Why the same three typefaces are used in nearly every airport

IN BRIEF | Just three typefaces make up the directional signage in 75% of all airports: Helvetica, Frutiger and Clearview.

These three font families are easy to read at a distance – see if you can spot them on your next journey.

Helvetica

Developed in Switzerland, Helvetica supposedly has a ‘neutral’ vibe, making it feel both vaguely familiar and comfortingly classic.

The distinctive lowercase ‘a’ stands apart from an ‘o’ – even from far away – with many other typefaces using a rounder ‘a’.

Frutiger

Adrian Frutiger designed the self-titled typeface for the Parisian Charles de Gaulle airport in 1975.

To match the airport’s contemporary architecture, it's characterised by protruding letter stems – particularly those like ‘l’ and ‘p’ – along with wider space for the openings of letters like ‘e’ and ‘n’.

Clearview

Clearview was developed based solely on legibility at a distance, being put to use on the American interstate highway system.

Look for the larger enclosed spaces in letters ‘a’, ‘g’ and ‘e’, and for capital and leading letters that are a little higher than the rest.

Read more: Gizmodo.com

Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.