Category: Urban

Calligraphic Street Artist

To earn a little money, artists are often seen plying their craft on the streets – think caricaturists, guitar players, even Circ de Soleil in the early days.  Here, on a hot Shanghai day, an expert calligrapher using only a brush and water delights passers-by with elegant but fleeting Chinese… Read more »

This Kind of Signage Must Go

Here’s a store that’s been going out of business for three years, degrading the Pasadena streetscape every day with tacky and quasi-legal signs. 

Don’t go near the art.

Public art has a big challenge: it is in public. This elegant sculpture is either dangerous to the public or the public is dangerous to the art. Either way, the dramatic effect of the granite obelisk base emerging from the plaza is ruined. And the distracting barriers and traffic cones… Read more »

Urban Color No.2

Berlin is often described as a gray or monochrome city, but sparks of color can be seen many places around this emerging European arts center. Here, a palette of cool hues on the window frames makes a striking pattern against the red background of the building. It could almost be… Read more »

Trashed Signs

Portland’s Alberta Arts District has found a unique way to recycle city signs and add color to the streetscape of one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods.

Wayfinding Underfoot

Signs aren’t always up in the air. Here, a sculpted bronze plaque celebrating San Francisco’s historic Barbary Coast Trail is set into the sidewalk. 

Durable Logos

Durable Logos If you don’t want your logo to fade away or peel off why not cast it in, weld it on or stencil-cut it out? Integral graphic design and signs also eliminate the added-on look and suggest permanence and strength. These durable logos will last as long as the… Read more »

Historic Sign Saved; What about the Theater?

The aging blade sign identifying the empty Rialto Theatre, recently red tagged by South Pasadena’s building and safety department, will now be repaired and for the time being remain in place towering over Fair Oaks Avenue. The 87-year-old theater has been closed since 2010 and needs substantial structural work and… Read more »