Will Louisiana be the next state to put up a new sign design?
From David Kendrick : Louisiana's present green-on-white shields are boring and ugly. You'll never see more than two in a row that aren't faded, torn, full of pellet shot holes, and falling down. So it's time to replace them. And nothing says "Louisiana" like Mardi Gras. Purple, green and gold, the colors of Mardi Gras, add a bit more variety and readability to the sign. The purple border sets the sign off nicely as well.
CCS : Louisiana's current sign just sucks. The first is a simpler version of the sign, taking the number out of the state shape, so it can be more prominent. The colors tell you what it isn't - an Interstate or US highway - and the number jumps right out there. The second is an alternate to the rectangular blank, and it works well even for 4-digit numbers. The third is an alternate for secondary highways; you could use the first for primary routes, like a few states already do.
From Ryan E. Hague: It's easily recognizable and has a Mardi Gras theme in it.
From Adam "Froggie" Froehlig: The Louisiana shield is a style based on Minnesota, with the state outline in the upper left corner and a stylized "Louisiana" (taken from the state's official website) in the upper right corner. The colors are a cue from David Kendrick: the green, gold, and purple of Mardi Gras. The shield and bottom half are wide enough to enable using FHWA Series D font, even for 4-digit routes, which makes the numbers more legible.
From Ed Miessner: Signs for Louisiana. Two are of the Quebec Autoroute design and the other two are similar to Quebec's primary routes. The changes are, there is a watermark of the state in the background of each of the last two signs and I chose Mardi Gras colors - purple, gold and green - for all the state roads and two blues, gold and canary yellow for any roads the state decides to turn back to the parishes -- if the state ever decides to do that. The last one would be for tolled highways in Louisiana (including Lake Pontchartrain Causeway). The green "overpass" banner at the top would indicate a toll road -- this is the kind of toll road indicator I would like to be universal throughout North America.
From Tara Stretch: I love the designs on the page, but when I saw the Louisiana designs, I figured I could come up with something unique. First off is the LA 3249 shield... it's black and white, but it's not a boring circle or a blank shield... the number's sitting inside a fleur-de-lis! I find a fleur-de-lis is good for a guide sign, as it can accommodate 4di numbers without the need for an oversized blank, even with FHWA E lettering. It also screams "This is a Louisiana highway!" The second one, for LA 1, is similar to the 3249 shield, but I've added the colors of Mardi Gras to it, with a purple background, gold foreground and green lettering. Third is LA 28 Business, with green and purple swapped from the LA 1 shield. Fourth is a shield for LA 1088, using the same fleur-de-lis design but colored more like today's highway shield. (This one uses Clearview.) The Mardi Gras coloring is still present, however. Finally, I decided to do a cutout shield, possibly for freeways, hence the LA 3132 "Freeway" shield. it.
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This page last updated Wednesday, May 21, 2008