An art director based in Chicago started a typography experiment to help the homeless… redesigning their signs. The aim was to see if the new signs could draw more attention, and ultimately, donations.
Below is a picture of Fred with his sign before it was redesigned.
And here he is again with his new sign.
“Fred said that because it was so crazy downtown over St. Patrick’s Day, he wasn’t out. He said that he had managed to use it a couple times and hadn’t noticed too much of a difference but that it had been slow lately.” wrote the Urban Type Experiment on Tumblr.
Another recipient of a newly designed sign was Roger, and this is his sign before:
“He told me that people were calling him over to their cars to talk to him and people who wouldn’t normally stop were stopping to compliment him.”
In the end, it seems the signs are nice gesture and people agree they look better – but the homeless will need more than new signs to make a difference.
You can read more about the project and view more signs on The Urban Type Experiment tumblr page.
