of Operations and Caretaking for the City of Reykjavík, says the discrepancy is due to the fact that different parties have been involved in different tenders over time.
“We will look at this and of course consistency must be ensured in these matters as in others. What we may have mainly been looking at in these tenders regarding signs and street data is a certain capacity, height, length and location, but we may not have been looking whether it’s Helvetica or Arial,” says Hjalti.
Þessi skilti ættu að vera stöðluð. Hvað á þetta leturflakk að þýða? pic.twitter.com/LwnvbNjhEz
— Bobby Breiðholt (@Breidholt) June 27, 2022
Signs with larger and slightly clearer text seem to be the new typeface, and they have spread throughout the city. “Of course, it’s up to everyone’s taste, but of course it just has to be internally consistent and we’ll look into it,” says Hjalti.
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