Design
Are Traffic Lights More Effective When They Have Faces?
Brazilian motorists were surprised recently by traffic signals that had grown eyes, ears, and mouths.
Would a traffic light be more effective if it was a glowing-eyed face looking like it’s hollering, “Stooooppp!”?
Who knows, but that’s what Brazilians got recently thanks to an artist giving stop signals clownish makeovers. Narcélio Grud stitched masks with recycled cloth and found trash, then under the cover of darkness installed them with a Skyjack on the traffic lights of Fortaleza. In the morning, motorists were confronted with anthropomorphic signals blinking and mouthing at them, some with familiar countenances like Batman, David Bowie, and Bart Simpson.