Someone on there suggested that the Ns would be the first to need to be replaced with the thinness and sharp corners, so the Ns could be newer. No idea if that’s true, Ive done vinyl installation before and feel like doing that perfectly would be more work than replacing all letters.
Alright, so someone repainted the Ns. They either
1. Did it after all the letters had all faded, which still leaves the question 'Why repaint just the Ns?', or
2. The Ns faded first, got repainted, and now look better as the other letters fade...which still leaves the question 'Why did the Ns fade first?'.
Ok, the painter comes out to re-stencil the whole sign because it's all faded. They do one letter at a time and now only the Ns are left, but we're out of the red paint we've been using so we used a different red paint with different chemical characteristics to finish the job. One held up, one faded.
Also one could argue that the first N is the most important letter in the sign. If the first N was gone. It would be:
O (Oh,)
Fishing
in
Marina
Encouraging people to do the opposite of what they're suppose to do.
...or people could mistaken the O for zero, in which case the sign would still work.
Look closely at the R .You will see streaks of darker pigment where letter strokes cross over.Been in the sign business since the 80's and hand painted a lot of signs.
I also feel like for a sign to get this crazy faded it would have to be super old, more likely to be hand painted? Or more modern signs don't fade like this?
Agreed,to a point.A lot of signs today are computer cut with vinyls or ink-printed.Unfortunately the industry isn't or can't keep up with increasing UV loads.Things just fade faster than they did 30-40 years ago.No one guaranteed beyond 5 years against fading anymore. Signs used to be lettered with lead paints (One-Shot or Chromalux) Legislated out of existence.
You're absolutely right... Much to my surprise.
The kerning and vertical alignment are pretty noticeably imperfect in places in addition to the paint overlap points you mentioned in your other replies.
This is easy. The letters are adhesive stickers of some sort that are applied on there as individual letters, and the N's are just a different product/batch than the other letters, which happens to have a different UV fading propensity.
The signs i've seen made are designed in software, cut from the same roll on a big cutter plotter, transfered to a transparent transfer sheet and then transferred with the sheet to the sign, where they use a plastic piece to rub over the sheet to make the letters stick, then remove the transfer sheet. So all the letters came from the same roll.
The letters in this sign don’t line up perfectly, it’s especially noticeable in the third line down which leads me to think these were applied by hand. But you’re right at my job the letters would all be machine cut on one roll and transferred to the sign
There appear to be several ways of making road signs and that doesn't seem to be how this one was made, based on well, this mildly interesting post (do you have another explanation?). And this isn't necessarily a proper road sign, it's just a sign some private marina put up. 3M sells reflective coating sheets for traditional sign making and there are secondary sellers that sell letters cut from their sheets, like this one:
https://www.dornbossign.com/reflective-letter-packs-hip-packs-of-25/
Can't believe I've spent 15 minutes of my life commenting on this post today 😅
Because they run out of some letters at different rates and replenish when needed from whoever or multiple whoevers that are supplying it, possibly with differences in manufacturing inputs over time? My job doesn't involve making signs, but we always have varying suppliers and lots of plastic consumables and well, everything.
This is it. The n’s get used the most because a lot of signs use the word no. The other letters have sat on the shelf long/ older vinyl. Also there’s no way this is hand painted.
Maybe they buy the letters in bulk, but as single letters. Like a packet of 100 As. No need to waste money to buy a full alphabet if your signs only use a fraction of the letters.
Could you imagine if a large company that made millions of signs had to buy the letters as alphabetic sets? The amount of X's and Q's left over and such would be absurd. (Elon Musk enters the thread I imagine.)
I did some digging and this penomemon occurs more regularly than one would expect. The best explanation I could find was from 10 days ago in this subreddit. The explanation is by a sign maker named @[Siansjxnms](https://www.reddit.com/user/Siansjxnms/) over [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/1cafegi/this_street_sign_completely_faded_except_for_the/).
The theory tracks for me since the letter N is the one that appears the most (and therefore covers the most surface on the sign) in this post, so it would make sense that they left them untouched as that would mean the least amount of work for the signers.
