Double Take

Made me look.

Suburban Soccer Tie-Ins

Taking advantage of the Zeitgeist, some locals got in on the World Cup.

Here's the sign in front of the house:

The sign on the street:


And the closeup:

A Lower East Side Day, Transcend with Me.

We had some German friends/family in town who requested a gallery tour of the Lower East Side. A bit tricky, since the galleries are so much more spread out than in Chelsea, but we had a map and a plan. Lots of lovely type and design and art to be found.

Walking along East First Street (between First and Second), there is a lovely little restaurant called Arlo and Esme that sports a great and invitingly friendly sign.

We were on our way to La Mama La Galleria on East First Street to see the "To Believe" show that featured artists whose work reflects the supernatural, spiritual, and paranormal (great for these troubled times). I fell in love with the work (and type) on the work by Spiritual Tours (who are Dave Hardy and Siebren Versteeg).

I loved this piece by Bede Murphy with Unarius, part of a larger installation titled Universal Articulate Inter-Dimensional Understanding of Science.

Nearby, at Participant Gallery on East Houston, the art on view was inspired by the work of actor/director Timothy Carey, who was a pioneer of underground film in the early '60s. I'm thinking that this sign was a prop from his 1992 production of The Insect Trainer aka "Le Pet" from 1992. I am a total sucker for this kind of signage (does it have a name?).

Moving on over to Bowery, as an homage to a beautiful series of Bowery photographs that Beth did, I spotted and shot a picture of this incredibly handmade sign. You could almost miss it:

We kept on: at DCKT on Bowery we saw a fabulous installation by Ryan Humphrey titled Early American (the installation views are worth a click!). The show was a bit lost on the Germans, but the concept and follow through of this install was incredible. The artist had recreated a version of an 18th Century American interior complete with parlor, but totally did a smash up with garage and car culture and heavy metal. Here's a few shots of some of the "art" that was hanging on the wall in the remade interior.

Some very happy Germans at the end of the day!

Commencement

Last Friday, I attended my extraordinary student Arielle's graduation from The High School of Art & Design. Boy, what a way to understand the diverse student body and feel the excitement of students and parents from just about every background. Keynote speaker Dennis M. Walcott pointed out that The Riverside Church—a center of social activism—was the perfect venue. Walcott, who was more compelling and inspiring than most of the other adult speakers, dispensed advice without making it seem too hackneyed: Give Back. Make sure you find a way to make the world a better place. Always learn. Always take risks. Never be afraid to fail. Through failure, you learn.

• • •

As Salutatorian (a title that seems so Marx Brothers; I mean the comics, not Karl Marx the "philosopher, social scientist, historian and revolutionary"), Arielle held her own. Driven and disciplined, Arielle would have no doubt succeeded without a mentor, but AIGA/NY Mentoring afforded many opportunities for seminars, scholarships, projects, portfolio reviews, and engaged guidance. As Arielle's mentor, I learned from her too.

Friendly's goes text

I'm creating a poem of sorts by cataloging the ever-changing Friendly's sign. This time they've gone all "texty" and have different messages on each side of the sign. I'm not sure if they didn't have an "H" for Happy BDay, or if they want you to order appetizers. Thoughts?

Also, I promised to put up some student work, and I am in the throes of organizing it now! Soon, I hope!

Nixtamal

Moving away from the danger signs on the tortilla maker, here are more shots of the Corona, Queens Tortilleria NIXTAMAL, enjoyed by Liney Li, Rick Ball, Pat O'Neill and yours truly prior to a concert at the Louis Armstrong House Museum.

You'd love this place.

At Nixtamal, cultural signs abound—from pinatas, to corn on the tortilla machine, to bright colors—and blend with internationally-understood icons like soccer, Coca Cola, and Milton Glaser's ever-appropriated "I heart . . ." logo, used here in goldenrod with red lettering and substituting Nixtamal for NY. Nixtamal also shows a Mexican take on Old Glory.

You Phone. I Phone. We all call for iPhone.

Thursday, June 24, 07:38am, 38 minutes after the iPhone went on sale. This is a NYC line on Mercer Street, going West on Houston and then turning South down Wooster before turning East on Prince to the light and airy Soho Apple Store (former dank and dark Post Office). Early adapters are also early birds. Brilliant branding and marketing . Funny how having / seeing something when it first arrives seems so important to us. And, to go all obnoxious, how lucky for those who can stand in line for a fab device as opposed to, say, rice or bread or whatever.

Danger!

It’s hard to develop a sign or symbol that’s universally clear, works without words, and quickly conveys a point. I haven’t mastered the form, and have no room to talk or laugh when important signs warning of danger seem all too comical. Snippy snobbiness aside, it’s better to have a sign that’s funny or too illustrative than to have nothing at all. With both cattiness and humility, I offer a few signs from recent jaunts.

Niagara Falls from the U.S.: Clear but a bit silly.


Niagara Falls at night from the Canadian side: Illustrative. This sign is local; i.e. it incorporates the very decorative fence keeping tourists from tumbling. Photo by Kay Casstevens.


Corona, Queens: Illustrative. Clear message.

Tortilleria Nixtamal, Corona, Queens, NY: Very cartoony sign (GREAT place. Big THANKS to Liney Li and Rick Ball for leading us to Nixtamal and mentioning a YouTube video).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc5MVup64iI



Nixtamal again.
This isn’t a warning sign; it’s simply a beautiful logo/part of the tortilla machine.

The Overlay

Loving this logo design for an upcoming show at Sean Kelly Gallery titled Memories of the Future.

Queens supreme

Hand lettering is alive and well in Corona. Some of these one-off posters put to shame designers like me, who rely on digital fonts instead of letters made by digits. The outline plays a big role in this Queens nabe.

Below is my fave, even with the mistake blacked out:


There were a number of signs proclaiming rooms for rent for fiestas:


On this ad, the cocktail glass with fruit is kinda sweet:


The Father's Day poster has the same cocktail glass. Is it the same artist or is there a Corona cocktail meme (and is my toying with my new "meme" word just too ridiculous or what?):


Hmm; a painted gradient; whether done digitally or with real paint, a gradient is hard to pull off (Although not a big fan of this one, I'm amused by the decision to highlight info):

Gas and Goat

Here's some handpainted signage (not by goats) at a nearby Citgo, also sporting some cursive and thick/thins...and some shadows.

No Dogs Were Afraid

Who knew goats were so communicative? Even with misplaced punctuation, I give the goats credit for a script AND thick n' thins.

At Attention

Getting attention like those furniture ads, but signalling another sort ending, this hand-made heartfelt notice at a ferry on Long Island refers to yet another well-known symbol: the flag at half mast. Flags at half mast everywhere on Shelter Island were a show of a community island banding together during a sad, sober time.

Nothing held back

Some seriously snappy signage for a pretty bleak situation. Perhaps if Milano Furniture in Jersey City had as much taste in furniture as they do in signage, they'd still be in business...this sure got my attention.