In this era of LEDs and electronic images, one can still see great examples of classic neon signs. This perfect neon drawing blinks on and off day and night reflecting not only vintage sign-making, but period headwear as well.
444 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena
Sometimes the best sign is the product itself. In the grand tradition of European merchant signs, these shaped signs communicate primarily by presenting what they are selling. Words are not really necessary. But it’s not so easy if you sell insurance or are in the mortgage business.
Balloons dangling on a telephone pole, fence or mailbox let you know you are close to the party. Colorful and non-verbal, these are true signs, universally understood by party guests everywhere. No lettering needed. Even the colors communicate – bright colors for kids, pastels for baby showers and silver and pearl tones for grown-up parties. Additional good wayfinding qualities: reads from any direction, lightweight, stands out in any environment.
Looking for interesting graphic design? Look down. Decorative tree grates are everywhere on our city streets. Stencil-cut for air and water circulation, the steel plates often feature fascinating patterns, shapes and details made possible by modern water-jet cutting. With the need for a center circle, the designs are formal and bisymmetrical, but still offer a wide range of graphic opportunities. Natural rust adds warmth and color.
Nothing attracts customers to a going-out-of-business sale like the American flag. With a block-long series of paired flags, this patriotic furniture storeowner knows how to use our national symbol as a dynamic marketing tool. Long may it sell.
We put a lot of societal energy into preserving old designs and structures. And many preservation advocates are critical of today’s phony façade architecture – “Things were more authentic, honest and well-crafted in the past.” But look around at many ‘historic’ buildings and you’ll see a lot of fancy fronts on some very generic buildings. Here’s a famous one-sided historic building in Salt Lake City.
When graphic designers need to show how text will look in a layout, but don’t have the real copy yet, they may use a series of nonsensical words called “greeking”. While “hipster greeking” may sound like a guy with thick-rimmed glasses sipping ouzo, it’s actually the product of a clever site that generates Lorem Ipsum text punctuated with hipster lingo. For those looking to pepper their greeked text with a fixie, a ‘stache, or a particular penchant for glasses, hipsteripsum.me is worth checking out. Here’s a sample in Hipster with a splash of Latin.
3 wolf moon freegan terry richardson craft beer ea deserunt. Retro incididunt lomo carles gentrify, ut cred salvia irony freegan. Scenester terry richardson fap nostrud chambray. Bicycle rights mollit aesthetic, eiusmod portland cliche…
No translations needed here.
A red hexagon at an intersection means the
same thing in dozens of countries.
