With this project came an unusually high number of design challenges, mainly to do with communicating a large amount of important information on an incredibly small canvas. Drivers needed to be notified of a Minnesota statute requiring automobiles to provide three feet of clearance when passing a bicycle, and the medium was to be a small 2×6 in. plate for attachment to the back of a bike’s seatpost, with all the inherent motion and distance taken into account. And not only that, but it had to be designed in such a way that it appealed to bikers enough to actually inspire them to stick it on their bike.

It soon became clear that any message beyond a simple statement of the distance and accompanying graphic simply wouldn’t fit, and as such I decided to propose the bike sign as one part of a larger campaign. In essence, posters and advertisements would be created and used as supplemental pieces which frame the bike sign design with additional, clarifying information. As a result, drivers would see the bike sign, recognize it as part of the greater campaign, be reminded specifically of the three-foot rule, and act accordingly.

As for the design itself, I combined a highly-legible typeface originally designed for usage on the road with a shade of red-orange that would not only catch drivers’ attention, but also come to be associated with the campaign through it’s uniqueness, all done in a infographic-like style intended to appeal to young bikers. Only the left-pointing arrow remained in the bike sign, for simplicity’s sake, since that would be the most common side for a car to approach.

It should be noted that sadly, in the end, this project was never implemented.