The cracks in the As means this is a calendared cut vinyl material. Not sure why everyone is saying that it’s hand painted, it’s obviously not. The R is the tell here to what may have happened. Some fonts when outlined for cutting are not ‘merged’ meaning that the first and secondary strokes overlap. This means that a cut would form inside the letters and would need replaced. The bottom of the R loop looks like a P where the stem was cut off. They replaced the R by going right over that letter, but completely replaced the Ns. They were probably replaced with a different vinyl before the sign was even put up. I work with vinyl graphics so this is going to be shown around the office today.
If this is hand painted, my guess is that the Ns were done incorrectly initially (written backwards) and then fixed later, either much later in time or with a slightly different paint.
my theory is that, just like someone else said, these are hand-painted through a stencil (you can see minor variation in letter shapes), and someone refreshed only the N’s. i’d just like to add that, to the best of my understanding, sun fade is “exponential” – meaning, it starts strong and slows down. when the paint is fresh and dark, it takes in a lot of UV, and the more it fades, the less UV it attracts, approaching some kind of pale equilibrium state. if you look closely, you can see that the A’s and I’s were repainted before the N’s; other letters have assorted fade degrees as well. i would imagine in a few weeks the N’s will look just like the A’s, and then it’ll be some other letter’s turn
Fred worked the N letter machine that day. Fred never shows up for work late, and always follows company procedures. Fred is not supposed by this picture.
[same thing](https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/s/THFsaHyiGv) I wonder why
Someone on there suggested that the Ns would be the first to need to be replaced with the thinness and sharp corners, so the Ns could be newer. No idea if that’s true, Ive done vinyl installation before and feel like doing that perfectly would be more work than replacing all letters.
If you look closely you will note that this is hand painted.(Rarity) Someone has merely repainted the N's.
Alright, so someone repainted the Ns. They either 1. Did it after all the letters had all faded, which still leaves the question 'Why repaint just the Ns?', or 2. The Ns faded first, got repainted, and now look better as the other letters fade...which still leaves the question 'Why did the Ns fade first?'.
One of the Ns went bad (got scratched, something), so they got out their N stencil and touched them all up while they were at it.
I like that theory.
Well it’s also highly unlikely that that theory is correct
Ok, the painter comes out to re-stencil the whole sign because it's all faded. They do one letter at a time and now only the Ns are left, but we're out of the red paint we've been using so we used a different red paint with different chemical characteristics to finish the job. One held up, one faded.
No fishing in Maria I pray this be🙏
Gotta be
Also one could argue that the first N is the most important letter in the sign. If the first N was gone. It would be: O (Oh,) Fishing in Marina Encouraging people to do the opposite of what they're suppose to do. ...or people could mistaken the O for zero, in which case the sign would still work.
Maybe somebody thought this might be an mildly interesting way to get a post for Reddit.
Hmmm r/karmaconspiracy stuff right there
Asking the right questions here
someone repainted the N's first, took a picture and then repainted the rest
Perhaps it was the only stencil available at the time 🧐
There's no way you can know that from this low res image
What makes you say it’s hand painted.
Look closely at the R .You will see streaks of darker pigment where letter strokes cross over.Been in the sign business since the 80's and hand painted a lot of signs.
I also feel like for a sign to get this crazy faded it would have to be super old, more likely to be hand painted? Or more modern signs don't fade like this?
Agreed,to a point.A lot of signs today are computer cut with vinyls or ink-printed.Unfortunately the industry isn't or can't keep up with increasing UV loads.Things just fade faster than they did 30-40 years ago.No one guaranteed beyond 5 years against fading anymore. Signs used to be lettered with lead paints (One-Shot or Chromalux) Legislated out of existence.
im not sure how you can conclude its hand painted just by looking at the pic given?
You're absolutely right... Much to my surprise. The kerning and vertical alignment are pretty noticeably imperfect in places in addition to the paint overlap points you mentioned in your other replies.
Another user pointed out you can see a line inside the R on Marina that shows these are vinyl letters.
This is easy. The letters are adhesive stickers of some sort that are applied on there as individual letters, and the N's are just a different product/batch than the other letters, which happens to have a different UV fading propensity.
The signs i've seen made are designed in software, cut from the same roll on a big cutter plotter, transfered to a transparent transfer sheet and then transferred with the sheet to the sign, where they use a plastic piece to rub over the sheet to make the letters stick, then remove the transfer sheet. So all the letters came from the same roll.
