Rose – 9000 DESTINATIONS IN LONDON 2012

Description

Doug Rose critiques recent declines in legibility of London bus destination blinds and explains his TfL commission to redesign them. He argues that DDA guidance emphasizing character height and recommending certain sans-serifs ignored width and spacing, prompting harmful letter squashing and reduced inter-letter spacing that undermined readability. Rose distinguishes true condensed typefaces from mechanically squashed forms and praises Edward Johnston’s principles, which he preserved while creating a family of Johnston variants (Medium, Condensed, Extra and Ultra Condensed) to retain correct stroke proportions and spacing. He produced a library of destinations—about 1,350 front displays and roughly 4,500 total delivered to McKenna Brothers—allowing better two-line layouts, legible subsidiaries, and appropriate abbreviations. He also piloted e-ink electronic blinds, noting benefits (resolution, remote updates) and current limits (screen size, joins, vibration). His recommendations: design blind areas fit for purpose, use multiple width variants to avoid squashing, and prioritize spacing and typographic clarity over forcing type into unsuitable boxes.