iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Having a lovely time at Leicester comedy festival. Last night I saw Tom Burgess's Peter Fleming’s Dismally Ill-Prepared TV Pub Quiz and had a delightful time. It was so, so funny.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

You can read a full account of this story on my Patreon OR come see me talk about it live at the Leicester comedy festival on Sunday!

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Taking a brief interlude in the history of road sign fonts thread to show off this cool new book my lovely wife bought me*. *I'm trying not to buy any books this year and she was worried it would be difficult to get ahold of next year.

A big heavy hardback called Margaret Calvert Woman at Work by Thames and Hudson with a photo of Calvert's woman at work sign on the cover.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Road signs in the UK use a font specifically created for that purpose, called Transport. (Many countries signed up to the Vienna Convention use variations of this font.) How Transport came to be the font of choice is a fascinating story as many elements of it were highly controversial...

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

The blue of a parking sign (in the UK) is pantone 300. Here are more facts about the colour blue than you thought you needed: www.patreon.com/posts/141127...

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Feeling blue | hashtagcerys

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

The parking sign dates back to the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics! I'll be releasing a full patreon post all about it next week. In the mean time, there's a paid post about motorcycle helmets already up.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

I've been doing some reading about parking signs recently and it turns out the history is super interesting. Can you guess when the P in a blue rectangle parking sign was invented and for what event?

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Little parking signs for bikes are always adorable.

A photo of a bike rack, at dusk, with a P parking sign above a little icon of a bike.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

You've gotta check they're legit though - there's an underground market in stolen street signs...

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

You can also just buy them. Some of them for like £30.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

They just leave road signs lying around on the floor, no guards or nothing. Anyone could just pick one up and take it home...

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

You can read the full report on the Slough Safety Experiment here: ia801400.us.archive.org/20/items/op1... And see a bunch of cool photos of the original signs and posters etc.

ia801400.us.archive.org

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

This is supposed to be a hand btw but I am not good at hands. Tbf, the original posters, made in the early 50s, have something authoritarian about their nature (I presume bc they're built directly on war propaganda iconography) and so it's probably for the best I didn't accurately capture the image.

A red pen drawing of what is recognisably meant to be a hand - it has four fingers and a thumb but it has a double outline that makes it look super weird. The wrist turns into a res triangle pointing downwards.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

The Great Slough Experiment! Read all about how Slough was turned into a safety town on my patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/148849...

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The Safety Town | hashtagcerys

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Signs from the Margaret Calvert Exhibition at the OSH Gallery last year.

A wall of road signs (an arrow pointing right in a circle), a man at work sign, a woman at work sign, a 70mph sign) but in bright colours - yellow, blue, red, orange and green.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Another excellent road sign from Italy.

A red triangular warning sign with a yellow background and a black exclamation point.
A supplementary sign that reads "LKW Ausfahrt uscita automezzi" and beneath that a drawing of a little digger with a person driving it.
In the background is a beautiful blue sky and a ski lift and a mountain.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Welcome to Italy! If you want to know what specific brand of car it is you can read the deep dive on my patreon! (Spoilers: I don't know very much about cars.)

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Reposted by cerys

cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

The Vienna Convention on road signs lays out basic shapes, colours and concepts for consistency across countries but allows for a lot of individuality within that. Can you guess what country this road sign is from based on its unique car symbol?

A red triangle warning sign depicting a highly detailed icon of a car with four rear lights, a bumper, a license plate and a rear window driving on a road that is disintegrating on the right hand side.
The sign is on a very picturesque road under a deep blue sky.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

You too can be an annoying-I-mean-knowledgeable passenger by reading my patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/146350...

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Bump in the road | hashtagcerys

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

I now know the difference between speed bumps (designed to reduce speed to about 5mph), humps (designed to reduce to 20mph ish), cushions (don't cover the full length of the road) and tables (raised out of the road for pedestrians to cross) which makes me a super fun passenger.

A Bump In The Road Sign (red triangular sign with a little black bump in the middle)

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Did you know that red paint on signs often fades faster than blue? It's therefore not uncommon to see No Through Road signs sans the red bar. This has led to a rumour that some No Through Road signs signal if there is space to turn (a white T) and those that don't (with a red bar) which is not true!

A no through road sign (a blue square with a white T cut out of it, the top bar of the t is coloured red).

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Was late to an event today taking a photo of this nice tiled street sign.

