My community has been reseraching entry signs and I was wondering if anyone out there has pictures and/or a cost estimate of their entry signs? We aren't looking for anything too extravagent, but something that is a nice welcoming to the community. I would just like to get a wide variety of design ideas to explore.
Moderator note:
~Gedunker~
Threads merged. Thanks and carry on!
I have seen
old ships sailing
like swans asleep
Well, with the lack of some global input. I remember seeing these as a young child and was quite impressed with them.
The quality is up for debate, I guess everything is debatable, but at least you know where you are.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39735679@N00/1442393375
What? No photos of Baghdad's crossed swords?
You have to admit it makes for a memorable image. Far out of the budget of most towns though.
Photo courtesy of Dept. of Defense
Last edited by boilerplater; 19 Oct 2009 at 2:47 PM. Reason: Fix link
Adrift in a sea of beige
On the Mombasa one (crossed tusks) it looks like somebody needs to work on the median landscaping.
"When life gives you lemons, just say 'No thanks'." - Henry Rollins
I'M DESIGNING 4 PORTALS FOR 4 DIFFERENT CITIES HERE IN BRASIL, HERE'S THE FIRST ONE BEING MADE. http://www.flickr.com/photos/1712168...7622855171356/
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While I find it fascinating to look at such diverse examples of gateway signage, considering the cultural context, isn't much of this thread placing the old "cart before the horse." When my boss at the local hospital asked for signage design ideas for the campus, I refused to go that route. Instead, I told him he'd get from me a written analysis of the entry and wayfinding problem based on my photographs of all the approaches to the campus, all existing signage, daytime and nighttime.
Standard planning process: inventory, analysis, recommendations. That report lit a fire under the board to finally hire a national signage firm to work on the design of wayfinding and identity systems, while I worked on plans for the spatial design of the campus gateways.
It seems that everybody in town likes the result. It really works. But none of this would have happened without the first steps of the design process and the 20-minute powerpoint in the boardroom summing up the problems and opportunities. If a planner doesn't take a firm hand when the community starts thinking about a new "entrance sign," it's all too likely that the result will just be one more object contributing to visual clutter at the city gateways.
Bryan Ohio's gateways boast their ranking of the "15th Greatest Small City in America". I always thought that was an impressive first impression entering the City.
Who's gonna re-invent the wheel today?
Here is quite a city entrance monument in the city of Tehran, Iran:
http://www.farsinet.com/tehran/
Ooops! The Tehran monument is not really a city entrance, but a destination museum.
City Entrance for King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia:
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Do entrance signs serve any purpose other than stroking City Council members egos. No one really cares. They're generally designed by amateurs with no taste -- again the fore mentioned with the egos -- and they never represent what the City is all about. However, years ago while a student at Cal Poly SLO I did always enjoy the giant concrete clam at the entrance to Pismo Beach. I don't know if its still there but at least it illustrated that someone in Pismo Beach had a sense of humor and didn't take themselves too seriously.
Well-designed or professionally-designed city and neighborhood entrances can do quite a bit in terms of place-making and fostering cohesiveness in a community.
Sociologists say that the optimal size of a community is 35,000 residents, so, in terms of making self-contained urban villages with populations of that number, I think entrance signs are extremely important. I do agree, though, that most city entrance monuments that are designed by elected officials are hideous.
Well, it DOES represent what Pismo is all about, because after all, they're famous for their clams (or at least they used to be--remember the Bugs Bunny cartoon where he's on his way to Pismo Beach for clams and ends up in Persia or someplace running away from the "Hassan chop?")
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