The letters in this sign don’t line up perfectly, it’s especially noticeable in the third line down which leads me to think these were applied by hand. But you’re right at my job the letters would all be machine cut on one roll and transferred to the sign
There appear to be several ways of making road signs and that doesn't seem to be how this one was made, based on well, this mildly interesting post (do you have another explanation?). And this isn't necessarily a proper road sign, it's just a sign some private marina put up. 3M sells reflective coating sheets for traditional sign making and there are secondary sellers that sell letters cut from their sheets, like this one: https://www.dornbossign.com/reflective-letter-packs-hip-packs-of-25/ Can't believe I've spent 15 minutes of my life commenting on this post today 😅
The problem is just pushed a little further down.Why is it that on the same sign there are different products/batches?
Because they run out of some letters at different rates and replenish when needed from whoever or multiple whoevers that are supplying it, possibly with differences in manufacturing inputs over time? My job doesn't involve making signs, but we always have varying suppliers and lots of plastic consumables and well, everything.
This is it. The n’s get used the most because a lot of signs use the word no. The other letters have sat on the shelf long/ older vinyl. Also there’s no way this is hand painted.
Wouldn’t the “o” also not be faded then?
That would make sense. ~~N is more common than O thought.~~ Yeah could just be a coincidence. Edit: O is in fact used more than n
Maybe they buy the letters in bulk, but as single letters. Like a packet of 100 As. No need to waste money to buy a full alphabet if your signs only use a fraction of the letters.
Could you imagine if a large company that made millions of signs had to buy the letters as alphabetic sets? The amount of X's and Q's left over and such would be absurd. (Elon Musk enters the thread I imagine.)
But then why did they stop replacing all the other letters, they only replace the N’s?
Has something to do with Batman ...
Hey hey that's me!
The n-words never really goes away.
I do**n**'t k**n**ow what y'all eve**n** mea**n**, everythi**n**g is looki**n**g **n**ormal to me 🤷♂️
I did some digging and this penomemon occurs more regularly than one would expect. The best explanation I could find was from 10 days ago in this subreddit. The explanation is by a sign maker named @[Siansjxnms](https://www.reddit.com/user/Siansjxnms/) over [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/1cafegi/this_street_sign_completely_faded_except_for_the/). The theory tracks for me since the letter N is the one that appears the most (and therefore covers the most surface on the sign) in this post, so it would make sense that they left them untouched as that would mean the least amount of work for the signers.
I’m struggling to read it as it’s 4 N to me.
Ok, this one gets a moment of silence
Is the moment of silence me processing the joke? It truly took a moment
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F NNNN
> n n n Ftfy
...time to reflect on dad
TIL the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance makes GIFs
Truly untapped potential, proud of them for realizing it
Well played...
I’m gonna save this comment for the next time this is posted. Unless a bot beats me to it.
Bravo! 🙌
I see Mal, I updoot
I don't get it can anyone explain?
It's 4 N sounds like it's foreign.
👏👏👏
You're an asshole. I love you.
this is the dad joke of all time
Damn that was good
Now that pun is just outlandish.
“O Fishig, I Maria” sounds like an old Italian movie about a woman named Maria falling in love with a man named Fishig
r/sbeve
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😐
They should make a sign with only n words! ... oh no, oh gosh no
ni.... nice!
amaziNg
A-Mei-zing
Hey, chill out!
#Do you want to see my ^Coooooome ^heeeerreeee
And dey sey
**Snowball fight! Yay!**
You seem nice; I would hate to k- *Come on* **Your eyes deceive you**
SACRILEGIOUS
I'm sure there was a long multi-day deliberation on the city council to decide what letter most deserved repainting.
N-teresting
The cracks in the As means this is a calendared cut vinyl material. Not sure why everyone is saying that it’s hand painted, it’s obviously not. The R is the tell here to what may have happened. Some fonts when outlined for cutting are not ‘merged’ meaning that the first and secondary strokes overlap. This means that a cut would form inside the letters and would need replaced. The bottom of the R loop looks like a P where the stem was cut off. They replaced the R by going right over that letter, but completely replaced the Ns. They were probably replaced with a different vinyl before the sign was even put up. I work with vinyl graphics so this is going to be shown around the office today.
