Updated 1 January 2008
License information for the Roadgeek 2005 fonts is here. Short version — they’re free for recreational or hobby use (e.g. development of roadgeek websites, amateur comedic Photoshopping of pictures, etc.). If you’re doing actual sign-creation, commercial logo design, or mass publication, please use the the official versions of the fonts.
The Roadgeek 2005 font family is currently up of 48 fonts (click the graphics to download):
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Roadgeek 2005 Series B, C, D, E, EM, and F are intended to approximate the traditional FHWA highway gothic fonts |
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Roadgeek 2005 Series 1B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, and 6B are intended to approximate the new Series 1B-6B fonts, intended for use in dark text on light background scenarios |
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Roadgeek 2005 Series 1W, 2W, 3W, 4W, 5W, 5WR, and 6W are intended to approximate the new Series 1W-6W fonts, intended for use in light text on dark background situations. |
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A few folks think the numerals in the new fonts don’t look that good, and there have been recommendations to use numerals from the classic gothic fonts. To make life a little easier, I’ve created a set of “blended” fonts to do just that |
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If you’ve ever considered using highway sign fonts in a normal document, you may have noticed that the spacing was a bit…generous. Roadgeek 2005 Print B1B through F6B take the equivalent blended fonts, and condense the spacing a bit, for potential print document uses. |
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Roadgeek 2005 Old Parks and New Parks fonts are intended to approximate the fonts used by the National Park Service on their highway signs. |
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Roadgeek Transport Medium & Transport Heavy are intended to approximate the fonts used on British highway signs |
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Roadgeek 2005 Engschrift and Mittelschrift approximate German road sign fonts. |
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Roadgeek 2005 Arrows 1 &2, Icons, and Signbacks provide much of the iconography used in the MUTCD. |
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And, if you’re such a roadgeek that you need all of these fonts, I’ve bundled them up into one package. |
I was going to expand the Roadgeek 2005 collection to include additional, primarily recreation-oriented icons. However, a bit of web-searching turned up the fact that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources already has a font that does just that. Rather than duplicate their work, I figured that I’d just link to it instead.
I’m also keeping the older Roadgeek 2000 fonts up online. Although you should really consider using the 2005 series rather than the 2000 series, some roadgeek websites still use the 2000 fonts.
so i clicked on every single image and THEN saw the COMPLETE version. HAHA!
I like those parks fonts, but unfortunately there’s no TTF for them. I run Linux, and it’ll take TTF, but OTF isn’t supported (in fact, the .otf extension is interpreted as a spreadsheet template).
@Scott — Check the left sidebar. There’s a link to the TTF versions from a prior rendering.
You might also want to check around on what needs to be updated on your linux install. I thought KDE and Gnome have had support for OTF for a few years now…which is a good thing, since OTF is the open format superseding both TTF and Type 1.
[...] selling it as a font family on their website. However, if you just want it for recreational use, Roadgeek Fonts has a “similar version” for free download (it’s more or less the same to most amateur eyes I suppose). The results of this project were [...]
I’ve hope for input other European roadfonts like Greek,Austrian,Italian and Norwegian.
This is just what I was looking for! Thank you so much! Also, the additional color information was a welcome addition!
Thomas
Hello.
Have you got any font from this list?
Trafikkalfabetet
Austria Mittelschrift and Engschrift
DIN 1451 with Greek letters
Traffic Type Spain
Motorway
many thanks
I tried to install the FHWA series but windows tells me the ttf files are invalid. why? what can i do to use them anyway?
[...] between the old and new sign fonts. You can download a close copy of the new font over at Mike The Actuary’s Musings. Key quotes: “Signs that you’d be hard pressed to read at 700 feet were legible at 900 [...]
Hello. Do you know when Roadgeek 2010 fonts can be released?
The update to the SHS book, which has FHWA fonts as an appendix, hasn’t been released yet — they’ve only said it would be out sometime in 2009 2010.
If they announce changes to the fonts, it then becomes a question about if/when I have time to re-trace the fonts.
I think it is awesome that you have done all of this work and that you share it like this. Thank you so much! I appreciate the specs for photoshop colors too.
[...] big G for reference. Jamie also sent me this image. While searching I came across a website called Roadgeek Fonts which turned out to be a really great resource. In addition to having the correct fonts available [...]