They’re everywhere. On walls, in the sidewalk, on bridges, in parks and on statues. Bronze plaques commemorating somebody or something are familiar and friendly elements of the streetscape. Easy to overlook, and sometimes boring to read, these cast metal panels tell the stories of a place’s past. Who did what… Read more »
Demonstrating that graphic design can be ‘built in’ to a building, this huge, architecturally integrated address on the new Caltrans District 7 headquarters building in Los Angeles is one of our favorite signs. Not only does it dramatically state the address, the sign forms the artistic focal point of the… Read more »
Who else but Smokey the Bear do we trust with fire safety information? For over fifty years this friendly but serious bear has looked us in the eye and implored us to prevent forest fires. Smokey’s origin is clouded in myth, but he remains among the most accepted and beloved… Read more »
With a little help from Macy’s, we wish you a wonderful holiday season. You gotta’ believe.
The new becomes old quickly, especially in Los Angeles. It has been only twenty-six years since the City of Angels hosted the 1984 Olympics, but the celebrated and successful event is now just a memory. However, the famous Stars in Motion logo, by the late designer Robert Miles Runyan, can… Read more »
We don’t have an Eiffel Tower or a Golden Gate Bridge, but Los Angeles does have one of the most famous signs in the world. First deployed in 1923 by a real estate developer as HOLLYWOOD LAND, the remaining sign of nine 45’ high letters is recognizable around the world… Read more »
We’ll vote for you if you agree not to degrade the landscape with trashy signs. Littering is illegal; so is installing non-permitted signs. So why do we put up with this tacky and environmentally demeaning visual clutter all over our country every election season? These (17!) particularly egregious examples are… Read more »
You don’t need to be a sailor to appreciate the wide variety of colorful names painted on the sterns of nearly all private boats. They come in a range of flavors from the poetic (Windsong, Pacific Tide) to the aggressively descriptive (Prowler, Island Hopper) to the girlfriend with two names… Read more »
There are many things about cities that make them memorable to us; shopping centers, restaurants, museums, parks or simply good friends. The city of North Hollywood has many notable qualities but nothing makes it more memorable to me than their city gateway. With so many EGD studios in Los Angeles,… Read more »
We see where the soon-to-be-combined United Airlines and Continental Airlines has announced its new brand identity. And, in a highly unusual and politically and ‘corporately’ correct move, they have come up with a Solomon-like solution to the problem of whose name and logo stays and whose goes. Get this: they… Read more »