Newfoundland Roads - NL 90



The first photo is the old route shield style, the second is the new style that has all but destroyed the trapezoidal coolness. If I didn't know that the trapezoids and their cool little crown icons existed, I'd be perfectly happy with the green squares with directions inside, but it's like the little toads taking over Australia. Everyone loves amphibians, they're slimy and they sound cool, but not when millions of them are eating your wallabies. The old shield didn't have room for "North" or "South" inside, but my argument would be the word "Route" is unnecessary when you have a unique design like this.


SB at TCH 1. Take a good long look at the first sign with its rounded corners, because you need a lot of beauty before you let your eyes wither upon the ugliness to follow. Newfoundland uses "Exit" when it means "Junction," which piques one's curiosity when one finds a narrow two-lane road (or better, a dirt road) that has an upcoming Exit. Okay, now brush your eyes across the second photo and quickly wash them out. That awful white square is the present and future of Newfoundland route signage. That's what the green square correlates to, and that's why as cute as the green square may be, it's a deadly poison on signage. Newfoundland also has a habit of including the direction inside the rectangle as a single letter, which works alright but leaves a hint of suspicion that you're on, say, Route 90S instead of Route 90 South. Finally, modern signs drop the "Newfoundland" from inside the banner of the TCH 1 shield. Unfortunately, if you stared too long, you won't be able to read my critique. Have someone read this to you - it's worth it.

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