SIGNS
By Matt LaRose Random House Publication St. Louis, MO 2012
Dedicated to the best fiancĂŠ in the world Brittany Rose Sharkey
TABLE
E OF 15
INTRO 15 INTRO 21 21 MID CENTURY MID CENTURY 31 31 EVOLVED SIGNS EVOLVED SIGNS 45 45 ANYTHING GOES ANYTHING GOES
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INTRODUCTION
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My obsession is signs. Signs are all over the world. Big or small they all serve a purpose in the world today. Since the beginning of time signs have been a very important communication element for the human race. It first began with cave drawings. Romans were the first to adopt the first road sign system where their columns were etched with Roman numerals on roadsides that indicated the directions and distances to the destinations. Signs developed throughout civilizations as a significant part of communicating. Then countries would make flags to represent their countries. Some people may not consider flags to be signs, but they really are. The signs that I am obsessed with, are not those of the beginning of time or even through the dark ages, but signs from the 1920s to now. These signs are what helped businesses to become successful.
Signs that interested me came from the 1920s. With the United States businesses becoming bigger, they needed to start develop themselves. I am obsessed with these signs because of their color, originality, and designs. In the 1920s, signs were more creativeand were much more difficult to make. That is why I like signs from this period. The signs were made one at a time by hand. Some were painted or even etched, but they were all done by hand. 1920s signs were painted with bright flowing colors and were very unique. These signs usually had a custom typography all drawn and painted by hand. They were very time consuming and very precise. If the artist made mistakes on a sign they would start all over. I have incredible respect for these sign makers because they were usually able to complete the signs on their first try. The designs of these signs could be very simple or very ornamental. Design decisions were appropriate to the business. If it was a steel company, it was simple bold type on a blank back ground. If it were for a beverage or drink company then their sign could have a flowing typeface and line work to represent the product. Either way, the plain signs would be just as impressive with the hand made elements. All of these signs needed to have hand made kerning and tracking all by the look of the eye.
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Today’s signs are even more creative and difficult then the past. We still have type and design on these signs, but now the sign revolution has taken a whole new step with technology. Signs can now be any color you want, they can say whatever you want, and even have motion boards that project a message. The creativity of these signs is what I really enjoy. Signs can be made in all sorts of ways, but the only successful ones are those that capture the viewer’s attention. If it grabs the viewer’s attention then most likely the viewer will see what else the sign is trying to say. That is where the motion or message boards come in. I like the signs now a days because they are all very captivating. If one walks in the middle of Time Square New York City, they will be completely shocked with all the signs. Any color, any message, basically anything you want, and sign makers are able to achieve this. The only bad thing is the difficulty of making these signs. It’s a lot more than the design of the sign. Then once everything is hooked up, that’s when some real fun starts. The motion or messaging display on signs could really put good messages out to those customers that are paying attention.
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I am obsessed with signs from the 1920s to present is because of the typefaces, design, and respected difficulty it is to make these signs. Designers look at all these signs for inspiration for their own work, especially the older custom typography signs. This is a book of my inspirations and obsessions of signs.
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Mid Century Signs
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Since the beginning of time the human race have been making signs. Whether it was cave drawings to flags, they were all signs that helped communicate messages to the world. There is a big inspiration and obsession that I have with older hand made painted signs. These signs were what helped American businesses become what they are today. These signs were usually painted on brick, metal, or windows.
SIGNS
RUSTY NEEDLES United States Dated: 2000s (19th Century Influence) Artist still use 19th Century signs to influence their own work.
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Mid Century
FARMACIA Barcelona, Spain Dated: 1920s–40s Painted wood
SHELLYS BAKERY GOODS Vancouver, Canada Dated: 1920–23
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Painted wood. Recently discovered underneath a layer of stucco.
SIGNS
SIMPSONS LOANS United States Dated: 1920s Mack Company This image shows how the artist would layout the sign, then paint it.
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Mid Century
THE HAT BOX
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United States Dated: 1920s
SIGNS
ANHEUSER BUSCH United States Dated: 1890s Painted wood 1 2 3
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Mid Century 1
3
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EVOLVED SIGNS
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This was the beginning of all sort of letters being formed in many different ways There is still painting involved but much more technical . These letters allowed businesses to shout their product all over. These letter could be very big or a nice clean individual letters mounted to their wall. These signs were made in any typeface that the company would want. These signs also last a lot longer than the older painted signs. This was the beginning of the signs that we see today.
SIGNS
SOUTH KENSINGTON STATION United Kingdom Dated: 1890 This is an example of letters that were cut out via router or by hand.
PLATFORM NO 2 United Kingdom Dated: 1910–20 Example of routed letters applied to sign.
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Evolved Letters
NUMBERS
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These are examples of how letters can be formed: (Carved, Routed, or Welded)
SIGNS
BANKSIDE United Kingdom Dated: 1960s Channel Letters on dock.
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Evolved Letters
HECKART STUDIOS United States Dated: 2005 SignMakers
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Routed letters applied to concrete wall.
SIGNS
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX STADIUM Phoenix, AZ, USA Dated: 2006 Design by: Pentagram Channel letters that show the gate numbers.
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Evolved Letters
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX STADIUM Phoenix, AZ, USA Dated: 2006 Design by: Pentagram
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Above is images of routed letters (top) and Channel letters (bottom)
SIGNS
MUSEUM OF CHINESE IN AMERICA New York, NY, USA Date: 2000s Pentagram Routed Letters.
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Evolved Letters
3M Headquarters Australia Date: 2010 SEGD
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These are a couple different ways of showing routed numbers & letters.
SIGNS
GREY GROUP New York, NY, USA Date: 2000s Pentagram Routed letters with pattern and color back ground.
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Evolved Letters
GREY GROUP New York, NY, USA Date: 2000s Pentagram
GREY GROUP New York, NY, USA Date: 2000s Pentagram
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Routed wood.
SIGNS
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Evolved Letters
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ANYTHING GOES
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Now a days signs are one of the most influential pieces for having a business. Signs today can be big or small and can be as bright or dim as the business would like them to be. Not only can we produce signs that are influenced by the earlier signs, but we can now illuminate them to get even more attention. The channel letters can be lit up from the inside or even illuminated from the outside. Routed letters can have a back light to help them bounce off the wall or they can be illuminated from spot lights. The signs of today are very appealing and help businesses worldwide. It is essential to corporations and businesses to have a good sign. I love these signs because of the color, shapes, and new ideas that corporations are using for their signs.
SIGNS
WELCOME TO LAS VEGAS Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Date: 1959 Betty WIllis & Ted Rogich
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This sign is one of the most iconic signs from Las Vegas.
Anything Goes
FIVE Ă˜ FOUR
This sign has a combination of neon and light bulbs.
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USA Date: 2000s SignMakers
SIGNS
M&S Stratford City, London Date: 2000s Pentagram Outside building during the day.
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Anything Goes
M&S Stratford City, London Date: 2000s Pentagram
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Outside building during the night.
SIGNS
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Anything Goes
SOURCES pentagram.com vintagemeohmy.com flickr.com blog.thoughtbrain.com
Colophon This book was created in Adobe Indesign. I chose Gotham typeface because of its relationship to urban landscape. Painted letters, plaster, neon, glass and steel signs were the beginning of Gotham. The images were found in various books and internet sources. The images were then processed through Adobe Photoshop. This book was made under the supervision of Jennifer Mcknight in APGDI. Fall Semester 2012