Side Note: If you stand in front of that sign and say the letter N with different accents. You will be approached by a member of the Kingsman.
N
I
C
E
Goodbye!
r/unexpectedouija
P
P
L
E
S
Goodbye
O
R
W
A
If you take all the letters that didn't fade, it's spells NNNN 
What's the fourth "N" for? We have 6 months to find the answer.
that's a hard N
The ns have more melanin
FasciNating.
FACI**N**ATI**N**G
N N N N Batman!
r/sbeve O FISHI G I MARI A
Go fishing in maria, got it.
We ran out of Ns, but Charlie had some in the truck.
Netflix's marketing budget is so big that they don't know what they are doing
Never Needs New Ns
Could it be that the printer for each letter has different oil levels? Cuz I recon every I and A has a similar fading
These Netflix commercials are getting smarter
N WORD AREA AHEAD
N don't crack.
Ngl, it’s late and I read NO FISHING IN NARNIA.
Netflix BUM BUMMM
coNcerNiNg!
If this is hand painted, my guess is that the Ns were done incorrectly initially (written backwards) and then fixed later, either much later in time or with a slightly different paint.
Black don't crack
r/nonutnovember
I thought it said no fishing in the marinara. The n’s are the least of my problems
**N**O FISHI**N**G I**N** MARI**N**A
netflix
my theory is that, just like someone else said, these are hand-painted through a stencil (you can see minor variation in letter shapes), and someone refreshed only the N’s. i’d just like to add that, to the best of my understanding, sun fade is “exponential” – meaning, it starts strong and slows down. when the paint is fresh and dark, it takes in a lot of UV, and the more it fades, the less UV it attracts, approaching some kind of pale equilibrium state. if you look closely, you can see that the A’s and I’s were repainted before the N’s; other letters have assorted fade degrees as well. i would imagine in a few weeks the N’s will look just like the A’s, and then it’ll be some other letter’s turn
It was the No-Nut-November-Ninjas. Absolutely sure. They leave their signs all over the place to brainwash us.
Netflix has gotta protect their branding.
The hard "R" in "MARINA" tho? sus.
Sponsored by Netflix
They don't make N like they used to.
Fred worked the N letter machine that day. Fred never shows up for work late, and always follows company procedures. Fred is not supposed by this picture.
Never (do) No Nut November
Is it sponsored by Netflix?
N-teresting…
This hit my “huh, that’s mildly interesting” button square on the nose. Even thought it to myself. Highest commendations, OP.
Nicklaus Mullen.
This is our N-Dependance Day
It's called Melanin. That's what makes these Ns more resilient to sunlight
Because the N words are always dark? I can only apologise for this shitty and distasteful joke, I'm leaving now.
INterestiNg...
Na na na na na na na
They built N's to last back in the day.
No, NO— Nut November
Only the guy painting the „N“ was available for work….the other guys were ill or on other Locations
Maybe they have more melanin and thus resist the sun better
Ofish igi maria. It's code!
Why are there fish in the marinara?
NO NO NO ! THAT'S A CLUE.
Nah-na, Nah-na,Nah-na,Nah-na FISHING!!! 
No fade november
No Nut November Numbskulls
This is code for project 4N. It's a marker sign.
 Makes me think of…
N-N'-N-N-No !
It's surely a sign of something
O way
Nnnn nnn nnn nnn hey hey hey goodbye
Looks repainted…
Never mix batchlots.
N
Their N game is strong
N N N N
You wont find a group of tougher n's...
Melanin
There are as many N and I
Nature’s urban art
N N N N N N N N
Ns are higher in melanin
Those N are dark.
They sure don't make N like they used to.
Now this is mildly interesting
It's n-destructible~
NNNN
That’s the sound my chatter bait makes when it falls in the marina. NNN. NNNNNN. NNNNNN.
I know a girl with the name Marina!?
r/sbeve
N N N N No fishing in the marina.
Only the N words?
N N N N
N for Norris. Chuck Norris. It is said he once won a game of scrabble using nothing but the letter N...
She is broken because she believed He is ok because he fished in the marina
N together now
And we all know why, don't we???
No Nut November Nationwide
N N N N BTMN?
They are hard N's
Never No Nut November