Messina Avenue spelled out in white lettering on black tiles on a brick wall.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

You can find out all about this sign in my brief history of the Give Way sign here on my patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/147796...

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An upside down triangle and a dream | hashtagcerys

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Would anyone like to guess what this no longer in use road sign signals?

A red triangle (point down) in a red circle.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Did you know that the modern day speed bump was invented* by a Nobel prize winning physicist. *in so far as anyone can invent such a thing as a speed bump.

A red triangle warning sign with a drawing of a bump in the road (a horizontal rectangle with a semicircle sticking out of it).

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

In the 60s, road signs in the UK had a glowup. They moved from mostly text based designs (like the sign on the right) to mostly icons. The redesign was commissioned by the Worboys Committee, led by Sir Walter Worboys, and so these signs are often referred to as pre and post Worboys signs.

A new style cul de sac sign (a blue square with a white T shape cut out of it and the top bar of the T is coloured red) on the left and an old style sign (a white rectangle with black border and black text that reads NO THROUGH ROAD on it) on the left.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Did you know that the cow on the warning sign for cattle is based on a real cow called Patience?

Four messily decorated cupcakes covered in butter cream, brightly coloured gel icing and smarties. The bottom left cupcake has a red triangle with what is just about recognisable as a cow inside it.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

London was divided into postal districts in 1857, using the points on a compass. In 1917, the districts were subdivided with numbers. Signs like this one can be dated to between 1857 (because they have the NW) and 1917 (because the 6 looks a little different we might guess it was added later).

A photo of a brick wall inset with black tiles, each tile has a white letter that spells out SPRINGFIELD LANE N.W.6.
The 6 looks a little peculiar.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

An artist's* rendition of an original bump in the road sign, one of four signs proposed at the 1908 World Road Congress in Paris which was the first attempt to standardise road signs across the world. *It's me, I am the artist.

A drawing of a black circle with a white icon of two bumps on a line with the word cassis written beneath it.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

So I did actually get trapped in a magical stew until 2026. Beware the curses, predictions and tricks of @zoepaskett.bsky.social I have emerged, covered in gravy.

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Reposted by cerys

Zoe Paskett @zoepaskett.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Look deep into the swirling cauldron @hashtagcerys.bsky.social. Look deeper. Closer than that! Closer... Ahahaha you have fallen into my magical pot of stew! I tricked you! You will remain here until 2026, please make yourself comfortable, help yourself to stew, let me know if you need anything xx

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

My wife has just proudly told me she made her own "brandy cream". She microwaved a mince pie, put cream on it and then poured on a whole glass of brandy. You are welcome.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

Waking up on boxing day, not hungry exactly more hollow?

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 25/12/2024

having watched approx 8 christmas movies in a row today, i'm starting to worry about these writers' relationships with their dads.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 25/12/2024

Solidarity with everyone cooking Christmas dinner in their mum's stupid fancy oven that has too many bells and whistles and won't just cook things without doing some ridiculous song and dance first.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

every year i resolve to be nice to my mum when we go home for christmas and i get in through the door and immediately regress to my 14 year old self and my wife thinks it's hilarious and amuses herself by pointing out how similar we are and i think i'm going to have to divorce her now.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Two massive revelations this Christmas: Dustin Hoffman plays Hook in Hook. Hook is directed by Steven Spielberg. This has changed my life.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Just got back to the village I grew up in and immediately saw a guy I went to primary school with rocking an "I shave my head out of choice not because I have a receding hairline, honest!" haircut. #ThereAreManyWaysToFeelOldAtChristmas

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Currently on antibiotics that I need to take 4 times a day on an empty stomach. The catch? I'm heading back to my mum's for Christmas. My stomach isn't going to be empty until at least the 27th.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Surprisingly gender affirming card from my nan this year.

A birthday card depicting a beer and some peanuts in a very masculine looking pallette.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Don't shake me like a polaroid picture. Place me face down in a dark pocket and wait for me to develop (like a polaroid picture).

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 28/09/2023

maybe today will be the day I eat the orange I put in my bag on Monday

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 24/09/2023

it is a good start! very glad to see Wales is here to play.

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cerys @hashtagcerys.bsky.social · 23/09/2023

when the noises that other people are making are stressing me out, I try to remind myself that they are just existing and I can't get cross at them for that BUT I do think sucking your fingers in public is universally gross and should be banned.

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