What's in a sign? 20 is Plenty

There is arguably no road sign more important than the School warning triangle; however, the shape categorises this danger with mere inconveniences like ‘Hump Bridge’ and ‘Hill incline/decline’. In Hampshire, many schools have signed up to replace these with a more engaging, persuasive sign, encouraging motorists to keep to a maximum speed of 20, which regular signs astonishingly don’t specify. Written in childish type and colourful letters is the headline ‘20 is plenty’ which appears above a childish drawing of a snail. 

The concept is to attract motorists’ attention using a child’s perspective. This informs the basic tone of voice – the simple rhyme, the colourful type and the popular child symbol for slow, the snail. This evokes a human connection with distracted motorists (absent in the red triangles) and provokes motorists to empathise with the concerned parents and choose everyone’s wellbeing above their adrenalin. The execution creates a perfect balance between the nondescript triangle and the shock strategy used by brands such as Think! while using only three elements to clearly and convincingly highlight that children’s safety is at risk.