SignType
iOS app by Julian Lum-Smith. Graphics & Design · Julian Lum-Smith
- Store rating
- 0 / 5
- Store rating count
- 0
- Download price
- 9.99 USD
- In-app purchases
- Unknown
- Version
- 1.0
- Listing last refreshed
- 2026-09-09
View the original store listing
Store description excerpt
SignType sizes wayfinding and environmental graphic type from the optics of human vision, not from a rule of thumb. Instead of reaching for "one inch per ten feet", it works backward from how the eye actually resolves detail at distance — the same 5-arcminute threshold angle behind the Snellen eye chart — so every number it gives you is traceable to a standard you can cite in a spec. SOLVE OR EVALUATE Solve answers "what size do I need?" — enter a viewing distance and get the required cap height, or enter a height and get the maximum legible distance. Evaluate answers "is this sign good enough?" — enter a height and distance you already have, from an existing sign or a client's spec, and see the visual angle that pairing actually achieves and whether it clears your target. BUILT FOR REAL CONDITIONS A letter height that works in a clean, straight-on, well-lit field is not the same height you need in a crowded retail concourse, on a sign mounted above eye level, or on a panel that blends into the wall behind it. SignType adjusts for oblique viewing angle, visual crowding, and sign-to-surround contrast, and can derive its target angle from a reference object you measured on site. MEASURED AGAINST THE BENCHMARKS See where your design falls against the 1:10 rule, MUTCD's practical maximum, the US Sign Council's observed average, and the leaner 1:50 ADA/SEGD convention — in mm per metre or as a legibility index in feet per inch. CONTRAST AGAINST THE STANDARD THAT APPLIES Check text and background two ways: the WCAG ratio designers already know, and ISO 21542's Michelson luminance contrast, which is what actually governs signage — Cm 60% for sign text, 30% for a signboard against the wall behind it. They are different quantities, not a relabelling, so the app reports both rather than pretending one substitutes for the other. Preview the result through eight kinds of colour vision deficiency, and derate the ratio for the glare your material and lighting will really cost you. On iPhone and iPad, sample a colour straight from the camera. REAL TYPE METRICS Pick a system font or import your own .ttf/.otf. SignType measures cap height and x-height directly from the glyph outlines, so the point size it reports is right for that specific face — a generic ratio is wrong for anything condensed or display. VEHICULAR SIGNAGE Road signs are read by a moving viewer under time pressure, so they get their own model: design speed and message length drive a required reading distance, divided by a legibility index in the MUTCD-informed 30–50 ft/in range. EVERYTHING IS LOCAL No account, no network, no analytics, no tracking. Every calculation runs on device and your imported fonts stay in the app's own storage. SignType produces engineering approximations for early-stage design. Verify against the current WCAG, MUTCD and ADA/SEGD standards before production.
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