Canadian TikToker installs updated moose crossing road sign featuring her design
TikToker Chloë Chapdelaine helped to install the first updated moose crossing sign in Canada last month, sporting a new design that she created.
As one of Canada’s most recognizable animals, we think the moose deserves a little respect, and a social media creator from Alberta seemed to agree. When she was 18, Chapdelaine regularly saw moose crossing signs on her drive to work, and she decided the animal depicted could use a bit of an update.
“Every day I would drive past a moose crossing sign on the way to work,” says Chapdelaine in an Instagram video, “and no hate to the original designer, it’s still great.” She then shows an image of the original moose crossing road sign, adding, “I thought, ‘Okay, I feel like we can definitely do better.'”
This inspired Chapdelaine, who wanted to be a designer at the time, to draft a new look for the road sign.
Transportation Association of Canada
Chapdelaine describes herself as being “super ambitious,” and she wrote an essay about her proposed change to the moose crossing road sign. She says she mailed paper copies to the government and as many departments of transportation as she could.
In her video, Chapdelaine announces that it took Canada about four years to accept her design, but in the end, it was approved.
Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) says on its website that Chapdelaine’s proposal was handed over to their organization by Alberta Transportation. From there, her proposed design ended up being included in TAC’s sixth edition of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Canada, which was released in June 2021 after a six-year-long project.
In February 2022, Chapdelaine saw her design come to life, and even got to help install the first road sign featuring the updated look.
“Makin’ the moose out of life!!!” the creator wrote in an Instagram post. “Today was a very exciting day for me for a lot of reasons… but one of those was that I got to help install the first new moose crossing sign in Alberta.”
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“This is such a milestone moment for me,” Chapdelaine continues, “and I’m so grateful for all of the individuals and organizations that went into making this happen, I feel so blessed to be included and acknowledged in this process.”
Chapdelaine even got a framed copy of the sign to take home.
She also shares the installation process on TikTok in a post that has gained over 17,500 views since it was published on February 25, 2022. The video is captioned “Proud Canadian moment” and shows the old sign coming down and Chapdelaine attaching the new sign to a wooden post.
@chloe.chapdelaine *Proud Canadian moment* 😭❤️🇨🇦#moosecrossing #canadalife #graphicdesign ♬ Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear
“The less floppy one is up,” she says at the end of the video, referencing the submission essay she wrote, in which she noted that the current moose on the road sign appeared as a “floppy-looking animal.”
TAC says that, over the coming years, the new moose crossing sign will take its place on roads across the country.
Chapdelaine has also released a collection of moose merch, with T-shirts, long-sleeves, and crewnecks featuring her design alongside the slogan “Makin’ the Moose Out Of Life.” A portion of the profits will go to Canadian wildlife rehabilitation centres.
“Just a message to anyone out there with an idea or dream, just passionately pursue it,” Chapdelaine says in her Instagram post. “Whether it’s a creative project, something you’ve been scared to try, or a thought that’s just been burning a hole in your brain, why not dive right in and give it your best shot?!”
“You won’t know what can happen until you try.”
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