Signs in India assume you do not need them! Driving back from the Mumbai Airport recently, I looked at the toll plaza at the Sea Link. If my driver had not known the toll amount we would have waited an additional 3-4 minutes, finding the money, and for the change. I took the pictures here from my car. The toll amount is invisible and is written on the blue patch below the toll booth window. You can only see it when you get there. The blue-on-blue toll rates sign renders the numbers harder to read. If you need to change lanes for the International Airport on the Western Express Highway, you do not see the small signs on the divider to your right, unless you are on the right, to begin with.

Sign systems are a science. Design of a good signage system requires an understanding of the distance and height of sign placement, size of letters, colour of sign, the number of words and letters on the sign, the use of visual mnemonics for readability as well as the exact location of the sign. All these help make signage effective. The other common Indian malaise is verbosity. A recent sign says, “Water Is Scarce, Please Do Not Waste Water”. A graphic of a cross on a tap dripping water would have sufficed. Another says, “WARNING. Work in Progress. Go Slow PWD. Mapusa to Salgaon” Smart cities will, hopefully, be smarter than this.

Alpana Parida is President, DY Works, a brand strategy and design firm that creates culture-based solutions for businesses

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