Danger sign at the WSU bear cage. Sam D’Amico. Link

The above sign is used on the fence surrounding the bear cages on campus. Although the body of the sign doesn’t use Helvetica as a font, the bolded danger part does; and that’s a reason why I chose to use it. Because I think the usage of the Helvetica for only the top part of the sign is telling. Helvetica, as mentioned many times in the movie, is a very traditional looking font that’s not only modern, but easy to read. Its legibility is one of the main reasons for people choosing to use it as a font. I think in this case, it was especially chosen because of the need for the sign to be recognized and read. It also makes use of color interaction; with the font being in white on a vibrant red background, it makes it pop even more so that way people are aware of the potential danger in the cage. With the color interaction, you can also see how well Helvetica makes use of a figure ground relationship. There’s just enough of the positive space, with the text slightly bolded, that the word “danger” remains legible from a far distance away and you know that what’s written is extremely important to make note of. It’s also a larger scale than the text below it, which makes it stand out as the most important part of the sign.

Overall the use of Helvetica on the sign is for people to be aware of the danger in the pen, and to make it easy to read from far away. The text over a red foreground also highlights the importance of what’s written.