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 »
With a little help from Macy’s, we wish you a wonderful holiday season. You gotta’ believe.
The technological contributions of the French may not be fully appreciated. Certainly, the inventions of Louis Pasteur, Gustave Eiffel and Louis Braille are known worldwide, but it is the effort of one lesser-known French inventor, Georges Claude, which has made a lasting impact to the world of environmental graphic design…. Read more »
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 »
Graffiti is awful and usually degrades any environment. But here is an interesting New York public art installation using the medium, technology and even the letterforms of graffiti.
We get a lot of professional design magazines – graphics, architecture, product design, exhibit design, but one of our favorites is the consumer publication Metropolis. This architecture and design-centric publication is always interesting, topical, well edited and makes design accessible not only to the public, but to us professionals as… 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 try too hard in the US to design temporary signage solutions. Why not just cover it up with a big paper printout or use a dry erase marker? It’s comforting to know that we all have the same problems on either side of the “pond!” Temporary messaging is a… Read more »
Here we find the marker for Anthony Wilson, the founder of Factory Records and such bands as New Order, Joy Division and The Fall. I may not be planning on a burial once I’ve departed this world but if I had a choice for the typography of my marker, Rotis would… 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 »