Prochain arret

Personally, as a daily user of public transportation, the text, announcing the next station on the number of the bus, the next stop, the time and if in transit or out of service, is a big part of Montreal type. Although it can be argued, other major cities also have type similar to this for the same purpose. However for Montreal, like I mention as a daily user of the metro, I chose this because it’s a type that I absorb constantly. One character is composed of multiple dots that generate a shape close to a letter or number, arguably, this is a result of the technology used. The whole character set has numbers, capital and non capital letters. This picture is taken in the bus 125 that travels Ontario boulevard. With it’s light on dark background, the readability of the text is good, the commuter is able to read the bus direction from a distance, granted if their vision allows it. The layout is interesting, because the display is electronic, the layout changes by itself, it’s like a page turning before the audience is done reading, although it goes eventually back, following a cycle; it’s a strain on the reading experience to stop, absorb information that you are not looking for, in order to know if you have to leave at the next bus stop. Personally, I find the concept of generating shape of letters and numbers by having one element repeat is very interesting.