Designers redesign elderly people roadsign in NB Studio and Michael Wolff project

NB Studio, Michael Wolff and Spring Chicken have worked towards a new “elderly people” road sign. The trio launched a competition for people to submit new design proposals to replace the image they describe as “ a depressing silhouette of a stooping elderly couple with a walking stick.”

NB says: “We feel this sign gives a derogatory and out-of-touch impression of older people that implies both frailty and disability. This has been picked up in recent months by the UK press and we feel it’s high time that the design community responded.”
The team contacted a number of top designers to create new icons that “paint a more positive image of Britain’s older community,” yielding a huge number of responses that range from the playful to the serious.

The designs are now shown online for the public to vote on their favourite, with the aim of eventually lobbying the UK Department for Transport to replace the incumbent sign. They are also working towards an exhibition and publication displaying all the designs.