Ussc Foundation

USSC FOUNDATION Sign Legibility The Impact of Color and Illumination USSCF ON-PREMISE SIGNS / RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS SIGN LEGIBILITY IMPACT OF COLOR AND ILLUMINATION ON TYPICAL ON-PREMISE SIGN FONT LEGIBILITY A Research Project of the UNITED STATES SIGN COUNCIL FOUNDATION By Beverly Thompson Kuhn Philip M. Garvey Martin T. Pietrucha Of the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute The Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA © 1998 United States Sign Council Fooundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved USSC FO UNDATION Published by the United States Sign Council Foundation as part of its on-going effort to provide a veriﬁable body of knowledge concerning the optimal usage of signs as a vital source of communicative resource within the built environment For further information concerning the United States Sign Council Foundation and its educational, research, and public awareness activities, contact The United States Sign Council Foundation 211 Radcliffe Street, Bristol, Pennsylvania 19007-5013 215-785-1922 www.usscfoundation.org TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1. BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................1 2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................3 3. FIELD RESEARCH ...................................................................................................................5 Overview..............................................................................................................................5 Subject Recruitment and Screening.....................................................................................6 Variables ..............................................................................................................................8 Site and Apparatus ...............................................................................................................9 Sign Design........................................................................................................................10 Procedure ...........................................................................................................................13 Analyses and Results .........................................................................................................15 Descriptive Statistics..............................................................................................16 Group Effects.............................................................................................18 Time Effects...............................................................................................18 Color Effects ..............................................................................................20 Black vs. White..............................................................................21 Black vs. White - Daytime.............................................................22 Black vs. White - Nighttime ..........................................................24 Yellow vs. White ...........................................................................25 Yellow vs. White - Daytime ..........................................................26 Yellow vs. White - Nighttime........................................................27 Red vs. White.................................................................................28 Red vs. White - Daytime................................................................29 Red vs. White - Nighttime .............................................................29 General Findings............................................................................30 Illumination Effects. ................................................................................33 External vs. Translucent ................................................................33 External vs. Translucent - Daytime ...............................................34 External vs. Translucent - Nighttime.............................................35 External vs. Opaque vs. Translucent .............................................36 External vs. Opaque vs. Translucent - Daytime ............................38 External vs. Opaque vs. Translucent - Nighttime..........................39 General Findings............................................................................41 Font Effects................................................................................................43 Discussion..................................................................................................44 Available Reading Times.......................................................................................46 General.......................................................................................................47 Daytime......................................................................................................48 Nighttime ...................................................................................................49 Discussion..................................................................................................49 i 4. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................................51 Subject and Time Effects...................................................................................................51 Color Effects ......................................................................................................................51 Illumination Effects ...........................................................................................................52 Font Effects........................................................................................................................52 Available Reading Times...................................................................................................52 Design Recommendations .................................................................................................53 Discussion..........................................................................................................................57 5. REFERENCES .........................................................................................................................59 APPENDIX A: SUBJECT CHARACTERISTICS.................................................................. A - 1 APPENDIX B: SIGN DESIGN PROCEDURE .......................................................................B - 1 APPENDIX C: SIGN VIEWING ORDERS ............................................................................C - 1 APPENDIX D: AVAILABLE READING TIMES................................................................. D - 1 ii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 1. PTI test track and test sign locations.............................................................................10 Figure 2. Average recognition and legibility distances by subject group.....................................19 Figure 3. Average recognition and legibility distances by viewing time. ....................................19 Figure 4. Average recognition and legibility distances by subject group, viewing time..............20 Figure 5. Average distances for black vs. white comparisons, external illumination. .................22 Figure 6. Daytime distances for black vs. white comparisons, external illumination. .................23 Figure 7. Nighttime distances for black vs. white comparisons, external illumination................24 Figure 8. Average distances for yellow vs. white comparisons, opaque illumination. ................26 Figure 9. Daytime distances for yellow vs. white comparisons, opaque illumination. ................27 Figure 10. Nighttime distances for yellow vs. white comparisons, opaque illumination.............28 Figure 11. Average distances for red vs. white comparison, neon illumination...........................29 Figure 12. Daytime distances for red vs. white comparison, neon illumination. .........................30 Figure 13. Nighttime distances for red vs. white comparison, neon illumination........................30 Figure 14. Average recognition and legibility distances by text color with confounding............31 Figure 15. Average recognition and legibility distances by text color, viewing time..................32 Figure 16. Average distances for external vs. translucent comparisons, black text. ....................34 Figure 17. Daytime distances for external vs. translucent comparisons, black text.....................35 Figure 18. Nighttime distances for external vs. translucent comparisons, black text. .................36 Figure 19. External vs. opaque vs. translucent comparisons, yellow text. ...................................38 Figure 20. Daytime external vs. opaque vs. translucent comparisons, yellow text......................39 Figure 21. Nighttime external vs. translucent vs. opaque comparisons, yellow text. ..................40 Figure 22. Average recognition and legibility distances by illumination with confounding. ......41 Figure 23. Average recognition and legibility distances by illumination, viewing time..............42 Figure 24. Average recognition and legibility distances by test font with confounding..............43 Figure 25. Average recognition and legibility distances by test font, viewing time. ...................44 Figure B-1. Sign 1 (External - Clarendon - Color Scheme A) .................................................B

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